Living By Faith Blog

It’s been one year

I published my first post here one year ago December 1st.

So today I thought I’d reflect on this year by asking a couple questions —

What’s happened on the blog this year?

When I began, I had no idea what God would do.

I have been stunned at His mercy —

• 249 articles have been written
• 1303 comments have been posted
• over 49,000 people have visited
• over 149,000 pages have been viewed
• people have visited from the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Germany, India, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland, Nigeria, Kenya, New Zealand, the UAE, Japan, Indonesia, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Trinidad, the Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, France, Pakistan, Taiwan, Mexico, Jamaica, Thailand, Romania, Zimbabwe, Greece, Norway, Uganda, Kuwait, Italy, Namibia, Portugal — and many more.

I am thankful the Father is using this blog to help so many.

What has surprised me the most?

Answer: how much I have learned.

I started this blog because I had seen what a difference it made when I stopped living by will-power, and intentionally focused on living by faith in all that God promises to be to me in Christ Jesus.

I thought I knew enough about that to start writing some posts.

But writing these posts, observing my heart, fighting the fight of faith, and reading your comments has taught me so much more —

• the subtlety of my unbelief
• the necessity of trusting God’s promises
• how weak faith is — if it’s not focused on promises
• that God has not just given us commands to will ourselves to obey, but He’s also given us promises by which the Holy Spirit will motivate us to obey.
• that whatever I trust to satisfy me, I will desire the most — and whatever I desire the most, I will obey.  Always.
• the priority of seeking our heart satisfaction in Christ Himself
• that heart-satisfaction is the crux of conquering unbelief
• how easy it is to fall into living by will-power
• how easily we neglect biblical motivations for obedience

Even if no one ever read this blog, I’d do it all over again because of how much I’m learning.

Which post impacted me the most?

I’d go with — What Does It Mean To Pray With Faith?

I have some requests I’ve prayed about for years.  And when I prayed them I had little sense that the Father was glad I was praying them — because He had not answered them.

But I now see that every time I bring a request to Him in Jesus’ name, praying according to His revealed will, and trusting that He will give me either what I’m asking for or something even better — He is smiling.  He is pleased.  He is glad I’m asking.

This has helped me persevere in praying for requests I have not yet seen answered.

What do I especially remember?

• Being stunned that over 4,000 people read “God’s Promises For Those Struggling With Unemployment” — and seeing so many comment about how it helped them.
• Being deeply impacted by seeing that every promise points to Christ as our Treasure.
• Having Justin Taylor graciously promote my post on “How Can We Obey The Golden Rule.”
• Reading comments showing how God has used this blog to free people from self-pity, discouragement, temptation, and unbelief.
• Being encouraged at how many posts are emailed to friends and shared on Facebook and Google+.
• Seeing God faithfully show me what to write.
• Seeing God break through time after time when I did not know how to explain something, did not think I was being clear, or was not sure how to say something.

Thanks to my wife

My wife is a Christ-satisfied and loving servant — and I’ve seen this even more through starting this blog.

A few years ago I started going over every sermon with her, because she has such wisdom.  Her counsel has been invaluable.

So it made sense to have her read every blog post before publication.

So Jan has read 249 posts — some of them involving numerous revisions — without one “I’m sort of busy now,” or “could I do it later?”

She’s improved every post — and has protected you from a few that were, well, pretty bad.

So — thanks, Hon.

And thanks to you

Many of you pray for me, my writing, and the readers of this blog.

Many of you have taken the time to write comments.

Many of you have subscribed to the Saturday email.

Many of you have told friends about this blog.

Many of you have emailed helpful articles to friends, or posted them on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

So — thank you.

Comments?  Feedback?

I’d love to hear — leave a reply below.  Thanks.

If this post was helpful to you — email it to someone by using the “share” button below.  Or use the other buttons to share it on your favorite social media.

If you would like to receive a Saturday email which summarizes each week’s posts — subscribe here.  (I will only use your email address for Living By Faith Blog communications — and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)

And here’s some related posts you might find helpful —

• Why This Website.
• 6 Reasons Heart-Satisfaction Is Crucial
• What Does It Mean To Pray With Faith
• God’s Promises For Those Struggling With Unemployment
• How Can We Obey The Golden Rule

(Picture on everystockphoto by ppdigital.)