Devotion-Bold Faith

By Lorraine Goulton | @ICFWriters

Pressing in

"Have you heard about this man called Jesus? He’s coming now!! He heals people of their diseases!! He is coming up from the beach!!" "Thank you for telling me, my friend"- she replied excitedly- racing out the door; gathering her skirt above her ankles. I am going to touch Him-she said to herself. She pulled back the brocade curtain covering the doorway to join the crowd. My money is all gone. I have nothing to lose! Oh!! how wonderful to leave my prison of 12 years. There He is!!! There He is!! I am going to press in to touch the hem of his garment.

Audacious Confidence

Bold faith clings to a Person- refusing to take no for an answer while putting a demand on God.The woman in Mark 5 verse 24 to 34 had suffered much with a haemorrhage for 12 years and was no better. She had spent all she had. Now she was willing to go to the only One who carried her life in His hands. She had such audacious confidence in Jesus that she was willing to be buffeted by the crowd.

She reached out and touched the hem of His garment. There had to have been something very special about her faith that caused the virtue to flow out of the Son of Man that brought about her healing.

Unrivalled faith

How do we develop such a Faith? Is it a faith that proclaims I’m going after this and it is the only thing I’m going to do? It is faith that is unrivalled in its pursuit and passion. He wants you to flex the muscles of your faith and implore Him. Jesus knows the ripple effect her faith will make.

Jesus is looking for bold faith

God is after your confidence in Him… but so is the enemy. Somehow the enemy knows that if he has your confidence, the rest is easy. If you choose to have an unshakeable confidence in Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing is going to stand in your way. Verse 28 Amplified: She KEPT saying If I only touch his garments, I shall be restored to health. Verse 28 NIV: because she thought “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed” What are the things YOU keep saying? What are the things YOU think about in regard to your haemorrhage?.... that area of your life that has not shifted in 12 years; that painful event that has caused you to ‘bleed out’ all of your confidence?

Confidence equals faith

This unnamed woman was after a transfusion of healing and it came in the form of a Person- the Person who knew that her healing was never going to come from a pill, a potion or a poison but a Portion of the Healing Presence of Jesus. She positioned herself to be in the Presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. When He saw her faith and her determined confidence; that He is who He says He is and He does what He says He will do; virtue flowed from Him.

Jesus knew that someone had touched His garment. He stopped and took the time to look for that some one. He will stop for you too. There is mighty power in having a faith and a confidence that touches Him. There was a great crowd around Him but there was only one that touched Him in such a way that moved Him. The same applies today. Many are following Jesus but are you touching Him with a boldness and a confidence that demonstrates your unshakeable faith?

Jesus sought her out; her faith undaunted by the crowd pressing in on Jesus. He made eye contact with her. Her faith in Jesus activated her intrinsic identity when Jesus acknowledged her. He confirmed her true identity when He called her Daughter; no longer unnamed. She had been unclean and imprisoned by her bleeding. No wonder she could leave Jesus presence in peace; freed from her suffering and commended by Jesus for her faith. Her faith was like a passport-giving her authority to go to a new destination in Christ. I wonder if your "faith passport" need updating?

About Lorraine Goulton
Lorraine is a novice writer living in Masterton, North Island, New Zealand. Frequently seen in the company of one of her 13 grandchildren. Lorraine is working on a book about Our Identity in Christ as she has a desire to see Christians walk in the fullness of their identity in Christ. She loves writing and making up silly stories and songs for her Grandchildren. This is her very first public post !!
Lorraine Goulton is on Facebook

Healing and writing

I’ve had pains in both my shoulders for years. I’ve had steroid injections in both and also physiotherapy, but the relief and results were short-lived at best. So after a lot of back and forth, I had surgery at the end of July – arthroscopic subacromial decompression in my left shoulder. Basically, part of my acromial bone was removed as it was impinging on the nerve in the muscle somewhere. Whatever.

My surgeon suggested that I do a YouTube search on the procedure to see what it was all about. Big mistake. The videos I saw made me think of a piece of meat being roughly prodded. But despite what I saw and read, I had an expectation that I would recover fairly quickly. I suspended my gym membership, anticipating that I would be back about 6 weeks after the surgery. It’s been 3 months now and I am only now ready to go back to the gym. I cant even at lift my left arm completely without the aid of my right hand. It is extremely slow process trying to rebuild strength in my left shoulder.

Before and just after the surgery I didn’t think I would need the level of help I’ve needed. I’ve always been independent and somewhat self-sufficient, partly because it’s my nature, but also out of necessity! I actually thought that I would be able to get myself home from the hospital myself. I know. Silly lady. I couldn’t even breathe properly after the surgery and because of the nerve block I was given in my neck; my entire left arm was dead for 24 hours after the surgery. It was extremely humbling getting someone else to help me with my bra! In fact, the first time I tried to do that myself, I was sweating!

This makes me think about my writing journey. When I first started it didn’t even cross my mind that I needed to do more than just write. I got so consumed with writing, getting to know and enjoy my characters and all the creative fun stuff. I couldn’t wait to finish work and start writing. I completed my first draft before I even let my friends read it. When I attended my first writer’s conference it was a bit of a shell shock, but in addition to all the lessons on the technical side of creative writing; lessons about marketing, etc., I have learnt about the need to ask for, and accept help from others.

There have been times when I felt I was making great progress, and could clearly see that my writing had improved, but then there have been times of rejection that have caused me to question my desire to be an author. But then, like most things in life, there have been periods of bounce back.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago I ‘forgot’ that I am still healing and don’t yet have full mobility in my left arm, so attempted to apply lotion to my back and in the process twisted my shoulder. I’m sure you can imagine the agony. But I didn’t get the sympathy I expected from my physiotherapist; in fact, she pushed me even harder! I thought my arm would fall off!

On this writing journey, I have had ups and downs. Same with my healing process.

I have a confession to make. Most of the time when I write a post on this blog, I deliberately do not check for, or read the comments because I do feel intimidated, but reading this post and thinking about accepting help made me what to take the plunge, so to speak and I am so so gratified by the comments made about the post I wrote on November 18th about traditional versus self-publishing. And I want to say thank you to this group. I do look up to most of you and I thank you for all the many ways in which you have helped me.

When I’ve taken the time to listen to advice, and take it, I have made progress, and when I haven’t, things have slowed down. That doesn’t mean that I take every bit of advice I’m given. One does have to be discriminating and know one’s own mind (and body).

Ufuoma Daniella Ojo is a Software Training Manager, accepting help as she hones her craft.

Destiny’s Rebel, Interview with Philip Davies

Philip, that title makes it sound like you’re a rebel. Is there any truth in that?

Well, it’s not fair if only young people can have a “teenage rebellion”, so maybe mine has come thirty years too late! I feel strongly that, under God, we can each assert our independence and free will in the world, to make conscious choices instead of mindless conformity. But the book title also hints at the fact that we are all rebels against God’s gracious destiny for us.

You must be so excited to have your first book, Destiny’s Rebel published. Tell us about the book.

It is the story of Kat, a seventeen-year-old girl who is about to become Queen. And she’s dreading it, because of the conflicts and responsibilities it will bring. So she runs away, and the story becomes a race against time for her to return and save her people from disaster, while at the same time struggling to accept her role in the Kingdom.

It’s set in an imaginary medieval world, with castles and kingdoms, swords and sailing ships, because those are the stories I love. It’s an adventure story with a fantasy element of the gods in the world, who interact with the characters. So my heroine wrestles with her identity and purpose, but also learns about guidance, healing, duty, service, friendship, self-sacrifice, hope and faith.

How did you come to write it? I mean, teenage fantasy novels aren’t usually the first thing one expects a minister to write.

I must still be a teenager at heart then, because I wrote it primarily for myself! And one old lady who read it thrilled me by commenting: “It made me feel young again”.

After fifteen years as a Church of England Vicar, I became concerned at the absence of older children, teenagers and young adults from our congregations. If they won’t come to us, then I had to go to them, to where they are. So Destiny’s Rebel is written for the general market, to appeal to young readers of fantasy, who might have no prior contact with the Church or Christianity.

I believe that stories are the most powerful medium we have for communicating the important things of life and death, as Jesus did with His parables. In them we can portray the truths of our human experience, about joy and despair, faith and hope, and about God, in ways we can relate to, and be touched by their power. As Christian Fiction Writers, this is the awesome, crucial and humbling task in which we’re engaged.

What other writing have you done?

I’ve written short stories and poems, for both children and adults, and also the occasional blog post, article and writing tips. I think it’s important to try a lot of things as a writer, to discover where our talent and enjoyment lies. But novels remain my first love, for the scope they offer to develop character, setting, storyline and tone.

Philip, we got acquainted through the Association of Christian Writers, a wonderful group of Christian writers mostly based in the UK, how has ACW helped you in your journey as a writer? What other organizations do you belong to?

ACW has stopped me from feeling crazy and alone in attempting this writing business! Because writing is a solitary endeavor, I have valued enormously the opportunities to compare notes with others, to give and receive encouragement to keep going. I’ve also appreciated the critiques in local writing groups, and the constant striving for excellence in our work.

Because I write for young people in the general market, I’m also a member of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

I understand this is the first book in a series. What’s next for Princess Katelin?

I love reading series myself, to develop a love for characters and places across a number of books, but I hate it when I’m left with an unresolved twist or cliff-hanger at the end of a book. I don’t like being forced to buy another book before reaching a resolution.

So my series resolves properly at the end of each novel, with the next one picking up an existing thread, or starting with a new occurrence for the story of that book. I enjoy reaching the end of one story, like a landing between flights of stairs, for my creative mind then to explore “what happens next?”

So Book Two in the Destiny series, Destiny’s Revenge, is set in the same world, about six months after the end of Destiny’s Rebel. It contains many of the same characters and relationships, and some great new ones. It is due for release in September 2016, and I’m currently writing Book Three in the series, Destiny’s Usurper.

What do you like to read?

I’ve always enjoyed fantasy and science fiction, and feel quite at home in imaginary and futuristic worlds, provided they are well-drawn. I also read recent releases in Teenage and Young Adult fiction, but confess that I find many of these grim and depressing. From this stems my desire to write something more wholesome and optimistic. But I enjoy adult fiction too, and occasional classics, where I feel that my literary education has been lacking (because I’m a medieval historian by degree).

What else do you want our readers to know about you?

I’m thrilled to share my life with my wife, Ann, who is a hospice nurse, and our two wonderful children, Mark (12) and Rachel (9). My study looks out on fields and across a valley in Oxfordshire, such that sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I’m living this particular dream.

Where can our readers find you and Princess Katelin online?

Website: www.philipsdavies.com

Find Destiny’s Rebel on Amazon.com: here.

And on Goodreads: here.

Find Philip Davies on Facebook: here.

And on Twitter: here.

Posted by Donna Fletcher Crow. A Newly Crimsoned Reliquary, set in Oxford, is the latest in her Monastery Murders series