http://www.myutmost.org/10/1031.html
Discernment Of Faith
Matthew 17:20
“Faith as a grain of mustard seed...”
Key Passages
We have this idea that God rewards us for our faith.
… we do not earn anything by faith; faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity.
You earlier life of faith was narrow and intense... then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith.
You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.
Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him – I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
My Own Thoughts
This is actually a really encouraging passage to read. Hearing that sentence, “You are worth more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony...” that is right where I am at and right where I want to be. I always ask the question “why can't things be like they were?” You know like back when I was new to Christianity and I was very young and all life seemed easy. Then I moved out, went to college, got married, and had kids... now life has gotten complicated to say the least. Things aren't so simple in the world these days. Faith becomes more real in times like this, at least for me. It's not just a word you say... its something you have to practice because there are some times when all you can do is believe that God is real, and trust that He is in control.
Something strikes me lately, and convicts me... and this is pretty much unrelated to this post... I can read books about the Bible very easily, but to actually jump into the Bible and read it and take down my thoughts has proven quite the challenge for me for a very long time. Lately God has been convicting me of this... I don't believe it to be wrong that I have been reading Oswald Chambers and taking notes, but I have done it at the neglect of reading the actual Word of God... so in regards to this I think I am going to be changing my (somewhat) daily entries here... instead of entries from Oswald Chambers, I'm going to read through a section of the Bible and take down some notes and thoughts to share with the 1 person who reads this blog entry :) I am not sure where I am going to start yet, but I'll start somewhere. Maybe I'll start going through the 1 year Bible, or jump into a gospel... who knows... We'll see what happens. Your relationship with God is just like any other relationship, if you want it to work, you have to spend time with that person. How do we spend time with God? Prayer... reading the Word... so I need to start actually doing this...
There's my confession to you. I haven't been reading the Word, or at least not consistently and not for a very long time. How can we challenge each other to do this? How can we spur each other on towards stronger and deeper relationship with God? We must get into the Word and keep each other accountable. Who's got my back?
No comments:
Post a Comment