UNDERSTANDING OUR FAITH
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
UNDERSTANDING why we believe in Christ is really as important as believing itself when it comes right down to it. Knowing why becomes as important as knowing what we put our faith in Christ because we cannot know why we believe unless we have had an experience personally that effects us. Solomon sought wisdom above all else and he found for the most part that he could not have any real wisdom about something unless he had a personal experience in dealing with it.
This kind of thing makes it very difficult for those who have been in the church most of their lives to understand the depth of gratitude and mercy that has been extended to those who have accepted Christ and have come from the world and into Christ. It prompts me to ask the question what depth of understanding does it really take for us to believe? For a great many people in the church belief becomes a word that seems to be automatic. In fact it is so automatic that no thought or care for why they believe is ever raised. The word tells us that we need to continually seek after Him. That is I believe a direct command to understand why we believe through testing the word for our lives. When I say that I don't mean to test God's desire to forgive us of the sins we commit, but to test the promise of His word to be there for us in our everyday situations. We can begin with very small and simple things in our day like asking for strength and guidance in some of the more difficult decisions we must make in our lives; like that about relationships in this world or even with the reasons that we may withhold fellowship with other believers. The bottom line is that we need a daily and very practical experience with God in why we believe His word to us. My father would have said " The school of hard knocks is the best teacher"
I do believe that having an experience with something or someone is the best way to understand life. God wants for us to get involved with learning about life and about what His intentions have been all along in giving us this task of making a decision about the pathways that WE have chosen to walk as we live out this time we have physically been given.
God has made it very clear that the final decision will be ours alone, but that it must be made in the time frame we have been given to do so. We do not have all of the data to weigh before we make our choice, but that is for a very good reason; when all of the information has been laid before us it will be clear what the right choice is. God is looking for what is in our hearts intent. If we choose God to try to save our own lives we will find that motivation is not enough to keep us loyal to God; it is in the end selfish, and we will loose our life. In a remarkable way it becomes our desire to help others and not to think of self first that gets God's attention in this process of choice. When we learn what God wants for us to understand about the purest kind of love we will be able to choose wisely the path to take. " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" The key then is to love someone else as much as you love yourself, for once you have taken that pathway and have made that decision you have become a part of the salvation experience for someone else too; and that is the key to understanding our faith. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
UNDERSTANDING why we believe in Christ is really as important as believing itself when it comes right down to it. Knowing why becomes as important as knowing what we put our faith in Christ because we cannot know why we believe unless we have had an experience personally that effects us. Solomon sought wisdom above all else and he found for the most part that he could not have any real wisdom about something unless he had a personal experience in dealing with it.
This kind of thing makes it very difficult for those who have been in the church most of their lives to understand the depth of gratitude and mercy that has been extended to those who have accepted Christ and have come from the world and into Christ. It prompts me to ask the question what depth of understanding does it really take for us to believe? For a great many people in the church belief becomes a word that seems to be automatic. In fact it is so automatic that no thought or care for why they believe is ever raised. The word tells us that we need to continually seek after Him. That is I believe a direct command to understand why we believe through testing the word for our lives. When I say that I don't mean to test God's desire to forgive us of the sins we commit, but to test the promise of His word to be there for us in our everyday situations. We can begin with very small and simple things in our day like asking for strength and guidance in some of the more difficult decisions we must make in our lives; like that about relationships in this world or even with the reasons that we may withhold fellowship with other believers. The bottom line is that we need a daily and very practical experience with God in why we believe His word to us. My father would have said " The school of hard knocks is the best teacher"
I do believe that having an experience with something or someone is the best way to understand life. God wants for us to get involved with learning about life and about what His intentions have been all along in giving us this task of making a decision about the pathways that WE have chosen to walk as we live out this time we have physically been given.
God has made it very clear that the final decision will be ours alone, but that it must be made in the time frame we have been given to do so. We do not have all of the data to weigh before we make our choice, but that is for a very good reason; when all of the information has been laid before us it will be clear what the right choice is. God is looking for what is in our hearts intent. If we choose God to try to save our own lives we will find that motivation is not enough to keep us loyal to God; it is in the end selfish, and we will loose our life. In a remarkable way it becomes our desire to help others and not to think of self first that gets God's attention in this process of choice. When we learn what God wants for us to understand about the purest kind of love we will be able to choose wisely the path to take. " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" The key then is to love someone else as much as you love yourself, for once you have taken that pathway and have made that decision you have become a part of the salvation experience for someone else too; and that is the key to understanding our faith. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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