All tagged True
We are tempted to believe that it is by our own efforts we have come to know God, and Jesus Christ, but in fact we have been sought out. No, we didn’t invite that divine knock at our door, nor God’s call to us. We might believe that we stumbled upon the idea of God, or by some stroke of luck heard about Jesus Christ, but that is a deception we have concocted to serve our vanity. God calls us, woos us, receives us through Jesus Christ, and then guards us in our faith to be with Him in eternity.
When we first hear God calling us to follow Jesus Christ, or later as Christians to do His will, and we ignore Him... do we think that He just goes away and that this is the end of it? Sometimes we attempt to treat God as if He were one of our fantasies, and if we ignore Him then He will vanish, but nothing could be further from the truth. Even in our faithlessness, our disobedience, or when we turn our back on Him... He is there, and He remains God.
We should ask ourselves each day, and often during that, whether we are being wooed away from our faith by the world. It is good for us to begin and end each day praying, that is, to rise every morning, and take to our bed each night, reaffirming our faith. But, how is our belief being shown to the world around us as we go about our waking hours? Does the carnal world, and all those in it, see us strong in light of our faith, or as just another traveler in life like the unbelievers... like themselves.
Are we true and resilient Christians, or does our faith require great care, and a very specific set of conditions in which to flourish? Are we like a reed that must have constant water for it to survive, or a barrel cactus that stores the water of infrequent rains within itself, and endures long periods of drought? There are many who are fragile, and whimsical, in their faith, but those who are hearty serve God faithfully, even in the worst of times.
Is God’s Word at work in you? This is a question that challenges us because inevitably we ask ourselves, “what does that actually mean?” Does it mean that we ask, and the work is in His giving? Does it mean that His Word is an expression of His will, and that the work is our striving to complete it? Is His Word a promise to us, and the work how that promise comes alive? Or perhaps His Word is a lesson in life, and the work is in it being taught us. Each of these are examples of God giving His Word and it working with and in us. Do you believe His Word is His Bond? Do you believe?