All tagged faith
Do you ever wonder if you are effectively serving the Lord? Can you look at your life and see the fruit of your faith, and smell the sweetness of it as it ripens? It is wonderful when this happens and we can see our impact on the kingdom, but more often than not we serve Him in secret and without leaving a ripple on the surface of life to show for it.
When we look at our children, what do we see, and how do we see it? We look at them with our eyes, and see their physical characteristics, we observe their actions and come to know their character by studying them with our minds. We go further and see their heart through the eyes of our own hearts and come to know their love as it mixes with ours and grows, but there is one other way we should look at our children... one that many of us neglect, we should see them spiritually.
What is the state of your faith today? Is it strong, well trained, and ready to run a race; or does it become easily winded and lose stamina during the long marathon of life? Do you tell yourself that your faith is able to withstand anything, but lose hope at the least of life’s difficulties? If you find your faithfulness lacking, let’s talk about selecting a conditioning coach, and enrolling ourselves in his spiritual training program.
How is your faith? Are you strong in it, or is it lacking in some regard? Can you move a mountain, or do you think your faith is too small to move even a grain of sand? The disciples were chastised by Jesus on more than one occasion for their lack of faith, so do not lose heart, but ask Him why you can’t do a thing, or why you don’t receive the ability to perform a miracle. You may find that in some cases it has less to do with faith than you think.
Jesus is like a fountain, or a spring, out of which forgiveness flows. He is not like a spigot from which life is turned off and on when we need to wash the scent of death from ourselves or draw a drink. Do we only approach Him when we think we need cleansing or to receive refreshment for our spirit, and faith? Or is He the source of life that we have built our lives and families around… the well, spring, and fountain that our existence depends upon as we quinch our spiritual thirst, and for every cool compress that relieves the fever of our sin?
Listen... do you hear the voice of Jesus? Are you hearing Him calling you to “come” or is He asking for you to “come back!”? When Jesus first calls us He gives us incredible peace, rest, and spiritual lives, but over time we might feel that those things have subsided in us; why is that? Why do we lose the intensity of joy and faith that our initial answer to His call brought us?
Do we hear the Gospel of Jesus and worship God as we should? We might go to church and sing songs, even pray together, chant, and recite creeds, but these are all simply physical manifestations of faith that any unbeliever can imitate. What I am asking is this... Do we allow our bodies and spirits to join as one as we worship with the Holy Spirit by praising God and give Him all the glory and honor for the things we do in obedience to His will? Can we honestly say that we worship Him as scripture tells us to… by loving Him, entering into relationship with Him, and in spirit and truth?
I have never done this before, but my devotional message yesterday contained a gem that our society today seems to have lost. I received a nice email from Lou who is a wonderful friend, wife to Jack, mother of five daughters, woman that has worked a lifetime alongside her husband, and a saint who is now in her later years of life; I want to share her note with you, along with my reply to her. Here is what she wrote to me regarding my grandfather’s saying (A man is only as good as his word) that I shared briefly with you in yesterday’s devotional titled “The Revelation of Answered Prayer.”
Are we like children before God, or are we walking in your own independent self-righteousness? Do we say, “I believe” and yet act like we are in control of our own lives? Maybe we have trusted God with our life at some point, but have since taken those reins back from Him, and slowly, over time, found ourselves walking totally apart from Him. Do we know where we are? Are we uncertain how, and if, we can come home again? Well, through Christ we can.
Are you struggling with whether you will give yourself to Jesus, and fully believe in God? Have you been reasoning and reading scripture without moving an inch closer to actually believing? If so, then quit listening to your own intellect, and still your mind... then open your ears to the still small voice of God that has been calling you to “Come” and which now asks you to determine what has brought you to this place. Hearing God isn’t a matter of intellectual reasoning on your part; it is being inexplicably drawn by His voice alone. So… what are you doing here, and will you come to Him?
The world is five sunrises away from Christmas morning, and the day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thank God Almighty we aren’t still awaiting His birth but find ourselves celebrating that which has already come! As I do on the birthdays of my own children, I find myself reminiscing and thinking back to that day when Jesus was born and I hope that it brings the same tears to you that is does to my eyes. Jesus is with us always, every minute, day, and week... so I invite you to listen as I praise Him in verse, and to join with me by reading and praying these words of joyous praise...
Hearing the gospel and having it fall on fertile ground within us creates a need for its peace and joy deep inside that is unquenchable. Is this how you are feeling inside? Are you one of those souls in which the gospel of Jesus Christ has found a slight furrow into which its seed has fallen and taken root? If so then despite the season of life you find yourself in, you will be irresistibly called to tend it... time and time again, day after day, you will water and admire it until it begins to bear the sweet fruit of Christ. For all the others of us there will be only darkness and a withering spirit.
If you were to look around right now would you see God in everything around you? Could you look at the items in the room, or the trees in your backyard and say “God, how magnificent you are!”, or would you struggle to find Him? Seeing God in every aspect of our life, and in every scene, thing, or occurrence that makes up our lives, requires spiritual training, and a circumcised heart. How sensitive is our spiritual radar?
Do we have routine habits of faith? Are we made proficient in our faith by setting aside certain times each day to regularly read, pray, or just contemplate God, and Jesus? If not, and we are dependent on random thoughts to guide us and going to church once or twice a week to mature our faith, then we are missing out on a wonderful growing relationship with Jesus and the full power of God in our lives.
Do we have a plan for our life? Have we set everything before ourselves and determined what pieces of the puzzle go where, and started the process of fitting them perfectly together? If so, there is probably a nice spot for God, another for Jesus, and oh yes, let’s not forget the Holy Spirit, but is that really how our life is formed, and our faith is shaped?