All tagged faith
This morning I am contemplating those things of faith to which we have become blinded by our religion or liturgical practices. I recall the words of Jesus regarding Jerusalem and ask myself if this could happen to us as well. Could our religion become a hindrance to us? Are we building liturgical or religious walls between those who are seeking redemption, salvation, and a relationship with our Lord?
On the 24th of this month I wrote of encountering Jesus in front of a jewelry store. It was an unexpected encounter that taught me a great deal about myself and my faith. Today I would like to explore those sudden and unexpected appearances of Jesus in our lives a bit further. It is true that we don't know the date and time of the return of Jesus as predicted in Revelation, but much like Saul, we do occasionally receive chance encounters with Him today during our everyday lives.
Today we are exploring our obedience to Jesus without questioning His instruction. We will be looking at how we should obey Him without the need to weigh His guidance against our own desires. Sometimes we receive a Word from God and it isn't something easy or perhaps it is something we think is dangerous or would put us in a precarious position financially or possibly even spiritually... so we question His motive or our understanding. This doubt is not a modern phenomenon but goes back to the earliest times of faith.
This morning let’s take a look at how God calls us ever forward in our faith. We aren't meant to be stagnant creatures in faith, or in life generally, no, we are meant to be travelers along a way of faith that is taking us ever forward and increasing us in spirituality as we go.
This morning I am contemplating a single phrase in the King James translation of the Bible... it is one that was written by Paul to the Galatians, and is found in Galatians 2:20. It reads like this..."by the faith of the son of God." This is opposed to several modern translations which record it as "by the faith in the Son of God." So the question boils down to one word and two different translations... Our study is whether to us the word "In" or "Of" as we talk about our faith. This might sound tedious but the implications are great.
Does God lead you in the way you should go, and if so, what awaits at the end of your journey? This is what I am pondering this morning. Do we know the Person of the one who leads us and if so, do we need to fully understand where He is leading us to before we join Him in the journey? When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him did they know where they were going? When He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him do we really know all that awaits us?
We say that we believe in Jesus Christ. This is what I am contemplating this morning... do we simply acknowledge Him, or do we really believe in Him for who He is? This sounds like a dangerous question, but it is one that Jesus Himself asked His apostles when they told Him that they believed. Did the apostles really know who He was? Could they possibly understand what it meant to be the Son of God? How about us? Do we now believe? Listen to their words and the answer Jesus gave them... Then let’s each answer Jesus’ question ourselves.
This morning, I would like us to deal with the worry that we might have at times, or in some manner or circumstance in which we have doubted that Jesus could help us when we have called out to Him or done some other thing that has exhibited little faith. Haven’t we on occasion dealt with a nagging fear that we might have stood at the well with Him and said... "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep." Haven’t we told ourselves that we trust Jesus completely but then in a bad situation questioned His ability, and wondered if we were trusting in Him enough?
What happens when our faith is at risk? Have you ever contemplated the effect that we have on those around us when we slip into negative behavior or sin? How about the impact we have on our family, church, or Heaven? Even though our Christian walk seems totally personal... it isn't. Our faith has a ripple effect that touches all those around us, and beyond.
What do we imagine our faith to be? How great and unbound can we dream that God is? What binds us to the commonplace, and the everyday isn't God, or our faith, but our own perception of their greatness and possibility. Let me give you a glimpse through the eyes of scripture, Oswald Chambers, Rick Bragg, and me today. Let’s see just how much further we can look into eternity through the eyes of Jesus…
As I read Oswald Chambers this morning, I was touched by the message of offering ourselves to God, and then allowing Him full reign in changing us and perfecting our lives for His service. Chambers used the words of Paul to illustrate that we should present our old self as a drink offering and then allow Him to pour us over the altar.
There are so many things that distract us from our faith and quite often they prevent us from realizing the fullness of that faith, and in their most destructive form, they keep us from giving God complete and unchallenged dominion over our lives. But don’t be afraid because in Jesus Christ there are many other things that are singularly strong enough to change who we are, who we live for, who we would die for, and who ultimately who rules our lives.
My morning reading today led me to contemplate the way I worship and how I treat that worship in conjunction with waiting, and work. I was reminded that it is important, and true, that there is but one God and I am equally convinced that our faith should lead us to a singularity of worship and life as well.
This morning as I read my devotional it struck me that the life of Peter mirrors our own lives in many powerful ways. We are humble before Jesus, yet we boldly speak for Him, we often speak before listening, we have glimpses of strong faith that often fade as we sink while walking on water, and we wrestle with our sinfulness, but there is no similarity more blatantly obvious, nor spiritually disappointing, than when Peter denied Jesus… and when we recognize ourselves in him as he does so. Like Peter we answer the call of Jesus as infants and must mature in our belief and faith.
Today I was contemplating Oswald Chambers' offering for this day, when suddenly I was overcome by the thought that each morning I get up and enter into prayer without really knowing where God will be taking me that day. My life of faith is more than a journey... it's an adventure.