Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason—a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world. The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. CHAMBERS
Conditional faith … when we first received Jesus as Lord, our commitment was unconditional .. He was THE answer. He made sense out of our life and showed us a greater purpose. But like the glow on Moses’ face when he would come off of the mountain, having had an encounter with God, (Exodus 30) the glory faded in our lives as we waded around in the mire of this world. We don’t have to go to the mountain to commune with God … He is in you … “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." (2 Corinthians 6:16) (not my emphasis)
Rick Warren said that God is more concerned with our character than our comfort. Unfortunately, His interests and ours don’t always coincide. When Martie and I first went to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we helped a local church that had a medical clinic in the Entry was and Red Cross shelter residents in the classrooms. Nurses slept on the pews in the sanctuary. I often commented that it was a reflection of what God intended the local church to be. Down the road was another church. They too were reaching out to the community, but when it came to their sanctuary, they had just replaced their carpet and painted and did not want it to get messed up. I was reminded of Matthew 25 when the goats said to Jesus, ‘Lord when did we see you?’ The Lord answered, “When you did not do it to the least of these you did not do it to Me.”
God very often leads into the fire to be tested. With testing comes strength. Someone once said that without a test there is no testimony. What are you being tested in? How are you doing? I don’t care how many questions there are on the test .. the answer is the same for all of them … Trust God and not yourself (Prov 3:5,6) When the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested, He responded to those temptations with the same answer .. It is written. When people would come to my office and ask questions about how to solve a problem, my first response was, “Have you read the book?” If not I would just say RTB (read the book) and then come see me if you still need help. So my word for you today … RTB
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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