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The following quote from Oz Chambers does me good. “Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me." The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. May God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us.”
For those who are not being disturbed (disconcerted) in their God journey, I doubt you have been comforted, meaning, He comforts the disturbed as well as disturbs the comfortable!
Yes those who have received Christ or more to my liking, ‘having been received of the Father’ are perfect, IN THEIR SPIRIT! Depending on how you look at it, there is much more to us than just a spirit, although that is the essence of which we are, a spirit being.
In my continuing journey of discovering the inexhaustible unconditional love of God the Father for me, I am realizing that that is the foundation upon which upholds all that He continues to do in the needed transformation within my soul.
There is no way as Oz said in the quote, “Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict” that we’re going to have anything more than a form of godliness apart from having to face, go through whatever conflict He deems necessary to make what we say we believe, into a personal possession.
Everything is being disarranged the deeper we go in following Him, being led by His spirit, it is needed and necessary, otherwise we will have nothing more than a clinical, sterile, smugness to our superior stance, looking down on those whose lives He has graciously and lovingly torn apart!
As our supposed unshakable equilibrium is going through the wringer, we are no longer able to interpret the signs; it’s as if we have become dyslexic as everything seems so back-wards to us. This is nothing less than moving from having a great theology of trusting in the Lord to being brought to the place where that perfect life we have in our spirit is invading our very soul, mind will, and our emotions!
Anything less is nothing more than what any other dead religious system is willing to offer.
Rich
10 comments:
I like your Monarch butterfly picture. My father and I raised Monarchs when I was growing up, usually a hundred or so every year.
My father had many talents but being able to identify a milkweed plant at 200 yards while driving 70 miles an hour ( which I knew to be true because he would slam on the brakes and we would hike over to get our caterpillar food) always amazed me.
He extended the Monarch range north in Canada about a hundred miles by smuggling milkweed and caterpillars across the border. He wanted to see if their range was limited by distance north or the fact that the milkweed didn't grow that far north.
His conclusion was it was the lack of milkweed. He died before his actual goal of extending their range all the way up to his summer place another 150 miles.
I always wondered what the customs people would have said if they found the milkweed and caterpillars as we were crossing the border.
Rich
This post really spoke to me! Thanks!
Sometimes I struggle as other chrisitans (sterile, comfortable ones) look at my messy life and think they can FIX me! I wonder what on earth they will ever learn in life if it is so easy for them. I guess it helps to make me grateful for the challenges I have faced because they truly have taken me deeper with HIM!!!
I guess you could say through trials and tribulations, he is burning us beautiful!!!
Peace to you!!
Hayesatlbch,
Thanks for sharing about the Monarch butterflies, they are one of the winged creatures we always look forward to seeing in our neck of the woods here in south western Ontario.
My banner was the finished work of my good friend Dave Aldrich, he's a graphic designer who does fantastic work!
It captured in picture form what I saw and felt would be a good platform to build my thoughts upon.
lydia,
I so agree with you in what you said here, "I guess it helps to make me grateful for the challenges I have faced because they truly have taken me deeper with HIM!!!
I guess you could say through trials and tribulations, he is burning us beautiful!!!"
For what it's worth, I just finished reading and I'm now reading again the e-book, The Naked Gospel by Andrew Farley, I also ordered the hard copy as well so I can mark it up real good.
It is one of the best reads I've had in years.
Hey Rich
I just read that book too! In 24 hours flat! It was THAT good!!! I am telling everyone about it! He definitely helped me see some things from a different angle and I love that. It reminds me of a quote I like by Bobby Connor, "the bible is like a diamond, you never look at it the same way twice!!"
That book was DELICIOUS!!
Peace to you!!
lydia,
YUMMY!
My wife is in the thick of writing a book that is going to touch on a nerve of something I believe is very much in His heart to share with all who are desiring to know why they are alive on this planet and for what purpose.
I am sworn to secrecy though, suffice it to say, IT IS GOOD, but then she too has a very Good Father! :)
Well goodness - you are leaving me wanting!! Do tell when she gets it finished, especially if she wants it preread ;)
...........the Sons of God need to be unleashed on the world!!!!
lydia,
Not sure I understand what you meant in your comment, sorry!
I was referring to wanting to read the book your wife is writing - it sounds like a must read!!!
Thanks lydia, me too!
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