Like any decision to trust, the commitment of ourselves to the truth about God is likely to be tested as the years go by. But mere testing doesn’t mean our faith was foolish. To the contrary, it may well demonstrate just how wise our choice was.
When sorrow makes an appearance in our lives, we can make it our aim to shine all the more radiantly against the dark background that has developed. We can seek God in such a way as to brighten our character with the brilliance of tested faith.
To gain wisdom from our suffering in this life, our focus must not be on ourselves. The main object in life is neither to defend ourselves against suffering nor to exploit it self-righteously, but to seek a greater Truth outside of ourselves.
We are called to partake of God’s own nature. If sin’s damage is to be undone, we must not only be forgiven of our sins; we must be remade in God’s image. He has arranged for us to be crucified and recreated. To seek Him is to seek this very thing.
When we stay so long in one place that it feels like “home,” we may forget that our lease on this life is temporary. We quit dreaming about heaven, and we get to the point where we don’t want to let go of the things we’ve grown so accustomed to.
“Father, hear the prayer we offer: not for ease that prayer shall be, but for strength, that we may ever live our lives courageously.” While others pray to be excused from hardship, the wise pray for whatever strength faith’s journey may require.
Our hearts need an inside-out transformation. This is the goal God has in mind for us, and there is no shortcut to it. We should make sure that any impatience we have with our present imperfection does not turn into impatience with God Himself.
As we acknowledge our failures and our sorrows, various forms of self-righteousness can creep into our thinking. Secretly, we may come to look upon those whose lives appear more trouble-free as being somehow less spiritually mature than we are.
Let us not praise our present “clothing” more than the facts warrant. If we’re among His faithful people, Christ will one day clothe us in perfect glory. Our rags will be turned into riches. Until then, we need to be honest about our raggedness.
Events can seem so overwhelming it’s hard to not to feel like “dust in the wind.” And yet there remains within us a will that is free. When we make even a single choice to do what is right before God, we alter the course of history for the better.
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May we never underestimate the seriousness of what must happen to us in Christ. “Crucifixion” not too strong a word for it. It was distrust that drove us to sin. ...
In the world, obedience is often based on personal feelings or legal obligation, but in the gospel, it’s based on trust in God. Confident that His way is always the ...
Forgiven of past sins, the Christian can rejoice in the present grace and future hope of the gospel. The relationship we can now have with God is rich — and ...
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The term “Christian” was first used in Antioch in Syria. Here, for the first time, a congregation was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and it was clear that ...