Friend, there will come a moment when all you have professed to believe will be shaken to its foundations. As I talked with my Dad yesterday I realized anew just how important it is to know the Who, what, and why of our faith. Dad is dealing with the aftershocks of having a doctor tell him he has an inoperable tumor in his abdomen. He is drawing on every lesson, every Bible study, every song of his Christian life! He's been in tough times before, but this is a true 'life and death' struggle.
In this time he must dig down to the bedrock of faith - beyond emotionalism, beyond sentimentalism, beyond inspiring stories from Guideposts! If Dad were just now trying to lay the solid rock foundation for a life-sustaining, death-surviving faith, I am not at all certain it could be done. His many years of conversations with the Lord are now the substance of hope in his life. Long ago, Dad found the Scripture to be his source of wisdom. Long ago, he trusted Christ with his life- present and eternal. Thus, it is that today, despite the trials and uncertainties, he can rest secure on the Rock of his salvation. He is able to say, with conviction, "I know Whom I have believed and that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him." (2 Timothy 1.12)
Faith is somewhat superfluous when our road in life is smooth and wide.
How much real faith does it require to sing, "God is Good, All the Time," when days are full of sunshine, when the horizons appear limitless?
When we are healthy, when our job is secure, when our spouse loves us; our prayers tend to be the perfunctory kind. In those seasons, and thank the Lord for the good times, many of us tend to let our spiritual experience become something less than the Bible's ideal of Christian discipleship. It isn't that we lose faith. We just let it get out of shape, without exercise!
God's wants us to live in pursuit of a disciplined development of character, to engage in study and understanding of Christian doctrine, to regularly practice loving service for others, and to allow Him to lead us outside of our comfort zone on regular basis. If that seems to involve rigor to you, you're right in your perception. Why work so hard at something that we cannot see, touch, or hold in our hands? Thus, when life is good, when we're living with the illusion of perpetual youth, vitality, and security, our 'worship' easily deteriorates into mere expressions of sentiment. We are drawn to a kind of 'Bible study' that is nothing more than a superficial search for the daily promise, or a short reading of 60 words from "God's Moment for the Busy 21st Century Saint!" Service that requires something of self-sacrifice becomes a job for 'somebody with more time.' Pleasure and games replace worship as a weekly commitment. We keep just enough 'faith' in play to keep our conscience quiet; keeping our Heaven policy 'in force.'
The Proverbs record this prayer, which only the bold will pray from their heart - "Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" (Proverbs 30:8-9, NLT) Reflection will prove the wisdom of that prayer for about 99.9 % of us. Jesus asks us to consider the same principle when He says, "what does a man profit if he gains the whole world and in the process loses his soul?" It's not the wealth that is the problem. It is the way we respond with a misplaced confidence in it! We tend to get caught up in the deception that we can be gods in our own little universe.
If your life is blessed today, praise God and begin to 'lay up treasure' in Heaven, by building some real faith reserves. Friend, the steady practice of spiritual disciplines produces a harvest of righteousness from which we can be sustained in the lean times.
Worship faithfully.
Learn the Word and process the Truth so it is driven down deep to the core of your soul.
Don't let religious jargon that sounds like the real thing replace the Truth that will keep you in times of trials.
The Bible says, "Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul." (2 Timothy 2:15-17, The Message)
______________________________
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' Name.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand!- public domain
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