Will we ever gain significant momentum in believing God is with us...actively with us? Well, we surely do make plans and even strides at growth in this marvelous arena.
When we actively believe God is actively among us, that faith gives us pushability power. We gain the strength to push back against dark discouragement. We are freed to break into wonder in the very center of "grave" settings.
Trent Taylor and I were discussing an idea I have for Sunday morning's sermon regarding the opportunity of God's children to actively believe there was a Promised Land. Trent pointed out that he heard recently a point that of the 1.5 million which fled Egypt only two believed God's promise. Only 2.
Where two or three are gathered....He will still work.
When it seems to you the congregation doesn't get something, be confident that God can and will still work. When you notice the numbers increasing with indifferent commitment, be confident that God can and will still work. When you sense that what you once believed to be solid hope is unravelling, think again. This is just another opportunity to gain confidence that God can and will work.
One of the moods I really love about being a Christian is potential is not found in what the masses believe. It can be found in just a slim few. Don't be discouraged about anything. God has always valiantly used those who didn't believe in themselves (cowardly/shy Moses) or others didn't believe in (boy David) or those who, at first sight, were assumed to be villainous (Saul of Tarsus) or those just plain dead (Jesus).
God is not stumped except in one place....where He just can't find believers. Moses became a believer as did Saul. David already was one and so was Jesus. Faith....it matters....but it doesn't operate off of a recent poll or trend.
3 comments:
One of the problems that is difficult to overcome is the human need to put things in writing, run it up the flagpole and see who salutes. We don't like ambiguity. We'd rather have rules than live without structure and habit, even if we have to adopt wrong or inconsistent rules and try to "work it out."
Look at what the Jews did with the Law of Moses. Look at the creeds. My favorite rule in the Church of Christ is this: if it's not written in the Bible, then you must not assume it to be true. That rule is really funny, because that rule itself IS NOT IN THE BIBLE. I'm chortling right now at the silliness. But that's how every religion traps itself.
There is great freedom in Christ, and that's the most troubling part for those who feel the need for the warm blanket of a complete set of rules by which to live. The problem is that man's rules never work out. Even if they appear to be fine for now, they won't be fine 100 years from now. But Christianity will be fine 100 years from now.
The people who insisted on human rules for everything were among the most scorned by Jesus. Because they lost their humanity and their souls by surrendering them to their monuments of rules.
Rules just can't sum up what is going on with the Spirit. "You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Your post reminds me of Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was through the indifference of the three toward a tyrant king that put on a spectacular show of what God can and will do!
Yes, FAITH to believe God Can and God will. I quote this all the time to our folks. No matter the number of people, God can use whomever to accomplish His work!
Also, the three had the VISION to see that God can and God will, plus they had the COURAGE to act because of their FAITH in a CAN DO GOD!
All in God's time. Faith should still be there in the desert, which is the first destination after escaping the clench of evil.
The desert is an arid place where we can breathe and rest in God. A place where God feeds us from Heaven with more than mere bread. It only seems dry and desolate because of wicked enslavement which never satisfied, and which was never satisfied. Freedom, trusted with a little, which is really a lot.
No turning back--manna isn't boring at all. It fully satisfies, and there is no lust for more. It's a new journey through a place where there is amazing life that doesn't need more and more. Fully sustained. Bask. Take time in the desert. Listen, see, feel, enjoy, drink and eat as spirit returns from that dark place to experience and to recognize abundance.
And know that a time is coming when we shall find ourselves in a place where abundance is outdone. Prepare and be still. No hurry. God is with us in this place.
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