Reality? Faith?
A friend recently admonished me gently as we were chatting on Whatsapp, "G, there is faith but there is also reality." I looked at her message and felt defiance. I guess for me I used to think along these same lines but the more I grow in my walk, the more I see how my faith is my reality for me.
You see reality will tell you things like "You are aging and will some day grow older and weaker." My faith shows me Caleb and Moses and all the heroes of the bible defying aging stereotypes, conquering giants even in their ripe old age. It shows me how Sarah as a senior citizen was still beautiful enough to attract the attention of the ruler of Egypt. We see testimonies upon testimonies of youth being renewed like the eagle.
Reality will remind you that the economy is bad and that things will just keep getting gloomier and gloomier. My faith reminds me that in Christ, our path cannot help but grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day because of His finished work on the Cross.
But the thing here is this, THESE are part of my friend's faith too. She is a believer as well, yet because her idea of religious belief (and all the acts like praying, fasting etc) and her idea of reality are two seperate things, she does not have a confident expectation of good. She goes through life telling God what she hopes for but at the same time coming to her own conclusion that he isn't going to give it to her any way because "Where got so good one lor?"
This is despite the Word saying that if we ask, we SHALL receive... if we seek, we SHALL find ... if we knock, the door SHALL be opened unto us. At no point did the HS use the word "perhaps", "maybe" in these declarations.
And this defeatist mentality amongst believers is widespread. Whenever I tell some of these folks that you believe that by His stripes they are healed, they will say AMEN and right away after that BUT if it is His will. They are NOT sure what Daddy God's will is.
Can we blame them? Insurance agencies use very liberally this term- "an act of God"- to describe worse case scenarios that they refuse to cover. God is portrayed to be vengeful, angry, judgmental.
But this misconception of what God wants for us is precisely what continues to disable us in our faith walk, in our understanding of what we now possess through Christ Jesus! This lukewarm mentality is precisely what the enemy uses to disarm us.
In Hosea, Daddy God laments that His people are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. How true!
Sure we are educated and well-read, but have we spent time to really hear what He says in His Word? We read the papers every day, we watch the news, we participate in water cooler talks... but are we reading the Word, are we participating in quiet time moments with Him to hear His leading?
So what is your reality?
What is your faith?
What is your belief?
Do you know what your faith says is real? Or is your faith just a mythology, the bible a story book, the communion a mere ritual?
Until you realise how REAL your faith truly is, you might be wandering through that desert for another 40 years, going through the same motions and getting the same frustrating results, then looking at another believer who has realised GOD IS GOOD INDEED, and living his YES and AMEN & thinking "God just isn't fair."
You see reality will tell you things like "You are aging and will some day grow older and weaker." My faith shows me Caleb and Moses and all the heroes of the bible defying aging stereotypes, conquering giants even in their ripe old age. It shows me how Sarah as a senior citizen was still beautiful enough to attract the attention of the ruler of Egypt. We see testimonies upon testimonies of youth being renewed like the eagle.
Reality will remind you that the economy is bad and that things will just keep getting gloomier and gloomier. My faith reminds me that in Christ, our path cannot help but grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day because of His finished work on the Cross.
But the thing here is this, THESE are part of my friend's faith too. She is a believer as well, yet because her idea of religious belief (and all the acts like praying, fasting etc) and her idea of reality are two seperate things, she does not have a confident expectation of good. She goes through life telling God what she hopes for but at the same time coming to her own conclusion that he isn't going to give it to her any way because "Where got so good one lor?"
This is despite the Word saying that if we ask, we SHALL receive... if we seek, we SHALL find ... if we knock, the door SHALL be opened unto us. At no point did the HS use the word "perhaps", "maybe" in these declarations.
And this defeatist mentality amongst believers is widespread. Whenever I tell some of these folks that you believe that by His stripes they are healed, they will say AMEN and right away after that BUT if it is His will. They are NOT sure what Daddy God's will is.
Can we blame them? Insurance agencies use very liberally this term- "an act of God"- to describe worse case scenarios that they refuse to cover. God is portrayed to be vengeful, angry, judgmental.
But this misconception of what God wants for us is precisely what continues to disable us in our faith walk, in our understanding of what we now possess through Christ Jesus! This lukewarm mentality is precisely what the enemy uses to disarm us.
In Hosea, Daddy God laments that His people are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. How true!
Sure we are educated and well-read, but have we spent time to really hear what He says in His Word? We read the papers every day, we watch the news, we participate in water cooler talks... but are we reading the Word, are we participating in quiet time moments with Him to hear His leading?
So what is your reality?
What is your faith?
What is your belief?
Do you know what your faith says is real? Or is your faith just a mythology, the bible a story book, the communion a mere ritual?
Until you realise how REAL your faith truly is, you might be wandering through that desert for another 40 years, going through the same motions and getting the same frustrating results, then looking at another believer who has realised GOD IS GOOD INDEED, and living his YES and AMEN & thinking "God just isn't fair."
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