What are we looking at the cliff or the Solid Rock?
In a recent string of comments from my last post, I have been really challenged about where my faith is, and what I put my faith in. A friend who is in Tanzania stated;
"We think we're stepping off a cliff when we do something for him and we view it as a leap of faith, but I don't believe that's what He sees. I believe He knows that we have tons of faith because we are willing to go so long without Him and His hands of protection, but when we come to that place of decision, He knows that we're not stepping off of the cliff but onto the Solid Rock. For the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...What are we so afraid of? "
And, isn't it amazing how God uses many different things to get your attention? I read this from David in Tanzania, then in a book I am reading by Erwin McManus he states...
"How is it possible that, for many of us, being a good Christian is really nothing more than being a good person? The entire focus of our faith has been the elimination of sin, which is important but inadequate, rather than the unleashing of a unique, original, extraordinary, wonderfully untamed faith."
I get it God! Enough already....I guess you want us to stop being our "ordinary good Christian people" and start living lives of "untamed faith". Why don't we see more Christians living to change the world for Him? Do we really believe the the Creator God is giving us the faith and freedom to live out dreams greater than ourselves? Go ahead..............JUMP OFF THE CLIFF
"We think we're stepping off a cliff when we do something for him and we view it as a leap of faith, but I don't believe that's what He sees. I believe He knows that we have tons of faith because we are willing to go so long without Him and His hands of protection, but when we come to that place of decision, He knows that we're not stepping off of the cliff but onto the Solid Rock. For the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...What are we so afraid of? "
And, isn't it amazing how God uses many different things to get your attention? I read this from David in Tanzania, then in a book I am reading by Erwin McManus he states...
"How is it possible that, for many of us, being a good Christian is really nothing more than being a good person? The entire focus of our faith has been the elimination of sin, which is important but inadequate, rather than the unleashing of a unique, original, extraordinary, wonderfully untamed faith."
I get it God! Enough already....I guess you want us to stop being our "ordinary good Christian people" and start living lives of "untamed faith". Why don't we see more Christians living to change the world for Him? Do we really believe the the Creator God is giving us the faith and freedom to live out dreams greater than ourselves? Go ahead..............JUMP OFF THE CLIFF
posted by Brent F at 10:44 AM
2 Comments:
It's funny how we always say we believe God will be that "Solid Rock" for us...but every time (even after numerous times of Him proving Himself, and being our rock before) we still hesitate. How many times does God have to prove Himself to us until we finally just trust Him like we say we do?
I finally decided to battle the major issue in my life this week. As I was thinking about how to approach it, it seemed like a huge wall to me, or a "cliff". After talking with someone about it, I finally decided I was going to put that behind me and just trust that God will get me over the wall, that He would catch me as I "fall off the cliff". The seemingly impossible problem, now two days later, hasn't tempted me since! I feel like I did step right onto a rock, like I used an escalator to get right over the wall.
I feel like God not only used this opportunity to fix my problem, but to also solidify my trust in Him, and strengthen a key friendship. I found it ironic that my two favorite verses just happened to be the ones that needed to be addressed with this issue:
Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Three cheers on another deep introspective post Brent. No, don't worry, I'm not cheering you per se, but I'm cheering what god is leading you into...
According to William Wilberforce (the man responsible for the end of the slave trade in England),
"the vast Bulk of Christians in (19th Century) England estimated the guilt of an action not by the proportion in which, according to scripture, [actions] are offensive to God, but by that in which they are injurious to society." Now, on the face of it that sounds noble, loving, and practical. Sin hurts people, so don't sin.
Wilberforce goes on to say,
"Their slight notions of the guilt and evil of sin [reveal] an utter [lack] of all suitable reverence for the Divine Majesty. This principle [reverence for the Divine Majesty] is justly termed in Scripture, 'The beginning of wisdom' [Psalm 111:10]."
Some of the things that God has led people to write in the past often makes me wonder, how is it that we can be so lethargic when He is so obviously speaking to us? How are we missing what He is calling us to? Why are we allowing ourselves to be misled by ourselves?
Clearly the Lord has been speaking to us in every age, yet some majority seem to miss out one what He has been screaming out to us.
Take this idea from the foward of a book written at the turn of the 19th century, "we welcome the notion that with this new breath of the Holy Spirit, the church will finally be leaving all of its lethargy behind and moving on with God."
WAIT A MINUTE! Why do we claim the victory and then ignore the battle?
For the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory,
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