Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working our has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him - I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.
Hard for some of us to grasp but so important......probably the most difficult concepts to understand. But worth it. Some of you have experienced this, some of you will. It's worth it. It's forever.
"Faith as a grain of mustard seed..." Matthew 17:20
From Oswald Chambers' MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST
Have a faithful Sunday.
Z
8 comments:
Z - I think Oswald Chambers is so good. I love his My Utmost for His Highest.
Have a good Sunday.
It is difficult to maintain one’s faith when one can no longer observe the workings of the Lord. But if someone is unable to observe the workings of the Lord, they aren’t looking carefully enough. What has befallen America isn’t God’s fault—it’s ours.
He is good. And the message is important especially for longer-time believers.
Mustang, that is so well said. Thanks. Perfect.
Outstanding, Z. I really enjoyed reading this. A co-worker, looong ago, once told me something that I carry with me everyday. Jesus said to one of the thieves on the cross next to His, "I promised you that you would be in Heaven with Me; I didn't tell you that you could come down off the cross."
Z: Check this out from ElBro:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/november/fox-news-highly-reluctant-jesus-follower-kirsten-powers.html
Marine4..the actual sentence of Jesus telling the thief he'll be in paradise with him that day just because he realized who Jesus was is my number one favorite Bible verse in the whole book (not that I've read them ALL, I've read most!)
But, I had never heard that ending and I will. NEVER FORGET IT, I promise. For my own good. THAT is an amazing addition...thank you for it.
Ed; thanks. Elbro sent it to me, too. I'm going to blog it tomorrow; in hopes that someone who needs to see it will see it.
You know what I mean.
xx
Z -- I really need to apologize to you and the rest of the readers -- and Jesus. When I wrote that quote, those WERE NOT the words of Jesus. I got a little ahead of myself; it should have been written it as, “When Jesus promised him that he would be in Heaven with Him; He didn’t tell the man that he could come down off the cross.”
I caught what I had done and was in the process of sending this back when I saw that you had already responded. I do apologize and hope this hasn’t caused too much grief.
Marine4...I did wonder about that, knowing full well that we all know that wasn't a direct quote, but it was such a fantastic lesson, I figured "What the heck" and sent it to a bunch of friends. HOWEVER, I also just wrote them back with your quote here..
this is much better.
Thank you very much!!!
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