You or Jesus. Your Faith is in One or the Other.
It is by faith that God's mighty power is released into the life of a Christian (Heb. 11:33—35). The fact that you have doubts indicates that you do not know God as you should. If your prayer life is infiltrated with doubts, you have denied yourself the greatest single avenue of power that God has made available to you. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). God never comforts you in your doubt. Jesus consistently rebuked those who would not believe Him. He had revealed enough of Himself for His disciples to have believed Him in their time of need. God wants to build your understanding of Him until your faith is sufficient to trust and obey Him in each situation (Mark 9:23—25). The moment you turn to Him with a genuine commitment to rid yourself of doubt, God will match your doubt with a revelation of Himself that can convince you of His faithfulness. When Thomas doubted, Jesus revealed Himself to him in such a way that every doubt vanished (John 20:27). You can only resolve your lack of faith in God's presence. He must reveal Himself in such a way that any doubt you might have is removed. Jesus did this with His disciples. He involved them in a consistent, growing relationship with Himself. Jesus took them through teaching, to small miracles, to large miracles, and to the resurrection. Jesus knew that the redemption of the world rested on His disciples' believing Him. What does God want to do in the lives of those around you that waits upon your trust in Him and the removal of your doubts? - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
Oh the truth of the mustard seed. We began life as an infant with awe and wonder at everything we saw, felt and experienced. Through experience we either shrank back or rushed forward into new experiences. We learned to trust and distrust things in life. We learned to believe or disbelieve. We weren't born with doubts we learned them.
I look at what Blackaby says today and then look at me. How much farther would I be in life if my learned doubts weren't there? If I hadn't learned to distrust certain situations would I be deeper in my relationship with Jesus?
We have the universe's greatest paradox in our own minds and hearts: choice.
We choose to embrace one thing or the other. We choose.
We choose to believe or deny.
Do you realize you can't do both?
Choice is always a left or right decision. It's always an up or down. It's always this or that.
You either come to Christ or you don't.
You either believe the God of the Bible or you don't. To try to live in some middle ground, grey area, to be what Jesus called lukewarm, even He spits you out.
Are you embracing the world and looking for pleasure and happiness in it, while also claiming to be a Christian? The world is perishing. The world is full of deceit. The world is decaying. We are not, nor are we ever, in the power of mankind, going to create a global utopia. All we have had since the beginning of mankind are men and women trying to rule over others in mankind. Every one who has tried has failed. Nothing done by mankind lasts. When, after the Tribulation, Jesus Himself reigns as King, the world will experience what life could and should be like. Yet at the end of this time, they will still join forces with Satan to rebel against Jesus.
Our sin nature has only one cure. It cannot be resolved through Budda or any other person on Earth who has ever lived, except Jesus Christ. Only when God came to mankind was Salvation possible.
Faith was what Jesus was cultivating in His Disciples. Faith was there, as Scripture says we are given a measure of it. What we do with it is on us.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Scripture says so. Which means...there's no humanly way to please God apart from faith in God. You cannot create a humanly solution to the dilemma of sin and think it's going to measure up to what God says it must be: a perfect sacrifice.
You can think you believe you aren't a bad person, but your analysis is flawed. The microscope you use to examine your life is dirty and out of focus. Your faith in your achievements and actions is always going to be flawed.
In Christ we are born again. In Christ we regain that awe and wonder as once we had growing up. In Christ we grow in Christ. Only by being born again can we live by faith in the Son of God, who gave Himself up for me.
You cannot please God in any way by trying to live life in your own way. You will someday stand before Christ. Either as one who put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for Salvation or you will stand before Christ as one who's claims of self righteousness won't measure up to His standard. Your idea of perfection is flawed.
You need to take steps in faith just as you took steps in learning to walk. You will stumble and fall. You get back up and do it again. You don't give up just because you fell. It you did in this physical world you would still be crawling around.
Faith is the Assurance of things not seen.
What is your faith in? Simple enough of a question. But it's the most important question of your entire life.
Everyone will stand before Christ.
Everyone will. No exceptions.
Today, in reading this, you've been brought to the point of decision. The choice of Jesus or of you as to whom you will stand before God to say is your Savior.
You or Jesus. Your faith says who is the one.
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