Friday, June 5, 2009
Indispensable Faith
Hebrews 11:6- "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him." Our relationship with each other is one based on confidence and confidence rests on character. God is a being of supreme moral excellence, possessing in perfection all of the qualities that make up holy character. He deserves and invites the unreserved confidence of every man. Any good and proper relationship to Him must be one of confidence and of faith. Where there is no faith, it is impossible to please Him. The fallen nature of man began with a loss of confidence of faith in God. Man questioned the very character and integrity of God and therefore opened the doors to every kind of evil and darkness. Only a restored faith can bring a restored relationship. John 8:12- "I am the light of the world, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." 1 John 5:10 says he who does not believe God has made Him a liar... A God who lies is a God without character, and where there is no character there can be no confidence. These things cause me to ask some questions. Do you think there needs to be a balance betwee our confidence or faith in God and our fear of God? Or is our fear of God something that we only experience at the beginning of our relationship with Him? As we come to know God more and our love is being perfected and fear is cast out (1 Jn. 4:18), how do we balance coming before God in confidence still recognizing His position of being a Holy God deserving of our complete devotion and our position of being so unworthy? Or perhaps we can come to Him as a Holy God in confidence because He has made us holy and clothed us with His righteousness. Hmm...something to think about! We need to repent and give a sincere apology to God for distrusting Him for so long and by faith, throw ourselves upon Christ in complete confidence and this will achieve reconciliation between God and man. We need to allow the grace of God to meet us where we are and to change us from what we are sorry we've become into what we are fervently longing to be. My soul is hungry for more of Him and I pray that I will learn more of how to be wise in the wisdom of God and that with the help of His Holy Spirit I can learn to follow and obey the Truth no matter what it may cost.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good questions. I was pondering these things myself and these are some of my conclusions. While the word fear does mean terror, dread, to be put to flight; that which is caused by the intimidation of adversaries, it also means a worshipping respect, reverential awe, a wholesome dread of displesing Him, a fear which banishes the terror that shrinks away from His presence. We are no longer God's enemies. We have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son. (Rom. 5:10) therefore the fear of punishment has been removed from us. Perfect love casts out fear, for fear involves punishment. If my fear of God is produced by fear of punishment, I haven't fully grasped the nature of God or the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice for me. Our fear of God is purified when what motivates us is love for Him and not fear of Him. It is love and not dread that moves me to respond obediently to all He has done for me. But I must be careful to see God in His fulness. While it is true that He has brought us near by the blood of Christ and broke down the barrier dividing us (Eph. 2:13-14) and therefore is so approachable, it is also true that He is completely holy and I must never lose sight of who He is in all His glory. I must not separate Christ in His humanity from Christ in His glory. They are one and the same. So I think while we can come before God in full confidence, we must never come before Him in too familiar a way that we lose our reverencial awe for Him. Our love for God must be blended with our awe of Him. ...let us show gratitude by which we offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:28-29) We must not forget that the consuming fire we worship is also our Father. "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" (Rom. 8:15) Praise be to Him who allows us to know Him so intimately in all His holiness. May we never lose sight of who He is in all His fulness and may we approach Him in full confidence and reverential awe. love you girl, mom
ReplyDeleteI think our coming to God in complete trust and without fear IS reverential because we trust His character and believe what He says and reveals about Himself.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i think Mary's response to Gabriel in Luke 1:34 is a good example. Instead of saying, "no, it's impossible" or "this must be happening a couple years from now when it will be humanly possible" or even just laying prostrate in terror and not speaking....she just gives a curious, engaging child-like response.
My favorite verse in the Gospel accounts is "and the curtain tore in two" ......i think it's safe to assume God wants our continual engagement....no matter how we pray (as long as it's honest)...:)