Faith Beyond Measure – Episode 148
What is the true measure of success? Some would say, faith without measure. Think about those you love, can you put a limit on the love? No, our love knows all bounds and if we give a portion of that love to our Lord, our faith will grow beyond any of our hopes and dreams.
Sponsor Media Angels, Inc. – One More Child book — A Few Minutes With God
The way the world measure success vs. the way God measures success is vastly different. The world says things like, “you deserve it,” and “think of yourself first,” and “you can do it, you don’t need anyone’s help.” We have become a narcissistic society, look at how many people take selfies all day long to post on social media, or apps, expressing their pleasure, displeasure, or just for fun. God has given us free will and we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If those words sound familiar to you, they come from the Lord’s Prayer in Scripture (Matthew 6:9-13) where Jesus taught us how to pray. Free will is God’s will. God’s will is always accomplished. Horrible things happen to good people and when the world is one where “self” is proclaimed as God the society as a whole fails.
If we look at history and the revisionist history taught in the schools is not what I am discussing here…but when we look at the history of mankind we see that any society that ignored faith ignored family. In the present age, we see that the families have been torn apart. Husbands and wives divorce because of irreconcilable differences, the “me first” generation is waging a war and fathers have abdicated their duties in many cases. We create our own hells on earth – we look down instead of up and in so doing we find that what we see as earthly pleasures are unfulfilling. Hell on earth is an absence of love of God, all love is communicated through the creator. We can choose God or we can choose ourselves.
Sometimes I wonder what unbelievers think about death and turmoil without hope of everlasting life. If this is all there is, “earthly pleasures,” then I can’t imagine what happens when tragedy hits, especially death. Is death truly the end? Is this is all there is? For a Christian, if we “know” the truth, why the heck don’t we act like it? We should be joyful and sharing the good news, we should have faith without expecting things to turn out as we have planned.
Our pastor talks about working on the vertical – or relationship with God and if we do, He will work out the horizontal, the life we live. How can we work on the vertical, by prayer by spending time with God, by words filled and inspired but the Holy Spirit? Do we quietly listen for the prompting of God? Set reminders to pray – why not? We set reminders for everything else. My phone pops up a calendar reminder daily to pray. Communication is the key to any relationship and if we are not spending time talking to God pouring out our heart to Him, not in complaint, but in prayer, how much better our life will be.
Faith without Measure
The prayers God answers are ones of faith, and a deepening of our relationship with Him. Why create our own “hell on earth,” instead of seeking the kingdom of God, and earthly happiness with those we love? God’s faith is unconditional our faith is this-for-that. We deal with relationships in that way, when we feel marginalized or maligned we want to retaliate and fight back. Faith is understanding that our human condition is fragility and not expecting others, even those we love to give us the craving of love without limits. Our husbands, wives, kids, grandkids, extended family members, friends – they will all let us down at one time or another. Who can never let us down? The Almighty, the King of Heaven and earth.
Friends, hell is real, the scriptures talk about a hell that is everlasting. We may wonder how God could create hell. Hell is the absence of something – the absence of a thing – the absence of the light of Christ. If Christ is love then hell is without love and it is pure evil and suffering. God has communicated His love for us by creation. I wondered from time to time, why did God even bother to make us – frail humans that have such weaknesses compared to the glory of God. But, as a parent and one who loves her spouse, I realized that love by its nature wants to create. The outcome of love is family. That, my friends, is a taste of heaven on earth. We create hell when we turn our backs to God when we put ourselves first above all others when we believe that this is all there is and heaven may or may not be there, so why bother? When we can’t tell ourselves no.
We have a precious gift just waiting to be given to us – and that is faith without measure. We can use our freedoms, not given by the state or the nation, but by God. We need to pray to God for help to use our freedom wisely and to enter that narrow gate and walk on the narrow and less traveled path. If everyone else is “doing it,” you can be sure you won’t find me “doing it,” as well. God does not predestine anyone to go to hell, only by our free will can we turn away from God. Our hope, our joy, our love, our faith is all in God.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We Christians are just as guilty as our counterparts – we pick and choose what we like or don’t like. If it is too hard we decide to take the easy road. In near-death experiences, when a person is on the threshold of heaven, often the person talks about light, happiness, and peace. If a person has a negative experience the result is conversion, going toward God rather than away from God. It is a balance, a balance of doing life – living life in this world and understanding that a merciful God is waiting for us with open arms.
Let’s Pray:
My God, I come before you sinful and sorrowful, for all the ways I have offended you and put my wants and needs over what You have rightfully wanted for my life — You have given me free will and I have taken this will and turned my back on what is right and just. I ask you, Lord, to help me to see my life as You see it – and to lead me, by the still voice of the Holy Spirit back into the path of goodness and happiness. Jesus come into my life in a deeper way, I crave a closer relationship with You, each and every day. Bring me people in my life who are also surrounded by Your love and Your joy. I pray specifically for the following people and the needs: And, I ask this is Jesus’ precious Name, Amen.
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