For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God…Ephesians 2:8 KJV
Faith is a gift
from God.
Faith is a good and perfect gift from a Father who does not vary (James 1:17) – a Father who does not change through the course of time.
Yet faith seems to manifest in so many diverse ways in the lives of so many diverse people.
The same gift of faith that we all share – the faith that God, Himself, has measured out perfectly and given to each one of His children (Romans 12:3) seems so dissimilar sometimes in our individual lives.
The Church that exists today is segregated into an overwhelming array of diverse faiths.
God’s perfect gift of faith becomes lost amid the many ideas and concepts founded upon one unchanging gift of faith.
I’ve experienced this loss of faith in my own life and I’ve come to understand that the diversity of faith that overwhelms and even distorts God's perfect gift of faith comes from us – the Church.
We add to God’s perfect gift.
We take away from His faith.
We make His faith into our own faith.
We -- the Church -- mold the perfect gift of faith to fit our fleshly nature, but faith was never meant to fit our flesh.
Faith was meant to change our flesh. It was meant to mold us and change us into Christ's image. It was meant to add to and take away from us.
To add to our strength and abilities, so that we can accomplish God's will in this present world.
To take away our sins so that we will be ready to join Him in eternity.
I believe this is a lesson that God has been repeatedly speaking to my heart, particularly over the past year.
On December 31, 2011 in reading John 15, God whispered to me that I was entering a season of pruning.
Since that day, I have become broken.
My faith has become broken.
And I have come to understand that my faith was breakable because so much of it was My faith.
Many years ago, God gave me His perfect gift of faith, but through the years I have played a game of tug-of-war with faith. I have, at times, allowed faith to shape me. But much of the time, I have tried to make His gift fit my life and my idea of what faith is supposed to be.
I have shaped faith and made it my own instead of allowing God to shape and mold me through His faith into Christ’s image – and make me His own.
With a sincere, yet inherently wicked, human heart, I have molded His faith into My own faith.
Today from my broken and pruned state I set out in search of His faith. I set out in search of the gift that I have carried in my heart for most of my life, but have often buried beneath my own ideas, concepts, and life influences.
I search for the faith that set the world on fire more than 2000 years ago and became the foundation for the early Church, and I know just where to look.
I’m beginning a journey today – a fresh walk through the New Testament.
There in the God-breathed pages of scripture, I plan to pull loose the ribbons of the gospels, tear open the wrappings of the epistles and the Acts, and grasp God’s gift of faith – His faith.
Today, broken from a fragile vessel of my own making into a much more pliable lump of clay, I vow to allow His faith to mold me and shape me into the vessel – the Church member – that He has intended for me to become all along.
And I invite you to journey with me.
Faith is a good and perfect gift from a Father who does not vary (James 1:17) – a Father who does not change through the course of time.
Yet faith seems to manifest in so many diverse ways in the lives of so many diverse people.
The same gift of faith that we all share – the faith that God, Himself, has measured out perfectly and given to each one of His children (Romans 12:3) seems so dissimilar sometimes in our individual lives.
The Church that exists today is segregated into an overwhelming array of diverse faiths.
God’s perfect gift of faith becomes lost amid the many ideas and concepts founded upon one unchanging gift of faith.
I’ve experienced this loss of faith in my own life and I’ve come to understand that the diversity of faith that overwhelms and even distorts God's perfect gift of faith comes from us – the Church.
We add to God’s perfect gift.
We take away from His faith.
We make His faith into our own faith.
We -- the Church -- mold the perfect gift of faith to fit our fleshly nature, but faith was never meant to fit our flesh.
Faith was meant to change our flesh. It was meant to mold us and change us into Christ's image. It was meant to add to and take away from us.
To add to our strength and abilities, so that we can accomplish God's will in this present world.
To take away our sins so that we will be ready to join Him in eternity.
I believe this is a lesson that God has been repeatedly speaking to my heart, particularly over the past year.
On December 31, 2011 in reading John 15, God whispered to me that I was entering a season of pruning.
Since that day, I have become broken.
My faith has become broken.
And I have come to understand that my faith was breakable because so much of it was My faith.
Many years ago, God gave me His perfect gift of faith, but through the years I have played a game of tug-of-war with faith. I have, at times, allowed faith to shape me. But much of the time, I have tried to make His gift fit my life and my idea of what faith is supposed to be.
I have shaped faith and made it my own instead of allowing God to shape and mold me through His faith into Christ’s image – and make me His own.
With a sincere, yet inherently wicked, human heart, I have molded His faith into My own faith.
Today from my broken and pruned state I set out in search of His faith. I set out in search of the gift that I have carried in my heart for most of my life, but have often buried beneath my own ideas, concepts, and life influences.
I search for the faith that set the world on fire more than 2000 years ago and became the foundation for the early Church, and I know just where to look.
I’m beginning a journey today – a fresh walk through the New Testament.
There in the God-breathed pages of scripture, I plan to pull loose the ribbons of the gospels, tear open the wrappings of the epistles and the Acts, and grasp God’s gift of faith – His faith.
Today, broken from a fragile vessel of my own making into a much more pliable lump of clay, I vow to allow His faith to mold me and shape me into the vessel – the Church member – that He has intended for me to become all along.
And I invite you to journey with me.
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