Renewing your Faith

Like with everything in our lives, we can grow weary, tired and feel like our lives have become real humdrum.  That can also happen with our faith and also with our relationship with God. We have to be the Catalyst, the cheerleader and encourage our own selves when sin enters in and causes us to become separated from God. The sin that causes the separation can lead to the feeling of being overwhelmed, feeling of being alone, leave us with unconfessed sins, lead to us being unrepentant, with no desire to draw closer to God and ultimately lead us to letting our zeal for God to die.

Letting the fire, passion and hunger for God die, will lead to the death of our spiritual self and open the door to disappointment, frustration, anger, heartache, more sin, discontentment and strife.  Just like with any relationship you engage in, if you want it to last long and be strong you have to feed it.  If you feed or sow negativity into it, you will receive negative results out of it.

I'm learning more and more everyday, that you truly do reap what you sow.  You get out of life the same effort and energy you're putting into it.   Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 There's a season for everything under the sun. It is God that knows the plans for our lives. His plans are for our welfare, for us not to fall for evil and to give us hope for the future.  Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to protect ourselves from evil is through prayer and studying the word for spiritual nourishment.  We should make a list of what we will pray for daily.  Before we go into our prayer we need to praise and thank God for who He is and for how He has kept us from evil thus far.  Like in the attitude of gratitude message having an attitude of gratitude will keep us from constantly complaining about what's wrong and anticipating evil to befall us. Being thankful and having praise in our hearts, will build up our faith and confidence so we will continually be reminded that God is truly in control.   Being thankful and praising God even in the midst of a struggle sends God a message that we trust and have faith that He is sovereign (head, leader, supreme) in our lives. 

Because living this life is hard and we will face stumbling blocks that threaten to separate us from God, always remember that God is the answer to whatever problem or situation that arises. 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, says for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs any of our troubles. So we must not fix our eyes on our problems, but on God who is unseen. Since our problems are temporary, better energy is spent sowing into things which are eternal.

Accountability

We are people who it seems it's hard to acknowledge our own faults. If something goes wrong in our lives, we are quick to point the finger at others and never conceive that we may have had a hand in how things turned out, because of bad choices, bad influences and bad relationships. The stark reality is you get out of life what you put into it. Yes, you reap what you sow.  

I recently had to come to terms with my own truth that I'm struggling financially, because of decisions I've made in the past.  The consequences of bad decisions can stay with you for years and years, but I am thankful to God and thankful for God's grace and mercy.  After I've confessed and acknowledged where I went wrong, God is faithful to be everything I need to lead and to walk with me through to restoration and prosperity.

We are accountable by God to know His truth.  God has planned how to live right and be in a right relationship with Him.  We are free to choose whether to live by God's way or not, but we are all accountable to know how the word of God says to live. We can choose to create our plan to live right for God but it's better to work in partnership with God, seeking guidance and direction, so we are victorious when encountering life's stumbling blocks.

In the world today, everyone has an opinion and feel they know how to best live. We have to be people who firstly study the word of God, to ourselves live by the word, to be the Godly example, to create a plan of to who & how to bring the word to the world through ministry and to reprove in loving kindness and with compassion in our hearts.  We have to make sure our goal is not to condemn the sinner, but to shine light on the sin and to encourage to seek a better way which comes through seeking and building a relationship with God. Better yet let our lives be the greatest tool in ministering, living by the word of God allows our life to be the living sacrifice.  Romans 12:1

As a Christian, God is holding us accountable to live as Jesus did when He lived on earth. God wants us to make living on earth, as it is to live in heaven.  1 John 2:6, says for those claiming to be living with God, should be living like Jesus lived.  Matthew 11:29, says "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  John 15:4, says "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain with the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."  Matthew 16:24, says "If anyone wishes to come after Me, must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  The more we seek after God, the more we open our hearts for Him to be in us.

Accept that being a true Christian is leading by example.  Being a Christian example can't be achieved without God, daily prayer, bible study and without practice in walking in the truth of God's word.  Accept that it is being a human to make a mistake, but it is a strong relationship with God that brings love for Him along with a desire to seek His approval that leads us to be remorseful, speak confessions and to have a heart to come to repentance.  If confession and repentance doesn't come easily, don't be dismayed just continue in prayer and continue to study the bible.  We have to accept that sowing into fleshy desires, weakens us in the spirit, weakens our connection with God and hardens our heart to hear from Him.  Knowing when to confess and repent comes naturally, if we accept that we are flawed without God and need Him to be right in His sight.