We live in era not much different from times past. We have far more people, and our technology is more advanced, but people have not changed. So life under the sun remains much the same.
We are fallen. Therefore, if we strive to stand with Jesus, accept His offer to be our Savior, there will be a price. Jesus offers salvation freely to those who believe in Him, but those who deny Him resent it when others choose to love and obey Him.
Read: The One Year Bible daily reading link is here
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 1:2-4
Relate: Two slices and a drink. It cost me nine lira. At the time that was about $2.25 in US currency. This was my Christmas dinner back in 2016. It was the first time in months that I was able to “splurge” and do something nice for myself. Two weeks later I really went hog wild crazy. For my birthday I bought myself a new shirt (20 lira) and went out to eat again (15 lira this time). My financial trial that had been…
View original post 893 more words
Why must life… beliefs.. faith… be constantly interpreted as nothing but a series of tests? Could it be that faltering in a test means we should be ridden with guilt? Seems to me, to engage in faith means faith should be returned. Sorry. Sometimes the hypocrisy gets a bit much and I feel the need to blurt out.
LikeLike
@Doug
There are lots of questions I don’t know how to answer. Those that start with the word “why”, that is “why does God ….” generally puzzle me.
So what then can I help you to understand? Well, I don’t think you understand the nature of faith. Unless it is tested, it does not grow.
Faith is a virtue. To have faith in a virtue, must see that that virtue performs as advertised.
God wants us to love and obey Him. To so that, we must trust Him, that is, we must have faith in Him. To a Christian, faith in God is a virtue. In fact, what makes someone a Christian is their faith in Jesus.
Anyway, here are a couple of posts that discuss faith as a virtue.
https://citizentom.com/2008/02/29/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-believe-in-god-part-iii/
https://citizentom.com/2016/03/28/part-4-for-both-how-a-poor-widow-answered-her-calling-and-government-given-rights-versus-god-given-rights/
LikeLike
The “problem” with religion is that the only frame of reference is the humanity that is each of us.. presumably created in His image. We are asked to have faith yet the only frame of reference for that faith is toward each other in our various relationships through life. Yet religion says we are to have faith in a deity.. yet not in human terms.
LikeLike
@Doug
Jesus is both God and man.
We have three sorts of revelation from God:
Creation shows God as a craftsman. It is indicative of His capabilities and character.
We have the moral law in our hearts. We know innately the difference between good and evil. That’s a good indication that being made in His image actually means something.
We have the Bible, the story of our redemption by God.
What do these revelations tell us about faith? God wants us to have faith in Him. Christianity is about developing a relationship with God through the person of Jesus.
Read the books of John and James. That, I think, may help you with this more than I can.
LikeLike