Something to Think About

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in 
  all circumstances, for this is God's will for you 
     in Christ Jesus.  - Thessalonians 5:16-18

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons. -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Test Me!

Some phrases in the Scriptures make me uncomfortable! Yes, the Scriptures speak to all, even ministers, and certain phrases more than get my attention. One of those passages is Psalm 26:3 where David says, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” I believe David is asking for more than just a test of his faith here, much more.

If we as believers really want to know whether our faith is real then we must look to the place it should occupy in our lives. It is not enough to know the truth and believe the truth; there is more required. It is still possible to know the truth yet still be wrong in God’s sight.

Right now you might be thinking that this pastor is not swinging in the right tree, but hear me out. People put forth a public faith all the time. They sing and say ‘Amen’ in worship. They know the language of faith and God always seems to be on their lips. Yet, this is not true faith; it is nothing more than a superficial faith. It is religion at its best but it is not a relationship with God.

Faith, if it is authentic, flows from our relationship with Jesus Christ and is guided by the Holy Spirit. It runs through our heads but rests in our hearts. It takes hold of our very being and influences our choices and decisions. It will occupy our hearts and resonates in our soul. It will allow us to look truthfully at our sin yet help us understand that through Jesus Christ we have been freed from the power of sin. It is a real faith, it is an authentic faith, and it begins and ends with our faith in Jesus Christ.

It is a deep-seated faith that will produce repentance, hope, love, humility, kindness, and unselfishness. It is alive, it is active, and it abides in our hearts. So it might be that David is not being over- confident in his request, just a bit more honest than I would be. Maybe he is saying Lord test my faith, measure it honestly, and I will not flinch because it flows from my heart and the deep recesses of my soul. It has been birthed out of the truth that you love me and it is in that truth I will abide.

Maybe there is more comfort in David’s words than I originally thought. Maybe I should call out to God with a similar request: Lord test my faith, I want to know if my heart is where it should be. Do it now, the sooner the better!

RefRev

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

Prayer, in many ways, is the supreme expression of our
    faith in God. - D. Martyn Loyd-Jones

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life
       wholly yielded to him. -  Andrew Murray

The First Divine Service of My Day

Prayer is the heartbeat of the believer’s life. It is talked about and written about more than any other subject in the Christian faith. Yet it is an area of struggle for most of us if we are being honest.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian, once wrote “Prayer is the first divine service in the day.” Most of us would wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Yet our struggle with prayer continues.

Within my own heart I know that prayer should never be peripheral in my life as a believer. It is essential and must stand at the core of my relationship with God. So I continue to struggle but I also continue to pray.

It is true that much of my prayer life is self-centered and even petty at times. However, I continue to rest on the fact that my God knows me like no other and that also includes my deepest desire to push past my own selfishness and seek him. As I pray I am reminded of the sacrifice of my Lord Jesus Christ. The indwelling of the Spirit moves me and I am able to push past my own struggles and focus on my relationship with the one, true, living God. So I continue to pray, not because I have mastered this spiritual discipline but because my need is so great. And in my great need I meet my great heavenly Father who embraces me as his child.

So I continue to pray, not because I have to, but because I need to. Not because it is a requirement in the Christian Life but because I have found it to be a necessity in my life and the first divine service of my day.

RefRev

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the 
            difficulties.  -  Oswald Chambers