Tested? ...

Monday, April 8, 2013. When you think that you know what the Lord wants, when you think that now you need to move forward in faith, do you expect to be tested? Do you expect that difficulties will arise, that your faith is not taken easily, but that it will be tested as well?

When does my faith give up? …

When do you give up something which you have sees as the way to go? It is an important question! How stubborn do you want to be, when everyone else around you has realized that you are just on the wrong track?

On the other hand: when you always adapt to the majority of people around you, you will never be able to follow God's will, when he guides you in a direction which he does not show to all the others. When you move forward in faith, it should not depend too much on the faith of the others! Faith is first something between God and you.

Still, the need for faith which is firm and patient does not take from you the need to be critical. You might not be right with what you heard. You might have misunderstood the Lord. You might just be on the wrong track. So you need to find ways to check weather your faith is leading you into the right direction!

Reassuring your faith …

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First, faith needs to take into account all we know about God. It needs to know about the faithful people in the Old Testament. It needs to take into account what God did in Jesus. It needs to know the New Testament, needs to be able to discern the spirits, which lead you in the direction of the Lord and which will lead you away from the Lord.

Faith needs clear decisions of the type: Lord, I want to trust you in this. Even if I fail, I know what I am doing and I am willing to accept the consequences of my action. That is a pretty strong test. It is a good test, since it helps you to make choices which are worth it! Your faith might lead you into disadvantageous situations, and you should think about it before you move into them.

Faith is extremely rewarding. God is there, and he wants us to learn faith and to practice faith. Thus, moving little steps of faith is needed if you want to go huge steps of faith. Whatever you learn, you start simple. So do not try to have faith to move mountains when you never showed the faith to go around the next corner. Go step by step, practice prayer and get to know the Lord daily! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts