It is a great privilege to share with you my experience as a broken man with a mighty God. The older I get, the more impressed I am with Him and the less impressed I am with me.
I think Hebrews 12 has great advice for us. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” Endurance is basically hanging in there, moving on when we would rather stop. I have run a 20 miler. The question at mile 17 was no longer whether I could run again, but whether I could keep walking.
Our couple’s study was working on James 2 last night and our discussion helped my understanding. Faith is an ongoing connection with God. It is not a one-time intellectual assent to God’s existence. The noun (faith) and the verb (believe) share the same root word. Our faith grows to the extent that we grow in our connection and relationship with Jesus.
Pick up the Bible, listen to the voice of God as He speaks. Respond to Him. It is as simple and profound as it gets.
Nobody does it well all the time. Nobody gets it right all the time. No one. And it is ok because every believer has been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, all our sins have been forgiven, we have been adopted into His family, we are completely loved and accepted, we have eternal life. Incredible.
When Thanksgiving rolls around, I am drawn to Hebrews where it says, “Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” Giving thanks is a sacrifice we give to God. Proud people are never thankful, they are entitled, they deserve it. Humble people recognize that everything they have that is good comes from the hand of our loving Father (the bad and the good). And we give thanks.
Your brother,
David
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