Does your faith sometimes fade or dwindle?
Is there an obvious cause you can identify?
Some known culprits can be fear, doubt, disappointment, and discouragement, but there are plenty more!
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1
The children of Israel who were unbelieving couldn't enter the Promise Land because of their unbelieving hearts.
"Yet the fact remains that we still have the opportunity to enter into the faith-life rest and experience the fulfillment of the promise! For God still has ordained a day for us to enter called "TODAY"...
Hebrews 4:6a
There is grace and hope for "today" to know that He is our Promise land. How that plays out in each of our lives may look different but we each have an opportunity to enter each day in faith. God offers new mercy every morning.
"Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
I recently learned that in our western culture the way we are taught from early childhood to interact with the world around us is highly influenced by a "Greek mindset".
We've grown up in a system which is essentially humanistic. Man being central to the universe.
"Creatives" may have difficulty fitting in to this system easily. Truth is taught primarily through science and humanistic philosophy...only by what we can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and can test. We have layer upon layer of learning in a linear progression, everything being fact based. Therefore, the unseen spiritual realm is often denied existing at all, so creation by God is contradicted.
According to Rom. 1:20, God's invisible qualities--are evident everywhere to everyone.
The visible declares the invisible!
Hebrews 11:6 states “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
It's through relationship with the Creator that our fears are quieted and our doubts are stripped of the power to keep us wandering in unbelief.
This invisible God speaks to us through His Word to come close and see the unseen.
He beckons us through His Spirit to come closer in intimacy...to ask, seek, knock; then keep on asking, seeking, knocking...to pray...to listen...to trust and obey.
The Biblical Hebrew mindset teaches in cyclical fashion, not linear, and is more like an upward-climbing spiral. So the Biblical annual feasts, celebrations and traditions reinforce the original event and remind us of God's faithfulness in the past. Rather than having a sense of going "backwards” as in passing or failing, God calls His people forward and upward, looking to Him, the "Author and Finisher" of their faith. (Heb. 12:2)
God being central is the source and essence of creation, making everything possible.
I suggest that in this world these two mindsets may often collide resulting in confusion.
I share this in hopes that it may shine some light on possible sources of vague, undefined areas of struggle we may experience, which can undermine our faith.
Phil. 4:13 states "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".
This precious promise assures us that those who are "in" Christ have access to His wisdom, grace, knowledge...ALL things.
In every "TODAY there is new mercy and fresh faith available!
We at Signet believe God desires to reveal His love and His ways to you personally.
We would be honored to seek God with you and encourage you.
Carla Ambrosini, Signet Team Member
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