How often do you provide God the opportunity to share His Heart and Mind with you?

Psalms 139:17-18 NLT

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 

I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! 

And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

Authentic Faith?

The difference between "authentic faith" and a "trust in their own understanding" has huge ramifications on how our "faith" is lived out and therefore passed on.

Biblical principles are made alive by the Holy Spirit as one realizes their need to be guided. Thus knowledge is acquired... If a man knows to do good and doesn't do it, that is sin

The problem is when we trust in our own understanding. (Prov. 3:5-6)

Faith implies a present-tense relationship with God. Present-tense is used in grammar for actions that are happening now. We reside/exist in the Now, and so does our relationship with God. It is impossible to have "Faith" in God without a relationship with Him where His presence is experienced in the present.

We think that we have the ability to anticipate the contingencies that our choices will propagate. But we forget "we see through a glass darkly"! Our perspective and therefore our understanding is limited. But God's is not.

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the children of God.

Tradition?

My son Harrison and I have a "tradition" when I tuck him in for the night.  It's a tradition of words spoken when I have tucked his blankets around him and I leave his room. It goes like this...

"Have a good night (Me), I love you(Harrison), I love you too(Me), see you in the morning(Harrison), you betcha!(Me)

When I have broken from this tradition Harrison has called me on it. And I with a joyful heart I comply.

It has to do with Harrison's desire.

Tradition?

I'm not talking about the Roman Catholic Liturgies. More like the traditions we create with those we care most about.

Here is an example. Since pre-K I have prayed for my two young sons as I dropped them off at school. In the beginning those prayers were spontaneous and inspired by what the Spirit had layed on my heart. I thought, this is good, and determined to make sure I prayed for them each time I dropped them off for school. I have been 'faithful" to do such.

Now my young sons are teenagers. They graceously say "amen" to my prayer each morning as I drop them off, but my feeling is they may have something to contend concerning my prayer. You see I long ago fell back on the tradition of praying for them as I dropped them off at school instead of listening to what the Spirit was saying and responding with something other then a simple prayer for their day.

Tradition? Resting in yesterday's blessing.

Tradition has a certain re-assurance. It provides a continuity with the past where God had guided and blessed with steps to take to maintain a close relationship with Him.

It takes a lot of attention and humility to follow Christ. The easier route is to trust in what worked before. So we fall back on the familiar, and do that again.

But God has moved on.

"What we learned yesterday can get in the way of what we need to learn today" Bill Johnson