3 things to remember about your Christian experience

1. You’re doing enough.

There isn’t a standard to-do list to complete, faith doesn’t work that way. Rather, it’s a spiritually entwined experience with God. You’re doing enough, because whatever you do, you do it with the Lord.

So don’t worry. Relax. Breathe easy, and enjoy the walk with your Creator.

2. You believe.

You really do, that’s for sure. Others might doubt, but who cares, right? You job is not to convince others you believe, it’s simply to believe.

So don’t worry. Relax. Breathe easy, and enjoy the walk with your Creator.

3. You are being led.

The Holy Spirit is not a commander who stands behind you pointing and giving you orders to do something (that is how the Old Covenant law operated), the Holy Spirit is leading you. That means he is in front of you, and you are following. Yes, you’re following, and it’s a good thing to trust that’s what is happening, because it is.

So don’t worry. Relax. Breathe easy, and enjoy the walk with your Creator.

It is always easier to be doubters. Doubting other people’s beliefs. Doubting if they do enough, or know enough theology; doubting if they follow the Spirit. The thing is, we are not called Doubters, we’re called Believers, so it really does help to outlive your life from this perspective. Not only for your own Christian walk, but also when you think about your brothers and sisters who are on the same walk with your heavenly Father.

What do you think? Are there any of the points you agree/disagree with? Should something else be added to the list?

JS

It’s really hard to relax and rest when there seems to be no communication from God. This is something I have struggled w/all my life as a believer, is hearing God, not literally, but now & then it would be nice to hear something. I don’t feel led, I feel on the outside, trying to look in. Do you ever struggle with this stuff? I know in my head all that you talk about, but in reality, in everyday life, it’s not there….sigh…..

http://www.facebook.com/mark.mccune.35 Mark McCune

Hey man, im there with ya, Ive found that to hear God sometimes we need to quiet the voices, from within, and on the outside (other people, media, ect.) But yes, this is a constant struggle for me too bro!

JS

Thanks Mark. Quieting the voices outside is a lot easier than the dialogue inside, don’t ya think….BTW, you didn’t know-I’m a sister

mickmooney

Hi JS, yeah I understand what you are saying. For me, it is more and more about trying to understand and live out of love, and to seek God in the connections I have with others. A ‘relationship’ with God is not like a normal friendship, and trying to understand the dynamics of it, when we are honest with ourselves about it, is also challenging, but it shows a maturity in your faith to be able to question it. The journey with God is unique and is not a lit up highway, but a lamp upon our feet. That makes it tricky because although we know we are traveling with God, we don’t really know where we’re going with him, nor can we clearly see him, even if he is right beside us.

JS

So if our relationship w/God is not like an Earthly relationship, it makes me wonder when people talk so much about intimacy with God and how He is speaking to them often….is this type of stuff subjective, wishful thinking, or worse yet, their imagination?

Gloria

4. You are loved. God is love and that is all He wants to do with you, Love you. He is not seated on his throne waiting for you to mess up so that he punishes you and no, He is not always looking for harder ways to teach you lessons.
So don’t worry. Relax. Breathe easy, and enjoy the walk with your creator.

mickmooney

nice one Gloria

Joy kath

I am learning a lot about ‘Forgiveness’ these days. My question is this: “Can grace be hindered by our Un~Forgiveness?”

mickmooney

unforgiveness will hinder our life, but I don’t think we can just ‘forgive’ with a press of a button. First we need to identify it, and then walk it out with the Lord until our hearts are free to forgive. Once we begin walking with a heart that has forgive any offense, we then realise just how different life is, and how much more powerful grace is in our daily faith walk. But it’s not a law, you can’t just ‘do it’, if one has a need to forgive, they have a wound that can also be quite deep, and therefore they need grace themselves before they can even really identify their unforgiveness and begin to be free from it.

Monica Miller

Thank you! I needed to hear that today.
http://twitter.com/momofadventure Amanda Woods

Because you are being led…”You won’t miss it”!

Don’t worry about your destiny, your dreams, your hearts desires. He knows them even better than you do- and because HE is leading the way, you will end up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. “So relax. Breathe easy. Enjoy the walk with your Creator”.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Vince-Warde/100000320833428 Vince Warde

I think there is a ton of truth in those three points. It’s not really possible to sum up the whole Christian faith in just three short points – so there will always be some very important things to add – such as Gloria’s point about being loved, the fact that the leaning of the Holy Spirit will always be consistent with the God’s Word, and the facts that God must be sought and is experienced by faith. Hopefully most Christian readers already know these things.

That said, nothing is more important than to remember that we are being lead. I like the fact that Gloria makes it clear that being lead is not the same thing as being enslaved and ordered about by an uncaring master. While are attitude should be the same as Paul’s – that we are the bondservants of Christ, the Lord has also made it clear that we are more than that – we are his friends and his children. When we realize this, we cannot expect the Lord to make every decision for us. Does a healthy, functional father treat his children that way? Of course not! A healthy and functional earthly father (or mother) does their best to teach their children to make good decisions. Mt 7:11 and Luke 11:12-14 make it very clear that our Heavenly Father is infinitely better than any earthly father – so why in the world would we expect Him to make every decision for us?

Ultimately, faith is a choice. It is not made in the absence of evidence – but it is not made in the presence of absolute scientific or even experiential proof either. Eventually, we have to choose to believe or not. If it was possible to prove, there would be no need for faith.

Sometime we will be lead through experiences that we would rather not go through. Sometimes this is because we made bad choices, sometimes it is because we need to grow, and sometimes it is just because we all live in a broken and unfair world. No, life is not fair – but God is good and He will never leave us or forsake us.

Wow, you would never know that I am a retired preacher

In any case, good work Gloria!