From:
Date: October 2, 2019
Subject: It's October 2; Good Morning Union
“Oh how I love Your Word, it is my meditation all day long.” Psalm 119:97
Resilient disciples are Christians who (2) trust firmly in the authority of the Bible.
The second characteristic that the Barna research identifies for “resilient disciples” is the importance placed on God’s word. I think the one greatest benefit that I have found as I continue to learn to trust the authority of God’s on my life is the impact it has had on my thinking and how it impacts my responses to life. I’ve learned proof text for my defense of what I believe; I’ve memorized large sections of Scripture that I quote back to God and to myself, but the greatest impact my confidence in the Bible has had on me is the God-guided, rather than self-guided, help it has given me on my journey through life. It’s not a direct one text for every life event, but a general change in how I approach life with all its events. God’s word filling my life and my acceptance of it as the primary authority in my life has changed how I look and respond to life.
“These data indicate that one of the keys to developing resilient faith and experiencing Jesus is growing young people’s belief that a real God really speaks to us,” Kinnaman adds, “that he has something unique to say to our hearts and destinies.” I don’t understand it all and I don’t panic over that. I just focus on what I can understand and offer my life to its Author because I have found the Author trustworthy. And then I see the impact and change it has had on my life. Resilient disciples of Jesus, says Barna, are those who have discovered, and continue to discover, that trusting God and His word is far more effective that trusting humanity and their words. Short term rewards may come from humanity; long term rewards are from God. It all depends on what I’m looking for. I continue to find more value in the long term.
Have a great day deciding Who or what you will trust,
Pastor Rich
Quote for the day: “God gives us the power of choice, but He does not give us the prerogative of outcome.” Ravi Zacharias
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