Post by solitarysoul on Mar 7, 2007 2:58:01 GMT -5
"Effective Faith " - Devotion for March 7th, 2007
Today's Scripture
"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus " - Philemon 1:6
Today's Word
The great majority of us have the bad habit of thinking negative thoughts about ourselves and our abilities. We think we are unattractive, boring, annoying, or that we are not capable of achieving what we dream of. Even if we do not noticably have these thoughts about ourselves, everyone at least at some point may have them subconsciously. We may not directly have negative thoughts, but in the back of our mind we may still ridicule ourselves because of our mistakes.
However, the Bible says that our faith becomes effectual by acknowleding the good things within us. In other words, our faith is only real and effective when we are focusing on the positive aspects of our lives and circumstances.
We are not going to be rewarded for having pity parties. We all go through struggles in life, but if we dwell on the bad instead of letting it go, things will only continue to be negative because we are unable to have real faith with that attitude, and therefore such faith and our prayers are not communicated to God, at least not truly from the heart.
Our thinking patterns will determine a great deal of who we will become in life. If we always look at the bad, things will continue to be bad, because subconsciously we are telling ourselves that we don't want to feel any better, we want to continue to hurt ourselves be reliving painful experiences in our minds. And this is what is communicated to God. But if we focus on what's good in our lives, and force ourselves to repeatedly say good things about us, we can turn those habits around and have real faith.
The Bible says that faith is knowing what you cannot see. If we had proof that a greater life is in store for us, it wouldn't be faith. Some people say this means they don't know that life will become better for them someday. But see if we do that, we're already focusing on the negative again, and life probably wouldn't get much better after all, because we would continue to dwell on the bad. What you dwell on, will become your reality. Dwell on the good things, and have faith that God has great things in store for you. Do this with real sincere faith and it will happen.
We must be careful not to be arrogant though. It is very possible to go too far with having good thoughts about yourself. Some people become arrogant and so thin skinned, especially in western society today, that they will listen to no one who disagrees with them, regardless of who's right. They become prideful, thinking that if someone is going to rebuke them or disagree with something they say or do, then they have to fight them and defend their pride.
I've met some people who just absolutly cannot be reasoned with. If you disagree with them about something, they will not listen to your opinion or take into consideration the fact that they may be wrong. Instead, they simply fight you, regardless of who's right and who's wrong. Their pride is more important to them than growing to be a better person.
Notice the verse says "every good thing in you which is in Christ Jesus". Again you've got to read the Bible and learn it. If you do not know Jesus and His character, the way He treated others, the way He thought, etc., you will not be able to distinguish between what really is good in you, and what you think may be good but is actually a deception. Remember that the Bible says there is a way that seems right to man, but it actually leads to death. Not everything that feels good, is good. Quietly be confident and think good thoughts about yourself, rather than dwelling on the bad. But this is not necessarily self confidence, this is confidence which you can have because you are a child of God and are growing to become more like His Son.
So don't be arrogant, and always be open to criticizm, but don't take it too hard either. If 10 people agree with something we do but 1 disagrees, we always seem to focus on that 1 negative comment more than the 10 good comments. It's our nature, God created us in His image, we don't like to find fault in ourselves, we were born for perfection. But the truth is we are imperfect and live in an imperfect world. We will always make mistakes and find faults in ourselves in everything we do, but the key is to learn from it, and move on. Don't dwell on the negative circumstances, or it will just weaken your faith. To have faith in Christ after all is to expect the good. That doesn't necessarily mean that what you expect for will happen, but regardless, it will lift your spirit along the way, and you will for a fact recieve more of God's blessings and feel better about yourself.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.
Today's Scripture
"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus " - Philemon 1:6
Today's Word
The great majority of us have the bad habit of thinking negative thoughts about ourselves and our abilities. We think we are unattractive, boring, annoying, or that we are not capable of achieving what we dream of. Even if we do not noticably have these thoughts about ourselves, everyone at least at some point may have them subconsciously. We may not directly have negative thoughts, but in the back of our mind we may still ridicule ourselves because of our mistakes.
However, the Bible says that our faith becomes effectual by acknowleding the good things within us. In other words, our faith is only real and effective when we are focusing on the positive aspects of our lives and circumstances.
We are not going to be rewarded for having pity parties. We all go through struggles in life, but if we dwell on the bad instead of letting it go, things will only continue to be negative because we are unable to have real faith with that attitude, and therefore such faith and our prayers are not communicated to God, at least not truly from the heart.
Our thinking patterns will determine a great deal of who we will become in life. If we always look at the bad, things will continue to be bad, because subconsciously we are telling ourselves that we don't want to feel any better, we want to continue to hurt ourselves be reliving painful experiences in our minds. And this is what is communicated to God. But if we focus on what's good in our lives, and force ourselves to repeatedly say good things about us, we can turn those habits around and have real faith.
The Bible says that faith is knowing what you cannot see. If we had proof that a greater life is in store for us, it wouldn't be faith. Some people say this means they don't know that life will become better for them someday. But see if we do that, we're already focusing on the negative again, and life probably wouldn't get much better after all, because we would continue to dwell on the bad. What you dwell on, will become your reality. Dwell on the good things, and have faith that God has great things in store for you. Do this with real sincere faith and it will happen.
We must be careful not to be arrogant though. It is very possible to go too far with having good thoughts about yourself. Some people become arrogant and so thin skinned, especially in western society today, that they will listen to no one who disagrees with them, regardless of who's right. They become prideful, thinking that if someone is going to rebuke them or disagree with something they say or do, then they have to fight them and defend their pride.
I've met some people who just absolutly cannot be reasoned with. If you disagree with them about something, they will not listen to your opinion or take into consideration the fact that they may be wrong. Instead, they simply fight you, regardless of who's right and who's wrong. Their pride is more important to them than growing to be a better person.
Notice the verse says "every good thing in you which is in Christ Jesus". Again you've got to read the Bible and learn it. If you do not know Jesus and His character, the way He treated others, the way He thought, etc., you will not be able to distinguish between what really is good in you, and what you think may be good but is actually a deception. Remember that the Bible says there is a way that seems right to man, but it actually leads to death. Not everything that feels good, is good. Quietly be confident and think good thoughts about yourself, rather than dwelling on the bad. But this is not necessarily self confidence, this is confidence which you can have because you are a child of God and are growing to become more like His Son.
So don't be arrogant, and always be open to criticizm, but don't take it too hard either. If 10 people agree with something we do but 1 disagrees, we always seem to focus on that 1 negative comment more than the 10 good comments. It's our nature, God created us in His image, we don't like to find fault in ourselves, we were born for perfection. But the truth is we are imperfect and live in an imperfect world. We will always make mistakes and find faults in ourselves in everything we do, but the key is to learn from it, and move on. Don't dwell on the negative circumstances, or it will just weaken your faith. To have faith in Christ after all is to expect the good. That doesn't necessarily mean that what you expect for will happen, but regardless, it will lift your spirit along the way, and you will for a fact recieve more of God's blessings and feel better about yourself.
Copyright © 2007 T. Scott Morgan | www.the-daily-blessing.com
Please feel free to forward this message on as much as you like, as long as this copyright stays intact and the devotion is not altered.
This devotion may NOT be redistrubuted for profit.