Will You Be Ready?
By Thomas A. Tarrants
"How do we make our own fresh start? Paul would tell us to start with prayer and sober self-examination. This is a crucial first step in being awakened to where we stand with God. From there, we can move into heartfelt repentance, confession of our sins, and return to God wherever we have strayed. That is, confessing any sins that God brings to our attention and asking His forgiveness, with a firm intention to forsake them, surrender ourselves fully to Him and walk in obedience to His will.
Paul would go on to remind us that when by God’s grace we were born of the Holy Spirit and united to Christ, the Spirit broke our enslavement to sin and freed us to obey God (Romans 6:1–11). “Never forget that,” he would say. “Reckon it true every day and live accordingly! You are no longer a slave to sin! You are able to obey God. Therefore . . .”
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12–14)"
I’d like to believe, but…
Won’t you trust Him? Step out of the vortex.
https://lightenough.wordpress.com/id-like-to-believe-but/
Questions are good. A thinking and analytical mind can keep us from falling for falsehood. A skeptical approach can keep our minds sharp and protect us from deception. Yet the pursuit of truth can end up being more about the pursuit, than the truth. We can get pulled into a vortex of a never-ending search for answers. Will any answers satisfy us? We doubt any answers or explanations that are provided. Or, if we do accept an answer we immediately follow it with another question.
We are always one question away from believing!
Are we really in the pursuit of truth, or do we just want to stay in a perpetual state of uncertainty?
At some point in life, we all must exercise faith. Faith isn’t limited only to the realm of the spiritual or religious. In many areas of life, we carefully consider the options and evidence, and then we step forward – not based on absolute certainty, but based on adequate and sufficient reasons to do so. We still have unanswered questions, but faith propels us forward.
Christianity is faith-based, and there is no way around that. At some point, we must be willing to jump out of the vortex! Christianity makes the most sense of the world around me and gives me valid reasons to believe, but yes, there are still puzzling concerns. This should not hinder belief, and we must step out of the vortex onto solid ground.