Measure of faith

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" Romans 12:3. 

Each of us has got a measure of faith. You may think you don't have any, or lost it, but that is not true. It is in your heart and you have to activate it and use it. As you do it, God will purify it, perfect it, and increase it. In order for faith to be active and grow, you need to have the right focus. Remember when Peter walked on water? Well, he did, but only for a while. When he looked at Jesus, his faith was active and he walked on the water. When he looked away, he doubted and started thinking. However, Jesus is merciful and saved Peter.

Peter's example is actual for us too. We need to keep looking in the right direction for our faith to work. The word of God is the right focus. The testimony of our five senses, particularly when they contradict the word of God is not the right focus. Circumstances, five senses, problems, the world will misdirect our focus and cause us to doubt. Let's stay focused on what the word of God tells us, not how we feel, or what thoughts come to our minds, what the world tells us, or what our five senses tell us. Our true identity is in Christ and He should be in our focus daily. This is how we keep our faith active.

What do you focus on

Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

A lot of things happen in our daily lives. Some are good, some are bad. Jesus did not promise us life without troubles. However, He promised us victory and even when bad stuff comes our way we will come out of it as winners. Unfortunately, we do not see much of that in most of our lives. Why is that? I believe our focus on the ‘wrong stuff’ keeps us on the losing side. We think about our weaknesses, troubles, problems, losses, failures and etc. and we stay in those things indefinitely. Why? Whatever we focus on grows. By focusing on the negative things we magnify them and they overwhelm us. We become victims of our own thinking. 

I want to repeat myself that I do not deny the fact that we constantly experience troubles. I want to say that our focus helps or hinders us to get from ‘the bad’ to ‘the good’. If you meditate on the negative side, that stuff takes a firm grip on you and does not let you to break free. 

Let’s assume you have lost your work and are unable to find any at the moment. What do you focus on and what are your expectations? Do you beat yourself up, think how hopeless you are, be desperate and see only doom and gloom, or you still find ways to enjoy life, have hope and expect bright future. Your thinking will determine how you feel and this really makes a difference. You can be in trouble for a considerable period of time and still enjoy life, because your attitude determines whether you are happy or not, and not the circumstances you are in. If you think you are a victim of your circumstance and only when they change you will be happy you will be disappointed. Circumstances will change, but they will not change you. You will stay the same. And if you were unhappy during troubled times you will not be happy during good times, because your focus will be the same. You will find things to be unhappy about. 

If you are ill and situation does not change or even gets worse you still have to look for positive things to make you feel better, have fun and enjoy life. Disease is not your cross to be carried. Think about God’s love and that one day your trouble will be over. Believe for a miracle and for the time being find courage to laugh at your problems. If you have joy during hard times you are a more than a conqueror. If you have joy, you are a winner.

Change your focus now. Find the silver lining now. When things get better you will be even happier then. If you do not change, a change in circumstances will not bring about a desirable change. Love God and expect good things to happen and God Himself will work for the good of you. Just be sure to think right.

Happy New Year! I wish you the most blessed year you have ever had.

Forget not his benefits

Psalm 103:2: “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…”.

People tend to concentrate on bad things: what they do not have, unfavorable circumstances, failing relationships, lack of money, past hurts, problems with health and etc. That is the dark side of life. Everybody has it. However, that is not all there is in life. On the contrary, God has given us a lot of his benefits. The Psalm goes on to tell us what some of them are. I do not want to mention them in the post. You read the whole chapter to find out for yourself. And think about it when your focus tends to shift to the dark side.