Park Your Ride
I’ve been rich.
I’ve been poor.
Both can be useful.
Both can have purpose.
Ultimately, both are irrelevant.
We often chase the wrong things until something comes apart and we can’t move forward anymore. Often, faith plays the roll of holding our whole life together. When we park our faith in the wrong faith system or when we park a thinking faith into a thoughtless parking spot, important parts of our lives come up missing. Have you parked your ride in the wrong place and keep feeling like your faith life is missing something called faith?
An ancient renegade wrote to his friends that we are to “Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. Test yourself.” I was recently asked how do we test ourself in whether or not we are in the faith. Here’s my faith-life test…
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+13.5-10&version=NIV
(1) The 1st John Test: what do we say about sin in our lives, who Jesus is, and do we tangibly love others. More on that here... http://juri.guru/thereal/2018/5/10/how-do-you-know-you-have-eternal-life
(2) the Fruits Test of Galatians 5. Which set of fruit are growing? Fruit of the flesh or fruit of the Spirit https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5.13-26&version=NIV
(3) the Belief-Proclaim Test of Romans 10.5-13 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10.5-13&version=NIV
(4) the Spirit-Heart Test of Romans 8.14-17 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8.14-17&version=NIV
So what do you do if you think you’ve failed the faith test? I recommend talking to the One who is always Faithful and True and ask Him to give you His Faith! Then daily ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you have His power to Live for Him. Regularly (daily if possible) meet with like minded believers in Jesus Christ to pray together, eat together, and serve others together.