my burg

"...for we walk by faith, not by sight."  (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV) "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)  Over the years I have seen that faith is largely and simply taking God at his word.  We come to trust his character, the Person behind the promises, but we should never let go of the promises he has made in Scripture.  It may seem too simple, and childlike, which it is.  See Psalm 131 and Luke 18:17, for example. I have spent much time being overly concerned with my impressions, my feelings, my felt experience, and my sense of where I think (or feel) God is (or is not) and what I think he is doing (or not doing).  The Scriptures tell us over and over again that we walk by faith not by sight , and that faith is being assured and convicted of things not seen .   Faith is not a matter of being pumped up with excitement but rather walking in trust and obedience to God's...

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. (1 John 5:6)  "How does faith grow? When we don’t have an assurance of God’s love, we don’t want to be in his presence because of our sin. We think of God as a tyrant or harsh judge who has never really forgiven us; or maybe he’s forgiven some of our sins but not all of them, especially not the habitual ones. Faith can’t flourish when you see God this way because all you see is your guilt rather than Christ’s loving forgiveness through his blood. Faith looks at least ten times more at Christ than at your sin. Then you can face sin honestly and say, 'Yes, it’s really there, and I want to get rid of it.' But you do so out of the strength of knowing you are loved. Jesus went to the cross and shed real blood. It was a real salvation that guarantees real forgiveness, a real resurrection, and a...