Abiding Faith: When does religious ritual become spiritual idolatry: When it does not produce faith and obedience to Christ in our lives. When we vainly continue a religious practice despite having no desire or longing to fulfill the will of our Lord and Savior. Worship becomes cold and empty when we worship the practice of religion and not the author of religion. The cure comes from repentance. Ask forgiveness for being pious and not personally devoted to Christ. Seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. Ask God for a clean heart and to renew a right spirit in you. Ask him to restore the joy of your salvation. Seek the treasures of Heaven so the Holy Spirit can allow the rewards of righteousness will restore your life to one of energetic – vibrant relationship and worship of Christ.
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The Heart and Mind of Abiding Faith
Abiding Faith: It hates sins and seeks victory over the flesh by pursuing God with a holy passion. It is the attitude of unwillingness to allow anything to cause separation from the love of God. It causes the heart and mind to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost. Why, because God is Holy!
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Do you prefer fact or fiction?
Several years ago I watched the movie The Book of Eli yet, it’s about a man on a mission to protect the last Bible on earth. Eli stops at nothing to keep it out of the hands of those who want to destroy or pervert it. He’s deliberate, fearless, intentional, and moral(ish). (He also takes out bad guys with guns, knives, and swords too).
This movie is filled with violence, profanity, and irreverent behavior. I’m not sure how these Hollywood writers could produce this movie since the main plot is about a man devoted to protecting the Bible. Either way, Eli does protect the Bible and deliver it as he was ‘instructed’ (sorry for the spoiler).
I want to ask YOU a simple question. Which do you prefer, fiction or fact? If you are impressed by the media’s promotion, the critics, or your friends’ review of this movie let me assure you that the real story of the preservation and purpose of the Bible is far more interesting and impacting.
The God of Heaven initiated a plan for man. Devil, Lucifer, Satan has been doing all he can to destroy and pervert God’s plan for man. He does this because he hates God. He wants to be God but he can’t. Since being evicted from Heaven, and while waiting for his final destructive judgment, Satan works every moment of his existence to deceive and distract men from knowing or desiring God’s plan. God has chosen and utilized many people throughout history to record, communicate, and carry out his plan. He used Seth the God-fearing son of Adam, Enoch the man who walked with God and did not die, and Noah the man God used to build an ark and repopulate a destroyed earth. He called men like Moses to lead God’s people out of Egypt, Gideon who battled thousands of soldiers with only 300 men, and David the warrior king called to be a reference point for the Messiah of the world. He used men like Jeremiah who was persecuted by his own people for declaring God’s word, Ezekiel who preached to the dry bones, and Jonah who preached to Nineveh after being spit out of a great fish.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world, came to earth in total obedience to God to preach, practice, and provide all that God’s Word intended. He, Jesus Christ, battled Satan, confronted and condemned corrupt religious leaders, feed the hungry, healed the sick, preached to the believing and unbelieving alike, and finally gave His own life by dying to pay for the sins of mankind. He conquered death, rose from the dead, and returned to Heaven in glorious victory to prepare a place for those who will believe in Him, repent of their sins and receive the free gift of eternal life. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He provides those who believe with the ability and stability to walk faithfully, obediently, and lovingly through this life. He gives believers the strength to endure through drought, flood, persecution, and abandonment. He provides comfort in the times of anxiety and crisis. He gives temperance and courage to the faithful warriors of the Word. He supernaturally creates integrity in mortals who are naturally flawed. He takes wounded people and makes them living examples of faith, trust, and victory. He is coming back to judge this world and physically take all believers back to Heaven with him. The person who repents and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord receives the gift of the Holy Spirit to live inside them. He takes people who are spiritually dead and worldly ignorant and transforms them into holy warriors who are godly wise, spiritually rich, and biblically strong followers of Christ.
Having summarized just these few fact from the Bible I will ask the question again. Which do you prefer, the fiction of a Hollywood movie (or any other fictional story) which will eventually be forgotten when the next ‘blockbuster moves’ comes along; or the historically factual, life-changing, salvation offering, God-glorifying, heavenly directed reality of God’s word?
Whether or not you’ve seen the Book of Eli, all of its fictional details are nothing compared to the Book of Books – The Holy Bible in all of God’s Holy truth. (SPOILER ALERT: By the way, at the end of the movie the Bible is displayed with other books from other belief systems. This would suggest that the Bible is just one of many sacred texts to be valued and respected. If you’ve read the Bible then you know that’s never going to happen.)
Choose wisely.