Month: September 2015

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. We feel it in a thousand things. I say that the heart naturally loves the Universal Being, and naturally loves itself; and it gives itself to one or the other, and hardens itself against one or the other, as it chooses… It is the heart that feels God, not the reason; this is faith.
Blaise Pascal

An emotional decision is nothing less than an attempt by the surface of the heart to take control over the true depths of who a Christian is and their pathway through life. When my heart hurts I tend to start immediately relying on my head knowledge or surface of the heart for guidance and direction instead of a loving Father that always knows best and lives down in the depths of who I really am as a person. These have been the times when the biggest mistakes of my life have most often occurred. Trust me I am not saying we should not have emotions that cause us to cry and hurt as this is what makes us the human that can feel and have compassion for others in distress. During these dire circumstances our faith must be strong enough to lean on and follow a decision that is God filled and God breathed. A time seeking a closer walk after God more actively whether in prayer, fellowship, or study, something that becomes a part of who we are that is so innate within our being that the reaction is natural for all things good or bad. Remember we can never rely on our broken vessels for proper direction. Only on the perfection of Christ. If we look through the windows of life in our hurt and pain to make critical decisions we see a path that seems right, but ends in destruction.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

This may refer to the blinding effects of passion and self-will; for these make a man think his own way best and most desirable. But it seems better to take it as a warning against following a perverted or uninstructed conscience. Conscience needs to be informed by God’s Word and ruled by God’s will to make it a safe guide. When properly regulated, it is able to pronounce a verdict upon contemplated action, and its verdict must always be obeyed. But warped by prejudice, weakened by disuse and disobedience, judicially blinded in punishment and in consequence of sin, it loses all power of moral judgment, and becomes inoperative of good; and then, as to the way that seemed at the moment right, the end thereof are the ways of death.
Pulpit Commentary

What I am talking about is the Position of the Heart and how it must matter in all circumstances and must include keeping Jesus not only down deep within us but to allow Him to take over the depths and the surface. This type of position will reveal the true meaning of acts and actions in light of Gods design. If we walk through life as a Christian keeping Christ hidden in the depths of our heart but not allowing Him to have total control of our actions we become emotional and not spiritual. Yet, when Jesus is standing at the forefront our shallow hearts and intents are exposed to Gods light. Then and only then can we exercise proper discernment to control actions and glorify God through the pain and circumstances. This being a hard saying as we must search our hearts to understand our actions and thereby admit when we are acting on the emotional surface and when we have Jesus at the forefront. Never forget God is a gentleman and will not force us to follow or allow His input but even with that being said our hearts are in His hand. God is much deeper than we care to go much of the time.

1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21:1-2

God Bless You All,

Brett

If I stop and think about my faith and what I am told I should believe because of what my eyes and mind can comprehend I get confused. This worlds standards and self sufficiency stand in stark contrast to God but everything spiritually becomes so clear when I put God first in my reasoning. When the bible teaches that God will give you peace beyond all understanding I understand now as I have traveled through life seeing my daddy sick with Alzheimer’s and yet I have such a peace with this internally all against worldly reasoning. Although I do continuously hurt emotionally I still have peace that if not understood in the light of God would make me feel guilty. As my daddy continued to drift away and my life became more my own. The decisions needing to be made that would always carry daddy’s guidance were left to me that’s when I realized I needed God to guide and direct all decisions. This may sound as if it would be intuitive but I had never realized daddy was in the place only the one true God belonged; at the head of my life. Sorry for the interruption here but oh do I miss my daddy but I know God is in control and all will be to glorify Him in daddy’s life and mine as best I can. Now back to the thoughts at hand.

Now struggling through life God has sustained me and gave peace that defies any world reasoning that exist or will exist. As I have learned to trust God with all things, even failure and sin while striving to do better and asking forgiveness I have become much more settled with myself and life. With God leading every road that I travel has a destination and when walking with God that destination is never a disappointment but always an adventure that leaves you breathless. When I stop a minute to think of a destination that seemed ill advised, one comes to mind that teaches me to be patient and trust in the road I am stirring the dust on currently. God allowed Joseph to be sold to the Egyptians not a very desirable road for sure if following man’s reasoning but oh the final destination Joseph found that leaves us breathless. This road didn’t only affect Joseph but his family, the Egyptians, and the nation of Israel as most times following God will affect those around us. As we give ourselves and our direction to God with trust in the good and bad we will always be living an adventure while everyone around us that does not know Him will be trying to reason things out. As a child of God travels through life there is no doubt that we have peace that will always surprise us as well as those around us. Because we travel our roads with an expectation of what will be the next breathtaking destination God will allow us to see or be apart of.

So to sum up “Why Faith Beyond Reason” because God is so much more than man’s reasoning and He has loved me so much more than I can express in so many miraculous ways that I still struggle to understand. As well as the road I am currently on even though painful will end at a breathtaking destination.

God Bless You All,

Brett