The faith you have in the Lord Jesus will not strengthen itself. There is no autopilot. There is no cruise control. Faith in the Lord is developed, strengthened, evaluated, assessed, shared, challenged. It is a living and breathing life of faith. This requires immense focus, devotion and perseverance. The moment we become complacent and ignore the weaknesses in our faith is the moment we ignore the words of our Lord Jesus to, “abide in me.” This is a guarantee. This will happen. Perhaps this is already happening. The living God is a God of mercy and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of grace. However, be careful how much grace you give yourself. Never hold yourself to a standard of perfection because only Jesus, only the living God is perfect. But never allow yourself so much leeway that it creates in you a weakened believer with a license to sin. Ask yourself the tough questions. Do I love Jesus? Would I lose everything to have him? Do I devote my strength, time and industry to furthering the Gospel of Jesus in my own mission field and ministry? Ask yourself these questions in the presence of the Lord that he might reveal the truth to you. Humble yourself as he speaks and reveals to you the weaknesses in your life and faith as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Then act. Change. Repent. This is life or death. His instruction is not recommendation or opinion. He is directing you into repentance, into holiness and into eternal life. This will require change and the change will create friction between you and this world. The world will not accept the gravity you place upon your faith. It will mock and jeer at the level commitment you have to Jesus. It will see you as delusional, naïve, stupid, childish. But Christian, these are not the words of life nor are they the words of your Creator Father in Heaven. Never allow these words to follow or torment you. They are lies and they have no weight to them. Escape the temptation to devote energy to defending yourself from persecution or assimilating to the world so as to not be made uncomfortable. Your energy is precious and it must be used to strengthen your faith. This is a good endeavor. This is a worthy endeavor. This is the only true endeavor.
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