“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
This is a stark warning from Jesus, and a reminder of the goodness He offers us in salvation, which is not to be compared to nor traded for anything in this life. We, who believe in Him and know Him, have a special gift. It is a gift we received by grace from God (Eph 2:8). It is called faith!
Our ability to see, to hear, to love and to obey the Truth, is a gift of God. But there are thieves on a mission to steal this gift from us, not because they want it for themselves…simply because they don’t want us to have it! They seek our separation from God and, ultimately, our destruction, whether intentionally or ignorantly.
They can be hard to spot, because they don’t look like thieves, and they don’t talk like thieves. They appear to be enlightened and reasonable people. They are educated and knowledgeable. They present their understanding and wisdom as superior, and consider us to be ‘constrained’ in our ability to think and reason. They say they want to help us think more critically, so that our lives can be better, but really…they just want us to be like them – faithless!
The thing to remember is that THEY DON’T HAVE FAITH! You can only give what you have, and so, from the beginning, what they have to offer is lacking! Engaging them in reasoning can only lead to a foolish trade-off. If they are trying to help you to come to the knowledge of the truth, simply with their logical reasoning, and you decide to put down your faith so that you can follow their logic to completion, then they would have succeeded in making you like them.
Their primary mode of attack is to instill doubt in you, and suggest that since you cannot provide verifiable evidence of your belief in the existence of God (for which they stand as examiner and judge, having rejected the evidence in creation God gave us all (Rom 1:19-20)), that you would have to be deluded to continue to believe it. Well, with such proclamation and logical reasoning, you would have to be a fool to keep on believing… Could they be on to something? Are you deceived? Believing a lie? Living for an imaginary future and wasting your present?
It is good to remember two things. One, the quality of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). With the entrance of proof, there is no longer the requirement of faith! There is no longer beauty in faith. Two, the value God places on faith. “But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38). And we know also that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). If we loose faith, we have become spiritually blind, deaf and dumb – just as they are!
These will be ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding (Mark 4:12), always learning, but not able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:7)! They are insincere, and it is God who has judged them and withheld the truth from them. He is the only one able to remove the scales from their eyes and minds, so that they can see and come to a right understanding, and a right standing with Him.
Don’t fall for their trick that unless it can be proven and seen, it cannot be said to be real or true! That’s illogical considering all we now know about life and our world. We cannot presume to know all things, as they do, because we close ourselves from the possibilities in dimensions beyond our understanding. Now we know in part and walk by faith, but soon we shall know fully as we are fully known (1 Cor 13:12).
We know what we have seen and heard, and we cannot stop speaking of these things (Acts 4:20). We know that just as we believed, others will be given grace to believe also. Those who do need not be convinced by evidence limited to scientific discovery and analysis, nor by signs and wonders, nor will they demand such proof. For we know that “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17), and again, not by much talk and persuasion, but by the grace and power of God (1 Cor 1:17-21, 1 Cor 4:20)!
Hold on to your gift, because He who has promised is faithful (Heb 10:23). We can be fools with the world or we can be fools for God, knowing that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor 1:25). Christ’s death and resurrection was real…let it not have been in vain for you. By your perseverance in faith and of character, you shall save your soul (Luke 21:19).
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Categories: Critical Thinking, Issues of Life, The Latest, True Religion
Grace and Truth 
Now that’s the truth. They don’t want it for themselves, they just don’t want us to have it.
I recurring conversation I have had lately is one of two folks in particular telling me and the world how it is I came to faith. This, despite my statements of my own experience in this issue; they insist on telling me how it happened and the information I used to come to it.
Sheesh right?
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Sheeessh!!! It is so laughable really!
And I love how they are such great accusers! They accuse you of being insincere, dishonest, aggressive, judgmental, delusional etc simply for expressing your opinion… Simply for daring to speak about your faith. And should you even try to defend yourself, they will be proven right – to themselves of course!
It can be very hard to walk away from such hostility and mockery…but after giving your defense for the truth and your belief, it’s all you can do!
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Yes, that can be a tough call Ufuoma, to stay or to go. So important to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit when it comes to that. We don’t want to waste time, casting pearls before swine…but we also don’t want to turn our backs on someone who is being convicted by the Holy Spirit.
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True… But those being convicted by the Spirit of God are not asking you to prove the existence of God. They are asking you to tell them more about Jesus and God’s plan for salvation. We know that the evidence of the existence of God is plain for all to see. Why must we re-produce it specially for them?
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Oh. we don’t need to reproduce that proof at all; God does a darn good job of proving Himself! Trying to out do Him in that area is pretty much a waste of time.
It’s a tough call, how to deal with this, and I think it’s different for each of us. Some folks just don’t need to waste anytime on the naysayers, while others may be called to stick with them.
Having said that, I am sure you wil get company on this post quite soon!
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LOL!!! Thanks for your contribution. Me, I know God did not send me to liaise with Faithieves! The power to convict is entirely His own… Mine is to teach and strengthen believers 🙂
God bless, Ufuoma.
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You just want to equate your Faith that something is true with evidence that it actually is true.
Don’t you see that the Muslim who praises Allah as he slams a plane into the world Trade towers, or be heads one of your fellow Christians, or shoots up a dance club in Paris could say the same thing?
Faith cannot just equal truth for you or your religion. You open wide that door to anyone else with whatever they want to have faith in also.
How would you even evangelize nonbelievers if they already have their truth by Faith as you have yours? How would you even evaluate the differences and ‘truth’ of their truth claims?
How would you keep yourself from doing as the muslims do today or as the RCC did during the inquisition?
Be wary of the Truth the if who asks you to just have Faith. They are the most unstable, and likely to do anything, including hear voices that tell them to kill their neighbors for their land.
Please, don’t go down that road. Think
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Thanks for sharing your perspective, KIA.
Like I said to you before, the problem of “which God” to believe is the problem of the unbeliever alone. A believer knows the God that they believe is true. Now, because I know my God is able to reveal Himself to all people, and only needs me to speak His word and truth, so that by hearing they may come to believe, all I have to do is obey and speak as He leads me to. Those who He grants grace to believe will believe.
Regarding Islam and extremist religion that calls on killing others and all sorts of abominable actions, I know their error, because I know the truth of Christ. I know the wisdom and love of God, which is the CROSS! That doesn’t call me to save people by killing them but by dying for them…by loving them. I am not in danger of committing mass murder to show others the way of life, but as long as I follow Jesus, I am at risk of acts of hatred against my person and against Him. Still, His command is to LOVE, yes, even my enemies.
Any Christian you see that does not walk in love does not know God. That is how you shall know who has the truth and who does not.
Sincerely, Ufuoma.
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Mike the constant efforts by you and your hand of cackling band are one step away from mass murder are idiotic and designed to inflame
You might want to take a look at just who is chasing who from blog to blog spewing hate
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If this isn’t a great word! I don’t know what it! AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! A great reminder of who and what we are facing. You are spot on!
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Thanks my dear!!! It’s a fiery trial…and they will get more desperate in their efforts to rid us of faith. I think the next thing is to classify faith as a mental illness, so they can start locking us up…
It’s a battle for the mind! May God help us to persevere 🙂
Blessings, Ufuoma.
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This is very encouraging Ufoma and I have been inspired even more to be steadfast in my faith in Christ Jesus. Greater is he that dwells within us than he that’s in the world.
Knowing that the gift of faith comes from the Lord, I pray he grants us the grace to have an unshakable faith in Jesus name. I enjoy reading your posts. You are an anointed writer and I ask that the anointing upon your life is increased more in Jesus name. God bless you.
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Amen and amen and amen! Thanks sister 🙂 I’m glad I encouraged you. The Lord who called us is able to keep us, in Jesus’ name.
Blessings, Ufuoma.
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