Faith because of the questions

With so much going wrong in this world, and recently so many religious wars, lots of people say the world would be better of without religion and without any god.
Lots of people do have lots of questions. The politicians nor the teachers are providing all the answers. Is it not because we do have so many questions that we do need faith in something or some one? Is it not we need faith when the way ahead seems unclear or intimidating, when answers are hard to find?

Faith is trusting in someone who has the answers we lack. Faith is trusting in what is there but which we can not see, cannot feel, cannot touch. Many things in this world may be hidden but come into light one day. Time revealed a lot of things to humankind. Though still a lot of things we do not know nor do we understand. We believe there might be such and such thing happened in the past or happening in the future. We may believe thta something works this way or an other, but often we do not know exactly how it functions.

In this world we are tested many times, and that is where faith comes in and shall proof its importance.

A lot of things may be not clear for us, but we do believe we can trust what is written in the Holy Scriptures. We do not keep our ears shut nor our eyes closed. We want to see what the blind cannot see. We do believe the Word of the Almighty God is the Word of Truth, explaining everything what we should have to know at the moment. Those things which are not clear for us (yet), shall perhaps clearer at the time when God thinks we shall be ready for it. Until then we shall have to wait.

Those who think the Christian faith is a blind faith are mistaken. When we do not want to see what is really in God's Word, we shall not be able to see it. The Christian faith is not a blind faith but has to be a seeing faith. In His Word we should find God. In our heart we should find His Treasure and in our ears we should hear His Call. In the surroundings and in what happens in the world we can see the Works of God. Those who want to follow the son of the Creator shall be able to feel His love. They shall find all the more reason to trust V more than any human being.

Trusting God we do not need to find all answers to our questions now. We trust Him to such a degree that we do not need or demand all the answers. We trust and obey, even when we do not understand and even when we cannot see the finish line.

> Please do find also to read: It's Not a Blind Faith

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Leaving behind the lives we have touched.

At the end of life the only important thing we leave behind are the lives we have touched.
Only two interrelated questions matter. How has my life honoured Jesus? Whose life is better in some way, materially, emotionally or spiritually because I have lived? Generally the more we seriously ask ourselves these questions in life the better the answers after death. They are good questions to chat over with God.

Alan Hermann

Chinese depiction of Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10) - 1879, Beijing, China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation

Dutch version / Nederlands > Enkel het rouwmoedig zelf, ziek van haar pretenties, vindt verlossing

"Only when all our pretensions to self-sufficiency have been shattered,
only when we have given up all our schemes of achieving security in some larger whole which is but the self writ large, only when we have finally realized that we cannot save ourselves even through our noblest aspirations and most exalted ideals, only when we come forward with not only empty hands but contrite heart and humble spirit, only then is there hope. Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation."
- Will Herberg (Judaism and Modern Man, 1951)

"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians. 4:6-7 (RSV)

Lord God teach me to overcome my fears. I realize that the man I can not do anything that ever would destroy me, but my choices can destroy me. So I ask you for giving me guidance on the correct path to eternal life.
I have many questions and many applications and dare to ask it to grant me those in line with your wishes.
I humbly offer myself to you to receive me into your world of peace.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

God won't ask

God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but he’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.

God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but he’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won’t ask how many times you read the Bible to yourself, but he’ll ask how many people you read the Bible with.

God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but he’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won’t ask how many friends you had, but he’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

God won’t ask how much you got out of your church meetings, but he’ll ask how much you gave to others at your church meetings.

God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but he’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but he’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.

Matt.5:28 - “Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Whatever you do for the least of these…

Dutch version / Nederlands > God zal niet vragen ...