Intention: an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
the end or object intended; purpose.
Motive: something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive.
the goal or object of a person's actions
causing, or tending to cause, motion.
prompting to action.
to motivate.
Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing.
belief that is not based on proof.
the trust in God and in His promises asmade through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans arejustified or saved.
Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain,etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid
Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing.
belief that is not based on proof.
the trust in God and in His promises asmade through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans arejustified or saved.
Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain,etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid
I've often heard it said that the right intentions with the wrong motives is a bad thing. I think many times this goes straight over a person's head. The truth is, you can intend to do something good but have it turn out bad because you had the wrong intentions. One example of how this applies in my life is religion and my activities. Going to church is a great intention but with the motive of being accepted as a person, you probably won't get much out of the service. But if you are going to a church to be encouraged and gain greater intimacy with God you probably will leave refreshed. If you go to school, help a ministry, or look for a job just to get acceptance... I have news for you.. You probably will fail. If you intend to build your faith because someone else tells you that you need more... you probably will just end up broken and bruised.
Yesterday, when I was riding my bike around town for the first time in a month, I came to a revelation that Faith is like a muscle to be stretched and built, if you don't use that particular muscle for a month you have to start building again. It's a no wonder why for most people, their faith is like a roller-coaster ride or rather a really hard bike ride. Sometimes the road you are traveling is straight and flat you don't have to try too hard to keep moving but you still have to pedal. Sometimes the road is nothing but uphill, you have to pedal harder to get anywhere. Your legs and your lungs start burning and your heart is beating fast, all you are running on is adrenaline until the Endorphines kick in giving you a sense of relief. Like most things, this chemical reaction within your brain is temporary and it won't be long till the pain starts back up again, but if you stop pedaling you will find yourself moving backwards. And other times the road is downhill you don't have to pedal to go down at a rapid pace, but at times you are required to use the breaks to avoid crashing into a car, person, or a huge bump in the road. Sometimes your road requires you to go around a corner with a huge bush in the way of you seeing the oncoming traffic making it frightening to turn, who knows what is actually coming your way? what if you get hit by a car or run into a pole (or in my case get hit by a motorcycle)?
So how do these two issues tie into each other? It is my belief that these two issues go hand in hand. For me I am just learning to align my good intentions along with my Motives. I just don't want to be one of those people who feels something but speaks something different. It seems like all my good intentions lately are motivated by Fear. After being awakened to this habit I have been forced to take a step back from everything while I evaluate this. I'm not kidding about this either, for the last couple weeks I've isolated myself from everything I normally do because I don't want ANYONE influencing what I believe. I have come to realize that my whole belief system is based on fear, whether it be of rejection, wrath, or my future. I will tell you the truth, I am not completely convinced that all that I once believe is correct anymore. I'm sorry to say that I am at a point were I am starting to question "Where is God?" This would be why my faith is being shaken. I think every Christian probably goes through this same stage. Even though I love my God, I just can't help but wonder if there is more out there or if everything is as King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "everything is meaningless under the sun". I've been afraid to ride around the corner because I don't know if I will want to see what happens. What if I'm incredibly disappointed?
They say that prayer is evidence of Faith, if that is the case I am very low on fuel. I don't think I've actually prayed for a long time now, I am now not really seeing the point anymore. Yes, some of my prayers have come to pass, but my big prayers I am not seeing them happen. I doubt that I actually hear God's voice or that I ever had. I think I was crazy, and on the brink of Schizophrenia. Why would God tell us his plan when he says that his ways are mysterious? Plus, God gave us a brain for a reason, we don't really need him to tell us what to do every waking moment of the day. The only answer I am seeing to all this is ACTION. We can't just sit around waiting on a prayer to come true. If you want something, you have to go for it. Don't let people manipulate you to think that it's just gonna come to you if it's God's will. Another thing is we are too human to believe that we could actually hear God the way he ought to be heard. There is too much sin in the way of God's will.
Yesterday, when I was riding my bike around town for the first time in a month, I came to a revelation that Faith is like a muscle to be stretched and built, if you don't use that particular muscle for a month you have to start building again. It's a no wonder why for most people, their faith is like a roller-coaster ride or rather a really hard bike ride. Sometimes the road you are traveling is straight and flat you don't have to try too hard to keep moving but you still have to pedal. Sometimes the road is nothing but uphill, you have to pedal harder to get anywhere. Your legs and your lungs start burning and your heart is beating fast, all you are running on is adrenaline until the Endorphines kick in giving you a sense of relief. Like most things, this chemical reaction within your brain is temporary and it won't be long till the pain starts back up again, but if you stop pedaling you will find yourself moving backwards. And other times the road is downhill you don't have to pedal to go down at a rapid pace, but at times you are required to use the breaks to avoid crashing into a car, person, or a huge bump in the road. Sometimes your road requires you to go around a corner with a huge bush in the way of you seeing the oncoming traffic making it frightening to turn, who knows what is actually coming your way? what if you get hit by a car or run into a pole (or in my case get hit by a motorcycle)?
So how do these two issues tie into each other? It is my belief that these two issues go hand in hand. For me I am just learning to align my good intentions along with my Motives. I just don't want to be one of those people who feels something but speaks something different. It seems like all my good intentions lately are motivated by Fear. After being awakened to this habit I have been forced to take a step back from everything while I evaluate this. I'm not kidding about this either, for the last couple weeks I've isolated myself from everything I normally do because I don't want ANYONE influencing what I believe. I have come to realize that my whole belief system is based on fear, whether it be of rejection, wrath, or my future. I will tell you the truth, I am not completely convinced that all that I once believe is correct anymore. I'm sorry to say that I am at a point were I am starting to question "Where is God?" This would be why my faith is being shaken. I think every Christian probably goes through this same stage. Even though I love my God, I just can't help but wonder if there is more out there or if everything is as King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "everything is meaningless under the sun". I've been afraid to ride around the corner because I don't know if I will want to see what happens. What if I'm incredibly disappointed?
They say that prayer is evidence of Faith, if that is the case I am very low on fuel. I don't think I've actually prayed for a long time now, I am now not really seeing the point anymore. Yes, some of my prayers have come to pass, but my big prayers I am not seeing them happen. I doubt that I actually hear God's voice or that I ever had. I think I was crazy, and on the brink of Schizophrenia. Why would God tell us his plan when he says that his ways are mysterious? Plus, God gave us a brain for a reason, we don't really need him to tell us what to do every waking moment of the day. The only answer I am seeing to all this is ACTION. We can't just sit around waiting on a prayer to come true. If you want something, you have to go for it. Don't let people manipulate you to think that it's just gonna come to you if it's God's will. Another thing is we are too human to believe that we could actually hear God the way he ought to be heard. There is too much sin in the way of God's will.
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