{"id":1458,"date":"2017-04-03T21:43:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T21:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2017-04-03T21:43:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T21:43:16","slug":"faith-gauge-on-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/?p=1458","title":{"rendered":"Faith Gauge on Empty?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Have you checked your \u201cfaith gauge\u201d lately? Perhaps not if we have not experience a challenge to our faith. God provides the gauge. It\u2019s called \u201ctrial.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pastor friend who is now deceased pastored a church that was always in conflict. He eventually brought order to the church and it began to grow spiritually and numerically. He once told me how he tested candidates for deacon. If they didn\u2019t pass the test, he made certain that they were never voted on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

He would walk up to them, put his shoe on top of theirs, poke his finger in their chest, and ask, \u201cWhat makes you think you\u2019re qualified to be a leader?\u201d The ones who didn\u2019t become angry were allowed to be candidates.<\/p>\n

The fact is a trial is simply life standing on your toes, poking its finger in your chest, and asking, \u201cWhat makes you think you\u2019re a genuine Christian?\u201d<\/p>\n

We could reply with all the classic scriptural texts, but how do we respond. There is a vast difference between our verbal reply and physical response.<\/p>\n

The \u201cfaith gauge\u201d is not to inform God about us, but to inform us about God. We cannot stand beyond what we believe. If our reality of God has shrunk, so has our faith. Knowledge of God may stay the same, but reality may wane. The fact is that people who know much about God have committed great sins. One is less likely to commit sin while filled with faith.<\/p>\n

Adjusting and clearing our minds daily makes us aware of God\u2019s presence. Otherwise, our faith will set low on the \u201cfaith gauge.\u201d<\/p>\n

As A. W. Tozer once said, \u201cKnowledge by acquaintance is better than knowledge by description.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality of God causes us to consider every decision and action. For example, every professing Christian knows what WWJD means. But how many have ever applied it? WWJD is not just a cool icon on a bracelet or t-shirt. It is actually a question. Here is the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.\u201d \u2013 John 5:30 (also, John 5:19)<\/p>\n

When our physical response to life does not match our words, the needle on the \u201cfaith gauge\u201d is on empty. An ugly and scowling trial will arrive, stand on our toes, poke its finger in our chest, and say, \u201cWhat makes you think you\u2019re a true Christian?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.\u201d \u2013 Colossians 3:17<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you checked your \u201cfaith gauge\u201d lately? Perhaps not if we have not experience a challenge to our faith. God provides the gauge. It\u2019s called \u201ctrial.\u201d A pastor friend who is now deceased pastored a church that was always in conflict. He eventually brought order to the church and it began to grow spiritually and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paIm2N-nw","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1460,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truthkeepers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}