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Faith
Journey-Bob Yacobucci
Last Updated: March 25, 2008
This is my blog and
I hope it helps someone that is struggling with their faith.
Continue to struggle, don’t throw in the towel; don’t let people around
you that are setting bad examples drag you down. It’s easy to
give up. Jesus does not promise an easy path, but He will make
the path easier for you as you learn to lean on Him.
Losing faith and coming out of the valley
Is
losing faith normal? Seeing God through the eyes of other people
has weakened me. I find when I rely on other people to reflect
God that the mirror is dimmed or reflects the wrong image. I am
beginning to understand something that I’ve always known, that Man can
never be a true reflection of God and this is why we can never be in
the direct presence of God. We desecrate His reflection and
therefore His meaning and existence. We are dirty and not worthy
of His mercy, yet He extends His love to us through His son
Jesus. The true God can only be seen through our own eyes.
When we depend on another person, people, and even a Church to
represent or reflect God, it leaves an opportunity for Satan to stand
in between us and God. It is Satan himself which will distort the
image; begin to cover up the reflection, and cast God out our
lives. But Satan himself cannot interfere with us when we have a
direct relationship with Christ. Christ is the reflection of God
and He cannot be distorted, covered up, or restrained because He
conquered death, sin, and therefore Satan.
In my ever constant
struggle to find proof of God, I rely on the things of this world which
pulls me down into a slippery slope. I begin to wonder if I am
the only one to see God as He is. Why do most continue to go
about their lives as if walking by something miraculous and they cannot
see it as I do. This is not to say I am the only one, but I feel
as-if I am the only one at times. Am I the seeking something and
conjuring up this “God” I ask myself.
I do know that living
without God is a life that is not worth living. To be brought
into existence, to suffer emotional and physical pain, then to die and
go into non-existence doesn’t seem to match the universe of creation we
live in today. I cannot accept this as the purpose of human life
or life in general. If this were the truth, it would be better
that I never had been born.
So I exist. I see God.
But, yet I see so many others that seem to walk by these facts as-if
casting out or blinding themselves to the true God. Not wanting
to accept His true-love for fear that their unclean self will be
exposed. It is better and easier to hide in the dark, afraid of
coming out, then to be held accountable, and to allow ourselves to be
forgiven and cleansed. As a child runs away from the mother when
it is time to wash, we run from God. As child turns their head
to-and-fro when their face is to be washed of dirt, we turn ourselves
to-and-fro from God trying to escape Him. We love our sin.
It is easier to sin then to be held to a higher standard. I
wonder why God continues to love us. But as a mother’s love
extends to a child, even in the darkest times, God continues to extend
his love to us through his son Jesus. We just need to receive Him
in our heart. However, our time is limited to accept this gift.
Many
of us continue to go about our daily lives as if we are putting off the
inevitability that our death is in our future and therefore our
accountability. Somehow we believe that if we ignore what we know
deep down to be true, that it will someday go away. But we do
know someday we will have to face the one common question that binds
all of us together and that question is “Is there a God?”, and if so,
how will I be judged? We ignore this everyday in our lives by
doing what makes us feel comfortable. We continue to do what we
think is the bare minimum, maybe going to church, obeying Mans laws, or
hanging a chain with a cross around our neck as if this will suffice
God.
We have molded God into a comfortable God, one that does
not demand, one that does not intrude on our lives, and one that will
forgive us even though we do not seek forgiveness. Instead of sin becoming distasteful and
repulsive, we water it down and make it more palatable by falsely
believing God will accept us with our sin. We continue to act as
if there are no rules and a few sins here and there make no
difference. But they do make a big difference. As our
society has become immune to violence, explicit sex, and
self-indulgence, we have slowly drifted further away from God.
Look around. Where do you see God reflected in our society
today? God has become a burden to our society. It is easier
to promote sin because we see the immediate and direct result.
God on the other hand is not of this world. When we serve Him we
are preparing our future to be received by Him and the place He has
already prepared for us, which is not of this world. We only have
to seek Him and serve Him in our daily lives to receive this glorious
gift that awaits us all.
What does this all mean? To me,
it means I must try harder to conquer the doubt and only to look into
His eyes for guidance and to not turn away again. I have
concluded that I need to try harder by staying the course. I
won’t give up on God, because God will not give up on me. As long
as I reach to Him for guidance, He will be there to help me. I do
not care how other people may view me. They may think of me as a
fanatic, old school, or a religious freak, and I gladly accept these
labels for I prefer to be serving God then trying to satisfy this
world’s definition of what my life ought to be. I am finding that
the path God is willing me to walk is a much brighter path than the
path that lies before me in this world. I will not sell myself to
this world. For what does this world offer us other than a
temporary sanctuary that is built upon sand?
I asked
God this question, “Lord, if what I am doing is for you, and I feel it
is not doing any good, why are you asking me to do this?”
Here
is a short story that helped answer this question. “A man is
placed on a field by the Lord with a sword in his hand.
Surrounding the man is 1,000 foes. Should the man lay down his
sword or shall he fight valiantly for the Lord? And if he were to
fight valiantly and die without cutting down one, would the man have
wasted his life? And what of the second man unbeknownst to the
first who was placed on the hill surrounding the field to witness the
battle which blessed him with courage to go out and cut-down
7,000. Should the first man have questioned the wisdom of the
Lord?”
Do as the Lord commands and leave the future to
Him. Do not concern yourself with His plan, only His will.
We are not capable of understanding everything God has planned.
So if you are doing what you truly believe the Lord is asking, and you
will know it, just do as He asks.
How can I be sure I am asked by God to do something or I am doing it of my own will?
This
is a very difficult question to answer. We may be tempted to say
“We are doing God’s will” because it makes us feel better or we are
hoping that God has personally asked us to do something for Him.
God
has asked us to follow the teachings of His son Jesus. If you are
following the teachings of Jesus, then you are doing God’s will, and
that is good. However, if you feel you are asked to do a special
project for God, and you are not sure if it is God’s will, you need to
ask God and He will answer.
The tasks God asks us to do are not
easy and are insurmountable without God's help. They go against the grain of who we
are. God had a small boy slay a giant, and He asked a man of
power, comfort, and wealth to drop it all to go against the king and
lead prisoners from a land through a dessert without knowing the future
and He asks very uncommon people to deliver His messages to great
leaders. To do God’s will, we need to seek guidance and help
from Him. And He will provide His wisdom and guidance so that
others may know that it is the work of God.
What if there is no God, and then I will have wasted my life?
A
preacher recently retired and during the last sermon she told a
story. She was visiting a friend’s home and the friend’s husband
who did not believe in God said to her in jest, “I don’t understand why
you spend so much time with God, if there is no God, then you will have
wasted your life”, and the Preacher responded, “And if there is a God,
will you not have wasted eternity?” She did not say it out of
unkindness, but to have the man think about his future with God.
Spending your life following God’s message and His will prepares you
for eternity.
Someday we all will be directly facing death,
especially as we become older and our health begins to fail. What
will your thoughts be of? You may spend some time dwelling on
your past, but your biggest fear will be thinking of your future and
what will happen to you after you pass from this life. It’s
better to begin preparing yourself now since the time for Jesus return
may be sooner than you think.
As Christians are we denying God?
I
recall thinking when our preacher told the story of Peter denying Jesus
three times “How could Peter do that…I would never have done
that!” Sometime ago someone said in front of several of our
friends these words referring to me: “Oh he is a religious
fanatic.” I didn’t say a word, but I was upset that someone would
accuse me of being a fanatic. Especially since the word “fanatic”
has a negative connotation. “Why did this person say this?” I
remember thinking. I thought I was upset because they used the
word “fanatic.” I had the sense that God was just looking at me
and not saying a word. I realized that someone had just accused
me of being “so much into God” that I was a fanatic…and I thought after
awhile “What is wrong with that?” What was wrong is that the
person announced it in front of my friends and I was embarrassed that
they may discover “I am into God.” I wanted to have the benefit
of knowing God, but I wanted to deny it in front of friends…I didn’t
want anyone to know this about me…I had just denied God!
The
radio station I listen to has this message on the broadcast “If you
were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence
to convict you?” Have you built up enough evidence?.
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