Comments Please: my devotion and it's theology

[theseed]

Becoming Like a Child



1 Corinthians 1
27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong



How many times, my brothers and sisters, have you heard from the unbelieving, “I can’t accept God without proof; how do I know that Christianity is the right one.” Often it is the wise and intelligent people of this world who have said in their hearts, “There is no god” (Psalm 14.1; Romans 1.21). God in His infinite wisdom did this “so that no man may boast.” The wise of this world have no hope of ever finding eternal life without having faith in Jesus Christ, and this is foolishness because they are spiritual matters.



However, those who us who do believe, know the thoughts and wisdom of the Holy Spirit because they have the Spirit living inside them, and they can discern Spiritual matters (1 Corinthians 2 .14-16). We have the mind of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, we come to understand all things and He leads us into all Truth, and convicts us with word of the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 1.5; Titus 3.5; John 16.5-16). The Spirit convicts of things not seen, which many unbelievers consider foolishness. Faith is the conviction of things not seen, and to the perishing, this is foolishness, but to those who believe, it is eternal life (Hebrews 11.1-2). Just as the Spirit led Christ, so are we (Luke 4.1).



No one has seen God except by faith, we believe because the Spirit lives in us, and allows us to see, the Spirit explains Jesus Christ to us (John 1.18; 1 John 4.12-14). So, know one can find eternal life through their vast intellect, but must become like children and receive God’s wisdom on faith, like children we believe without demanding proof and we believe and God pours out his wisdom upon us, because we received his word, freely. Just has children were considered lowly, so too we humbled ourselves in the sight of the Lord, so that and we will be lifted up (James 4.6; Proverbs 3.34). This promise is for all people, everywhere, without exception (John 3.16; Titus 2.3-6). Just has Christ allowed all children to come to him, so too will God the Father not disappoint anyone who earnestly seeks him with a child-like faith (Hebrews 11.6; Romans 10.13; Joel 2.32; Romans 10.11; Isaiah 28.16).

 

[dsdumpling]

Excellent devotions!

 

[theseed]

Excellent devotions!

Thank you

 

[theseed]

I would like to know what everybody thinks about my thoughts on child-like faith verses athiestic logic?

 

[Arikereba]

Well, it's a really nice way to look at one side of the coin, but it's just one side of the coin. And putting it that way--to an agnostic or atheist at least, if I can rightly remember what it was like to be one--kind of implies that you can't be Christian if you use your brain.

If not that, it implies that coming to faith from outside it is roughly equivalent to arbitrarily deciding to believe in the Blue Fairy.

I could logically deduce that Santa didn't exist because I never got what I wanted for Christmas, and there were millions of starving children who didn't get what they wanted either. So I abandoned my childlike faith in that guy in the face of cold, hard evidence.

Childlike faith is important because we can't have all the answers in the here and now. We can't even have most of them. But faith has to stand up to logical opposition, too--and if it's real, nothing that science can say will be able to untie it. I didn't start to have faith by arbitrary decision. I started to have faith because I read Kierkegaard (okay, popular explanations of Kierkegaard) and C.S. Lewis and it stood up logically a lot better than I expected it to. But I have the brain of a scientist, or someone who occasionally dabbles in science at least, and though I can have faith in what isn't proven I can't have faith in what seems wildly implausible, logically.

And people still have big, hard questions about faith. And they're valid questions that deserve an answer. I think that thinking about them is better than saying, well, just have faith.


Well, that may be a complete tangent. If so I'm sorry.

 

[Bulldog]

I would like to know what everybody thinks about my thoughts on child-like faith verses athiestic logic?

I absolutly agree.

 

[theseed]

Well, that may be a complete tangent. If so I'm sorry.

Your fine, I appreciate all your comments. I know that I am struggling to make something that is complex--on a topic of simplicity.

It's seems over and over though, that Christians "see" because they believed by faith, whereas skeptics, and hyper-skeptics demand to "see" something before they believe, and so they place a barrier before themself and God.

This is where children differ from hyper-skeptics. Children are very open minded to believing and trusting all kinds of things, whereas many hyper-skeptics refuse accept the possibility that anything supernatural is possible. They simply write those unexplainable things off as "anomalies". I do believe that if we are ever to seek the truth about Jesus Christ, then we must become as children. 1)We must be open minded to the supernatural and 2)We must freely accept good "evidence" whether it be logic or something tangible. Children take such things as prima facie, or self-evident, or face value. Chidlren, being new to the world, don't have very many pre-concievd notions. 3)Non believers will need to put such things aside if they are to genually seek the truth about Christ. 4)Lastly, They must be willing to exersize some faith, and many anthiest and agnostics are not willing to take anyting on faith, and as you have alluded too, faith can be logical. So I suppose in some sense, children are wiser than hyper-skeptical adults.

 

[countrymousenc]

It's seems over and over though, that Christians "see" because they believed by faith, whereas skeptics, and hyper-skeptics demand to "see" something before they believe, and so they place a barrier before themself and God.

I'm reminded of the gospel of St. John, in which (I think in chapter 6 somewhere) people were asking Jesus for a sign proving that He was really the Messiah. The thing is, they had already seen Jesus do miracles, and undoubtedly heard the stories of other miracles He had done.

It really does come down to the heart. A hard heart will go on refusing to believe no matter how much evidence it is offered. A tender, childlike heart that does believe isn't a blind heart, but a truly-seeing heart.

 

[theseed]

I'm reminded of the gospel of St. John, in which (I think in chapter 6 somewhere) people were asking Jesus for a sign proving that He was really the Messiah. The thing is, they had already seen Jesus do miracles, and undoubtedly heard the stories of other miracles He had done.

It really does come down to the heart. A hard heart will go on refusing to believe no matter how much evidence it is offered. A tender, childlike heart that does believe isn't a blind heart, but a truly-seeing heart.

1 Corinthians 1

22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,