Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Chris Hodge from his book, The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise (Kindle Locations 1172). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I want us to continue down the vein of thought from the last blog because it is so important for us as Christ followers to understand and live by. Chris says, “We face opportunities to exercise and grow in our faith. Spiritual testing is basically God’s pop quiz, a challenging situation or unexpected circumstance that reveals our potential, growth, and maturity. “Many of us interpret resistance the wrong way. We can often view tests as nothing more than an attack of the Devil—but that’s not the case. The Enemy may try to attack us while we’re in the middle of a test, hoping we’ll be weaker and more vulnerable; but the kind of tests we’re talking about here are chances to grow, be promoted, and graduate to the next level. They’re not obst

A thought by Chris Hodge from his book, The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise (Kindle Locations 1063). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is another important thought that we can come to grip with here in the beginning of 2018. Chris says, “You see, the problems we face in this life are not circumstantial or random—they are opportunities to grow stronger in our faith. God allows these tests to prove our mettle and mature us for future purposes. Understanding the nature of these tests (whether they last only a few weeks or an entire lifetime) and how to respond to them can make all the difference in the world.” He goes on, “Determining our core convictions is essential to a strong, stand-up faith. But convictions alone won’t insulate us from the trials that put them to the test. If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then the strength of our faith relies on

A thought by Chris Hodge from his book, The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise (Kindle Locations 852). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is another important truth to see at the beginning of this new year of 2018. Chris says, “We don’t see things as they are, but as we are—through a filter of our personal experiences, relationships, observations, and conclusions. Both good and bad, these variables are often biased, inaccurate, and subject to our emotions.” Later he says, “What we believe—about ourselves, about God, about others, about the way life works—makes a direct impact on our decisions each day. Our worldviews shape the objective events we encounter into subjective experiences. But here’s the problem:   our worldviews are profoundly influenced by the worldviews of others. “In fact, we probably have many ingredients baked into our worldviews that we never cho