The First Step In Faith Is To

I Have A Word For You. I Know Your Whole Life Story. I Know Every Skeleton In Your Closet. I Know Every Moment Of Sin, Shame, Dishonesty And Degraded Love That Has Darkened Your Past. Right Now I Know Your Shallow Faith, Your Feeble Prayer Life, Your Inconsistent Discipleship. And My Word Is This: I Dare You To Trust That I Love You Just As You Are, And Not As You Should Be. Because You’re Never Going To Be As You Should Be.

We Are Enveloped In Peace, Whether Or Not We Feel Ourselves To Be At Peace. By That I Mean The Peace That Passes Understanding Is Not A Subjective Sensation Of Peace; If We Are In Christ, We Are In Peace Even When We Feel No Peace.

In Human Beings, Love Is A Quality, A High-prized Virtue; In God, Love Is His Identity.

The Story Goes That A Public Sinner Was Excommunicated And Forbidden Entry To The Church. He Took His Woes To God. 'they Won't Let Me In, Lord, Because I Am A Sinner.' 'what Are You Complaining About?' Said God. 'they Won't Let Me In Either.

In Explaining The Growth Of His Faith, Psychiatrist Gerald May Writes, "i Know That God Is Loving And That God’s Loving Is Trustworthy. I Know This Directly, Through The Experience Of My Life. There Have Been Plenty Of Times Of Doubt, Especially When I Used To Believe That Trusting God's Goodness Meant I Would Not Be Hurt. But Having Been Hurt Quite A Bit, I Know God's Goodness Goes Deeper Than All Pleasure And Pain It Embraces Them Both." Ruthless Trust, Pg 22