Horizontal Faith

Faith and Christianity is not about limiting rules and finger wagging, angry correction. The salvation of Jesus is about guidance and protection that we can have as we walk through this dangerous life.

Rejecting God is like rejecting the Christmas gift you begged your parents for, the one thing you always wanted and dreamed of, and then denying it. Why would you do that? You wouldn't. Yet many of us want a peaceful existence, less hard times, guidance and comfort for this life that our friends and neighbors can not give us. When it's offered to us, we doubt, get angry, mock, scoff, and reject it. Hmmm?

The Christian life is guidance so we are protected from any and all harm. It's life hacks for making life less laborious. It's direction for making choices that benefit and give to us rather than hurt or take away from us.

It's protection for our loved ones

It's freeing and uplifting. It's good energy. It's balance and clarity.

It's health and wellness.

It's peace of mind.

If you're saying "yeah but, what about my friend who was a Christian and she had a horrible life and died young." Or, "What about that preacher who did this and that?" "What about my unanswered prayers?"

Well, about that? That's looking horizontally, not vertically. It's looking at other fallible human beings like yourself. It's learning from the gospel of our peers. That's horizontal faith. Faith in others, not God. The one thing we want from faith is something above our abilities, so why look at other folks and make judgments on what faith and Christianity is base on them? They're not God?

Consider this. Look up, vertically, not horizontally. How? Look in The Bible. Ask for understanding, then read. Ask for discernment and guidance as you listen to preachers and Bible teachers. We all are to be discerners of the Truth. The Holy Spirit gives us discernment so we know when preachers are not preaching the Truth.

Looking to the world is horizontal. Looking to Jesus, the Word made flesh. Hearing the Word of God will bring all the desires of your heart. I'm not saying there will be no trouble. I'm saying there will be less trouble, more solutions and real comfort

The desires of your heart are often not what we think them to be. They are better than we could ask, think, or imagine, and following God will bring them to us. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20

Jesus didn't come to make us feel guilty. He came to give us a life of abundance in all things, spiritual and tangible, in this world and the world to come. John 10:10

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. It is you and I that daily either choose to accept that gift or reject God and the gifts he has to offer us, like protection from harm, sickness, lack, worries and more.

His comfort, guidance, protections are so easy to receive and so beautiful to live out. Matthew 11:28-29 - is one of my favorites. It is what God is all about. It is what He longs to do for us. Isaiah 30: 18 tells us 'He rises to show us compassion, He longs to be gracious to us. Isaiah 30: 18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29 -

The "yoke" in this verse is one form of guidance from God. He will guide and direct us so that we do not stumble, so that we can make good decisions, we can avoid going the wrong way, both figuratively and literally. The scriptures that tells us what not to do are there so we avoid trouble, not to limit us. Avoiding the 'do nots' will bring us a better life. This yoke is very freeing. It allows us to soar, not be held down. It frees us from the burdens of life.

It really is that simple.

Ask for understanding and read it again. Then just allow it to go with you through your day. Ask and ye shall receive, is so much deeper and more full of goodness than we can imagine. Ask for all things, expect to receive. Prayers are not wishes. Take the scripture literally. Prayers and meditation reap the desires of our hearts. wonderful, results. If we stop begging in our prayers and begin visiting with our most honored and trusted friend, our world will change. The light of life will live in your Spirit, which will restore your mind, restore your will, and restore your emotions. That is what we want after all. The restoration will bring health to our bodies.

Looking at others to decide what faith and Christianity will only ruin our own chances to enjoy a relationship with the only One who can give us what we truly want.

(Our Soul is our mind, will, emotions)