Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The Perfect Example of Our Faith in God! (Class project - SCPR-520 Multicultural Media History)


THIS IS A REPOST! I THOUGHT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND WANTED IT TO SHARE!
Barefoot College

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other:
“Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something... after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”


Increasing YOUR Faith! (Class project - SCPR-520 Multicultural Media History)






Three Simple Ways to Increase Your Faith



How do you increase your faith? Three simple ways to help build and increase our reliance on God.


1. Read the Word                                                                                        

Or at least hear God’s Word. Romans 10:17 says says: So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Reading or hearing God’s Word is like planting a garden. If you want to grow or “build” a garden, you must first plant the seeds, or the actual plant or flower. God’s Word is the seed that grows the faith. Become familiar with your spirituality and what faith is all about by meditating on its contents. This will give you the basis for growing or increasing your faith.


2. Heed the Word

James 1:22-24 offers a second way to increase your faith: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Correct application must always be built on correct interpretation. But to study the word just to fill your head with knowledge without applying the word impedes God purpose in giving it to you. All matters are relevant. If we fail to heed what we’re reading and ignore what God is telling us, then our faith grows stagnant. Therefore, in order to grow and increase our faith, we need to use that “measure” of faith God gives to everyone and build on it.


3. Test the Word                  

There is a difference in “testing” God by “contesting” Him (seeing how far God’s patience will go with your own self will) and “testing,” or proving God’s Word is true.  Malachi 3:9-11 offers one practical way God says we can prove Him faithful to His Word. This passage concerns tithing and being good stewards of the things He has given us:  Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”  As you “test” or act on what God says and experience God’s blessing, your faith grows.

The process of testing the measure of faith you have may involve trials and difficulties. How can you increase your faith in those circumstances? Consider it pure joy. Whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3.