Extreme Faith

Admittedly, I am a person given to extremes.  My husband can attest to that.   He has had to endure many of my, “I am not going to ever again,”   “this is the best thing ever,”   “I will always” speeches.  God bless his patient soul.  If I find something new, I take it and run with it.  I mean sprint.  I remember when I first learned of all the gross things they are doing to our foods, especially our meats.  I made up my mind that I would never again purchase meats that aren’t pasture fed, grass fed, etc.  Then the inevitable moments came.  I saw our bank account and remembered the power of praying, “Lord bless this food and remove all impurities; antibiotics, hormones & all.  In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!”   Money in the bank, food in my tummy! He did it for Elijah and the poisonous pot of stew in 2 Kings 4:38-41 and I am confident that He will do it for me.

Yes I have had to soften my stance and back down on many of my extreme statements BUT there are some EXTREMES I still hold to.

  • Jesus is still the only way.  I mean ONLY! (John 14:6).
  • Holiness is still a command, not an option! (1 Peter 1:16).
  • God is still good, even when things don’t turn out the way I want them to and I hurt (Job 13:15).
  • He still perform miracles, not just paying my light bill miracle.  I am talking about dead coming back to life miracle!  (Hebrews 13:8)

I am amazed and even disheartened at how compromise has seeped into the church because we avoid being too extreme in our faith. Remind me again, did Jesus not die an extreme death?  We don’t want to be considered politically incorrect.  We worry too much about offending people so we bite our tongues when we have opportunities to share.  We want to fit in.  We want to be liked.  We have become sophisticated cowards.   But let me remind you, the gospel is offensive and it cuts, no way around it.

Do you currently have any areas of compromise in your life?  In what ways have you strayed from the extreme truth of the gospel?  I encourage you to repent and ask God to give you the grace to WALK IN ALL OF THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD!  No matter how Extreme!

Romans 12:2 NLT

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Hebrews 4:12-12 NLT

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

 

photo by:
Anika Jones

About the Author

Anika Jones

Anika Jones is a speaker and author of the book Lessons Learned Along The Way: A 40 Day Devotional. She blogs about faith and family at LivingForLater.com and posts weekly videos on her YouTube channels, Living For Later (@livingforlater) and Living Life Now (@livinglifenow). Anika loves speaking about developing intimacy with God and understanding who we are in Christ. She serves alongside her husband in ministry. They live in Illinois with their 6 children.