My Utmost 10/30

Here is the Utmost for 10/30

In the past few posts I have been interacting with these devotionals because I have found them spiritually helpful. I hope to pass them on for however sees this.

I have really struggled with the question: when is it faith and when is it stepping out on stupidity/arrogance/etc.? When is it faith to do an action that seems against common sense and when is it just acting out? I am not sure there is a clear cut answer, or one any more clear than it is faith when it is the will of God.

What I do know though is that we must grow in faith in Jesus. It is easy for me to think of Christianity as "knowing stuff," or "educating myself." But faith in Jesus is not mere knowledge. Knowledge is a part of faith, but not its totality or end. For too long I have thought that being a Christian meant learning things. But again that is not the goal of faith. The goal of our faith must be depth of love for Jesus. It must be trust in him. And we must understand that Jesus speaks through his word (in the Bible), but also continues to guide us (through his Spirit) today.

We cannot split these two. We cannot just become Christian scholars, thinking our faith leads to intelligence only. And we cannot become Christian spiritualists, thinking our faith grows only through action but none through study of the Word. This is a hard balance for me.

Keep in mind that our faith's foundation and goal is in Jesus, who speaks through the Bible and through the Spirit. (Balance, Balance, Balance).