Friday, April 27, 2018

Fluctuating In And Out Of Double-Mindedness

There is a mindset that continues to make faithless calculations...

"On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.' Then they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' " - John 6:22-29 ESV

This is the same crowd that wanted to make Him a king the day before when God multiplied the loaves and fish to feed over 5,000 people.

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." - 2 Corinthians 4:3-5 ESV

Someone who doesn't know God will live in A veiled mindset towards eternal things and someone with 'a casual relationship with truth' will toy with it and fluctuate in and out of double-mindedness. Even though proof is given more will be needed and then more and then more.

"A Song of Ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." - Psalm 131:1-3 ESV

A weaned child has matured enough to see that there is a feeding schedule.

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV

God is not a vending machine. He has given us minds and abilities to be used in life but our primary work is to 'enter into rest' about who He Is and what He Is like. Jesus is the concrete representation of that character and nature. If we walk by sight we can easily enter into double-mindedness but we are ones whow walk by faith like a weaned child. That child remains calm because they 'calm and quiet themselves' even with an empty belly because trust has formed in their little soul.

Jesus was on the other side even though they knew He didn't get there by conventional means. Only faith was going to make sense of that. Jesus Is here right now in our lives. We can't put it all together yet. We are challenged in the same way. Will we keep asking and demanding or will we just rest and receive?

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