Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Doubting My Salvation

Today, I listened to one of Matt Chandler's most recent sermons, "Dealing with Doubt."  It was very challenging in the sense that I'm not sure where I'm landing spiritually right now. 

You know, you grow up thinking a + b = c... but now I'm not so sure. Now my eyes are starting to be opened to the fact that it's all about my heart.  I can say with my mouth and my mind that I believe one thing, but if my heart is not landing there, then how can I truly believe what I think I believe?  Does that make sense? 

I may post more of his sermon later on, but here are some questions to think over regarding your salvation.  It's essentially a way of measuring where your heart is.  Don't get me wrong, there's more to being saved than these few questions, but asking them is a great way of getting me thinking about the state of my heart!

-Do you see moral conformity to Jesus Christ in your heart?
-Do you hate indwelling sin in yourself?
-Do you desire holiness?
-Are you growing in graciousness?
-Are you growing in generosity?
-Is your heart delighting in what God delights in?
-Do you love your brothers and sister in Christ?  Do you extend grace to them?  Do you grant them the benefit of the doubt?

This sermon is so weighty, I definitely need to listen to it again... 

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  This verse keeps running through my head.  I tend to focus more on the "confess with your mouth" part than the "believe in your heart" part.  However, I DO believe it in my heart, but do I apply it to my life???  Lately, no.  All I can do is pray that God will change my heart... That He'll make "yes" be my answer to all of the questions above. (Sure, you can't be perfect so there will be times when the answer is "no," but overall there should be consistency.) 

God = success, not God + Dacia = success.  It's totally out of my hands, otherwise my flesh wants to think it's all on me. 

As Lloyd Shadrach says, "Christ + nothing = EVERYTHING."





4 comments:

  1. Hey Dacia, nice writing! I can certainly understand the exploration of seeking the heart of the matter. In fact, that is what my husband and I are constantly striving to achieve in regard to faith. In fact, that was one of the main qualities that attracted me to him. I wanted a Christian man, but not necessarily a "churched" man. He grew up in a legalistic style church system, whereas I only attended with my grandparents on holidays. We've sinced come to our own understanding of faith- the heart. I always find it noteworthy that Jesus always spoke in parables. He could have shared a clear, concise and straightforward message, but he knew we'd cling to the words and works and miss the whole point- the transformation of the heart towards him. Words and works are unbendable and remain stagnant in time; parable messages encouraging the heart exceed time and culture. That heart for the Lord is the result of spending time in his word, prayer, and seeking His heart and will. You're correct in drawing the conclusion that we must be concerned with applying what we know to our lives. Although our acts of service, goodness, or even church attendance are all well and good, he more so desires our hearts. Our hearts are his when we live out our faith. You ought not need to doubt your salvation, but the closeness of your walk. When he takes you in, he keeps you always. We must simply choose to remain near to him. Hope this all was of some encouragment. I love to hear of others who are taking the path of having a heart for the Lord!
    -Whitney :)

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  2. Thanks for those encouraging words, Whitney. :) I know there have been times in my life when I knew for SURE that my heart was in the right place. I wanted to please God and I truly delighted what He delights in. I was a positive person. However, lately I've been feeling kind of the opposite. It's much easier for me to be negative and complain. There are seconds of doubt, but then I remind myself what the truth is. And I doubt see all of the sin that I KNOW is in my heart. I don't see my heart as wicked, even though it is. I just need to get back to reality, confess where I'm at, and pray that the Lord changes me.

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