A Christian Journey is a continuous selfless Journey: Tested and Tried.

In the book of  Job chapter 23:10 it is written " But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold ." Amen. As believers we are constantly refined and purified into the image of the almighty God. As the bible teaches us that our God is a holy God and when the holy spirit lives in us we must exhibit the fruits of the spirit that is: " Galatians 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience's, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." 

However, if i am correct, this is not a single days effort, but a continuous process until death. It is through trails faced in our everyday life that we receive an opportunity to exercise our faith, by simply submitting to the word of God. That is, as the bible teaches us in Romans : 12:21 " do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.", so just do as the bible says and see the goodness of God. This is because, staying in the word helps our mind meditate on God's word, instead of all the negativity around us. Negative worldly thinking develops fruits of the flesh, such as anger, jealousy etc. (Galatians 5:19).  As written in Colossians 3:2 -10 Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things  as written in  5. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 

Moreover as we grow in our faith we experience even more challenging trails, which helps increase our faith towards greater things and deeper spiritual lessons. Its like waking up to a hotter summer day and your body needs to adapt to the new rising temperature. Warmer lands have their know strategies to beat the heat and the bible recommends the armor of God ( Ephesians 6:10-18) to help us through the spiritual heat.  

I have personally grown in faith, by simply obeying the word of God and keeping my eyes fixed on him. But, not denying the fact that it is difficult and we faulter many a times. But, do not be discouraged, because we have a God who never gives up on us and He always wants the best for us. Job's life is a classic example of such testing, Job did not understand why he experienced so much of loss, but the minute he trusted God and let go of the past and humbled himself before God, God blessed him. 

The bible encourages us to do just the same, to trust him and obey him, especially when we are experiencing difficult challenges in our personal life. Instead of  handling it in the worldly manner: 

Galatians 5:19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

we need to meditate on the word of God, which teaches us to do good, which would include, self-control, patience's, gentleness, kindness, goodness etc. And by so doing we continuously exhibit the fruits of the spirit. Because the kingdom of God is not about selfish worldly things, such as eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the holy spirit. This does not mean you do not eat, but do not comprise the word of God for unjust gains, but instead practice self-control, selflessness etc. 

Wishing you all a beautiful Christian journey forward. 

                                                                                                                     - With lots prayers                                                                                                                                      Shilpa Catherine Jayakumar 

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