<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n Reflections on faith, prayer, commitment and Christian living\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n No one makes it to the level of Olympic, or even national competition, without commitment to pay the price of rigorous daily training. Similarly, no one ever becomes godly without a commitment to pay the price of the daily spiritual training God has designed for our growth in godliness.\n <\/p>\n
\n Commitment echoes throughout Scripture: “Earnestly, I seek you”<\/em> (Psalm 63:1),\n “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”<\/em> (Jeremiah 29:13),\n and Paul’s determination to press on toward Christ’s calling (Philippians 3:12). Genuine spiritual growth requires intentional pursuit and wholehearted dedication.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n Reflecting on Romans 12:1, Calvin observed that people will never worship God sincerely or obey him wholeheartedly until they understand how deeply they are indebted to God’s mercy.\n <\/p>\n \n God’s grace does not compel us through fear. Rather, it draws us through gratitude and love into willing obedience and joyful righteousness.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n “Often the unbelieving world rejects our message because it sees no difference between Christians and non-Christians.”\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n Calling upon God’s name encompasses the whole of life. It includes both joyful praise and earnest petition, both seasons of blessing and moments of distress.\n <\/p>\n \n Whether in worship or in need, believers continually turn toward God and find their hope in him alone.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n Many question prayer because they assume everything has already been decided. Foster challenges this view by pointing to Paul’s description of believers as “God’s fellow workers”<\/em> (1 Corinthians 3:9).\n <\/p>\n \n Prayer is not a passive exercise but active participation in God’s work. Through prayer, we join God in his ongoing mission and Kingdom purposes.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n “Fasting ensured that the stomach would not make the body boil like a kettle to the hindering of the soul.”\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n Keller argues that the concept of universal human rights rests upon the biblical conviction that every person is created in God’s image.\n <\/p>\n \n Human dignity is not earned through ability, status, or achievement. It is bestowed by God, making every life inherently valuable and worthy of respect.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n True security is found in truth. When we defend ourselves, our faith, or the church apart from the Spirit of truth, we place ourselves on uncertain ground.\n <\/p>\n \n Genuine confidence comes from faithfulness to God’s truth, even when that truth challenges our assumptions or comforts.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n Which of these insights speaks most powerfully to you today? Consider taking a few moments to pray, reflect on Scripture, and ask God how he may be inviting you to grow in faith, commitment, prayer, truthfulness, or service.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Food for Thought Reflections on faith, prayer, commitment and Christian living Jerry Bridges No one makes it to the level of Olympic, or even national competition, without commitment to pay the price of rigorous daily training. Similarly, no one ever becomes godly without a commitment to pay the price of the daily spiritual training God […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,8],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[27],"class_list":["post-7237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food_for_thought","category-gold-coast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7238,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7237\/revisions\/7238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7237"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.gci-au.church\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}John Calvin<\/h3>\n
Billy Graham<\/h3>\n
Walter Brueggemann<\/h3>\n
Richard Foster<\/h3>\n
Arterius<\/h3>\n
Timothy Keller<\/h3>\n
Adrian Plass<\/h3>\n
Personal Reflection<\/h3>\n