{"id":3238,"date":"2014-11-08T21:18:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-08T21:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/?p=3238"},"modified":"2014-11-08T21:18:39","modified_gmt":"2014-11-08T21:18:39","slug":"do-you-still-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Still Believe?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still?<\/p>\n

We need to stop and really think about this because it is important \u2013 arguably more important than your initial willingness to believe. Jesus is merciful to the lost, but harsh with the Pharisees.<\/p>\n

So I encourage you to ask yourself again, do you still believe in the God of Israel?<\/span><\/p>\n

When trials come, do you get discouraged or do they bring anticipation and hope? Are you fearfully protecting your health, your home, your family or finances? Or do you sing fearlessly about the Lord\u2019s goodness? <\/p>\n

\n

A very simple litmus test of unbelief is to examine how much you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Are you easily annoyed with them? Does a sharpness sneak in to your tone when you disagree with them? Do you only actively fellowship with one or two of them despite being part of an active community? Is it a chore or a blessing to pray for them? Are you joyfully sacrificing yourself or grudgingly giving?<\/p>\n

The Christian life is not about ease. When you acknowledged Christ as your Savior, you invited Him to refine you with fire to the end of becoming gold (like Jesus).<\/p>\n

The point is not to rejoice and praise God when life is going well, although surely we should do so, the point of the Christian life is to rejoice and praise God when life is not fun.<\/p>\n

And here is the crazy part, the Gods-ways-aren\u2019t-ours part; I\u2019m new to all this, I\u2019ve technically been a Christian for years but I\u2019m a baby to belief, but here is the thing, as I slowly learn how to rejoice in trials, to respond to illness and annoyance and difficulty with thanks, my life is not getting easier (if anything it has becoming more challenging) but it is also becoming more fulfilling, less fearful, less confusing and more filled with joy.<\/p>\n

By the grace of God I have come to believe that God is real, that He is all powerful and that He is completely, 100%, head to toe good. Do you? Do you want to?<\/p>\n

Here is an excellent sermon on the purpose of trials in the Christian life and unbelief:\u00a0 Affliction in the Christian Life by Paul Washer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is important \u2013 arguably more important than your initial willingness to believe. Jesus is merciful to the lost, but harsh with the Pharisees. So I encourage you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2289,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,34],"tags":[60,67,11087],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-death-by-living","category-life","tag-affliction","tag-anxiousness","tag-christianity"],"yoast_head":"\nDo You Still Believe?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Still Believe?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mere Breath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abra Carnahan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abra Carnahan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/\",\"name\":\"Do You Still Believe?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/d83ebca23595ba66b64345dab4d9627b\"},\"description\":\"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Do You Still Believe?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/\",\"name\":\"Mere Breath\",\"description\":\"Taste and see that the Lord is good.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/d83ebca23595ba66b64345dab4d9627b\",\"name\":\"Abra Carnahan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a1657f809c2560eef7785c77eb7c166?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a1657f809c2560eef7785c77eb7c166?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Abra Carnahan\"},\"description\":\"Abra and her husband, Ben, have been married since the summer of 2004. They live in Idaho where she stays home with their four children. Having survived Hyperemesis Gravidarum and diagnosed with PTSD, Abra is passionate about pursuing God and her hobbies: reading, archery and eating cheese.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/author\/acarnahan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Still Believe?","description":"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Still Believe?","og_description":"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/","og_site_name":"Mere Breath","article_published_time":"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00","author":"Abra Carnahan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Abra Carnahan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/","name":"Do You Still Believe?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-08T21:18:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/d83ebca23595ba66b64345dab4d9627b"},"description":"Christian, it is good that you accepted Christ and believed in Him once, but do you still? We need to stop and really think about this because it is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/2014\/11\/08\/do-you-still-believe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do You Still Believe?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/","name":"Mere Breath","description":"Taste and see that the Lord is good.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/d83ebca23595ba66b64345dab4d9627b","name":"Abra Carnahan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a1657f809c2560eef7785c77eb7c166?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a1657f809c2560eef7785c77eb7c166?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Abra Carnahan"},"description":"Abra and her husband, Ben, have been married since the summer of 2004. They live in Idaho where she stays home with their four children. Having survived Hyperemesis Gravidarum and diagnosed with PTSD, Abra is passionate about pursuing God and her hobbies: reading, archery and eating cheese.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/author\/acarnahan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/merebreath\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}