BEEN A FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN

In fact, the first two of the Ten Commandments  (Exodus20), deal directly with our being faithful to God. "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God...." These are the words given directly from God to Moses for all people, for all time.

Since God assumes a covenant relationship with His people, He is declaring that He will not tolerate unfaithfulness and competition with anything else. An idol can be in the form of anything that you might place in a higher priority over God. This includes false images of worship or placing anything in our lives that has preeminence over God.  God is very faithful to all of us, and it is by His faithfulness that we can continue living as His sons and daughters in this world. For our part, we should strive to be as faithful as we can be to Him who loves us. And although it is admittedly hard to do, given our weaknesses and limitations not to mention our hard-headedness and stubbornness at times, we can still be faithful to Him in our own little ways.

For many Christians today Christianity has to do with an emotional experience, which has its roots in self-love. There is no willingness to agree with God or to conform to His way of life, thus Christianity is reduced to an intellectual experience without any transformation of character, for there is no willingness to be obedient to Jesus. More and more many of those who profess to be Christians display attributes very much different from that of the Christ they profess to follow, obviously not caring that they "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you of of darkness into His marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9)

 We are told that only "Few have that genuine faith which works by love and purifies the soul. But all who are accounted worthy of everlasting life must obtain a moral fitness for the same. I pray today that whosoever reading this will learn from it and become more faithful to God in all his or her ways Amen
(This post was written by my good friend Donald Johnson Thanks so much Donald, God bless you Glory)

ST AUGUSTINE, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

St Augustine was born on November 13th, 354, in Tagaste (modern Algeria) in Africa. Despite the good example of his mother St Monica, became a Manichean and fathered an illegitimate child. He was converted at the age of thirty-three and baptised by St Ambrose in Milan. St Augustine became Bishop of Hippo Regius (now Annaba, Algeria) and wrote and preached energetically in defence  of the faith, making him one of the most influential Doctors of the Church. His principles concerning the religious life continue to inspire Augustinian canons, friars and nuns. St Augustine died on August 28th 430.

QUOTES FROM CONFESSIONS OF ST AUGUSTINE:  CONFESSIONS IS AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORK, CONSISTING OF 13 BOOKS, BY AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. IT WAS WRITTEN IN LATIN BETWEEN AD 397 AND 400
" O Lord, ...have mercy upon me according to thy great mercy, for thy name's sake. And do not, on any account whatever, abandon what thou hast begun in me. Go on, rather, to complete what is yet imperfect in me."
   Book 10 Chapter 4

" I still thought that it is not we who sin but some other nature that sins within us. It flattered my pride to think that I incurred no guilt and, when I did wrong, not to confess it...I preferred to excuse myself and blame this unknown thing which was in me but was not part of me. The truth, of course, was that it was all my own self, and my own impiety had divided me against myself. My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner."

 

" In my public life I was striving after the emptiness of popular fame, going so far as to seek theatrical applause, entering poetic contests, striving for the straw garlands and the vanity of theatricals and intemperate desires"  (book 4, chapter 1)

In Greek the love of wisdom is called "philosophy", and it was with this love that that book inflamed me. There are some who seduce through philosophy, under a great, alluring, and honorable name, using it to color and adorn their own errors. And almost all who did this, in Cicero's own time and earlier, are censored and pointed out in his book"   (book 3 Chapter 4)

I did not keep the moderate way of the love of mind to mind - the bright path of friendship.   (book 2 chapter 2)
I had entreated chastity of thee and had prayed,"Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet". For I was afraid lest thou shouldst hear me too soon, and too soon cure me of my disease of lust which I desired to have satisfied rather than extinguished." (book 8 Chapter 7,p.139)