Revising Your Faith

Ever feel that every now and then in your Christian work you need to get back to basics.

I was reading a review of Pilgrims progress this week and it struck me that every now and then in the Christian life we need some Christian revision. Our view of God our view of our faith has drifted and we need to get up to date. Get back to basics that is what Pilgrims progress does.

Sometimes in our Christianity we get so embroiled in just living so tenuous in our faith that we forget the very basics.

Over 50 years ago Mazda introduced the rotary engine an entirely new concept but by2011 rumblings were heard and by 2013 in an interview with Automotive News, Mazda's new CEO Masamichi Kogai painted a bleak picture about the rotary's future:

It's kind of depressing to hear, especially since we just celebrated the 50th birthday of the Mazda rotary engine. At the same time, it's not terribly surprising. While the rotary has fantastic performance advantages, it also tends to be awful in terms of fuel economy and emissions, two of the biggest concerns for automakers these days.

What are most cars using today?

Compared to other technologies we use every day, it seems like car engines haven't really changed much. The engine in an old Ford Model T has plenty in common with the engine in a modern Ford. car engines still use the same basic principle: The combustion of air and fuel to create rotational force and move a car.

Sometimes we can get all kind of cute ideas about our faith but moving away from the basics in Christianity is far more dangerous than living with an emission breathing mazda rotary engine.

The internal combustion motor will undoutably pass away but Jesus said – “heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.”

Matthew chapter 24 verse 35.

This morning I would like to suggest to you some areas of review that we could well explore in order to work out if our faith is as healthy as we think it is.

Let us read together Psalm 1Psalm 1[a]

1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

4 Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor [b]sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].

6 For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

Psalm 1:1 This has been called “The Preface Psalm” because in some respects it may be considered “the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon.” It opens with a benediction, “Blessed,” as does our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3).

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

1. Living outside the not’s – Getting back to the basics in Psalm 1 is identifying and clearing up the areas where you should not be living.

Basically if you live in the not’s your spirit will end up in Knots.

1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

“Living outside the not’

"Another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, let me first say farewell to those at my home,' Y'shua said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:61-62

Someone identified four types of sin. Two of these find their expression in things that we do action and intent and two of them are sins that we do not – Attitude and neglect. Attitude, Action, Neglect, and Intent