Over Thinking Part One. Complicating The Life

[Riverwalker]

God is a very complex being, but our relationship with Him is very simple.  He is our Father. Our Lord and Our Helper

We are told that if we had the faith as a mustard seed we could move mountains,  But what is that faith

The promise of the mustard plant is in that seed. It will not be a rose bush or a weed. If properly planted and tended will grow into a large bush, to give shade, food and spice.   So too is our faith.  If we plant the seed of faith in our heart, tend it, give it room to grow, it will produce in the course of time a mature Christian.  We don't have to accomplish 27 goals in a 15 step program and mark a log book of activities to make this happen and we cannot earn it.

To grow into the Christian we will become we only have to to do a few simple things. We have to keep ourselves planted and rooted in Christ, keep ourselves weed free, and apply liberal dose of the Living Water (The Word)  to our hearts, and then all we have to do is live and these things will happen in our lives.

Just live as it is in your nature as a Christian to do and you will accomplish His will, be the Christian who are supposed to be and at the end of all things, be dancing on streets of gold

 

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Riverwalker

[Sower]

10 hours ago, Riverwalker said:

God is a very complex being, but our relationship with Him is very simple.  He is our Father. Our Lord and Our Helper

We are told that if we had the faith as a mustard seed we could move mountains,  But what is that faith

The promise of the mustard plant is in that seed. It will not be a rose bush or a weed. If properly planted and tended will grow into a large bush, to give shade, food and spice.   So too is our faith.  If we plant the seed of faith in our heart, tend it, give it room to grow, it will produce in the course of time a mature Christian.  We don't have to accomplish 27 goals in a 15 step program and mark a log book of activities to make this happen and we cannot earn it.

To grow into the Christian we will become we only have to to do a few simple things. We have to keep ourselves planted and rooted in Christ, keep ourselves weed free, and apply liberal dose of the Living Water (The Word)  to our hearts, and then all we have to do is live and these things will happen in our lives.

Just live as it is in your nature as a Christian to do and you will accomplish His will, be the Christian who are supposed to be and at the end of all things, be dancing on streets of gold

 

 

"To grow into the Christian we will become we only have to to do a few simple things".......

"If we plant the seed of faith in our heart, tend it, give it room to grow, it will produce in the course of time a mature Christian"

My take,
Faith comes through the word, and Jesus is the word.
Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing , and hearing by the word of Christ”

Faith comes by hearing. The word. This is the only source (I'm aware of).
When we exercise our faith it grows  I don't think we can plant it..
I agree with you Riverwalker there is no five step formula to produce a stronger faith.
But a simple one, "Use it or lose it"    "To whom much is given, much is required" - "whatsoever is not of faith is sin"
We have to actually believe God's promises, by faith. It is a gift. Salvation is by faith, it is a gift....  We do not walk by sight, but by faith. And, at least for me, it ain't no simple thing:) I agree  Riverwalker, like a mustard seed it will can grow.
But each of us is different. For some of us are very trusting. Then there are those like myself, which learned/believed in my formative years I could not trust anybody. The sufficient faith to believe the gospel had to grow over many years for me. 
I have noticed by acknowledging God whatever I'm doing throughout the day, believing what ever happens then is in God's hands, and I just believe he is always in control. Leaving the results to him. This faith in his control makes any burdens lighter.
He doesn't take them away. He gets me through them.
I know it's a corny old saying but it's a good one;
When I have the faith, I can "Let go and let God"

 

[Michael37]

12 hours ago, Riverwalker said:

Over Thinking Part One. Complicating The Life

God is a very complex being, but our relationship with Him is very simple.  He is our Father. Our Lord and Our Helper

I think "overthinking" is one word. I'm still thinking over the contents of this part. If the thread does get complicated I might be able to simplify some things, Riverwalker. 

[Guest clancy]

My over thinking was a big part of my life, through time the Lord showed me to “ trust in him”...that took a long time to understand.

 

As a new babe I knew nothing..only that my relationship with the Lord began...he knows perfectly well how to deal with me....after all he made me,he knows everything about my heart.

Over a very long time, I have handed much over to him, including my obsessive over thinking ,much more also.

He is in control of my life, my will is “ NOW” is in line with His.....took a very long for everything to make sense.

But ,by staying focused on him, which the Holy Spirit helped me do, I am at a resting and peaceful place...which I know is from God......

It has been a very long “ hard journey “ walking with the Lord......without pain in ones life, we learn nothing...which I’ve had plenty of...Praise God For That Pain....in Jesus Name..Amen!?

 

Everything i I have learnt was through heart revelation.

At the beginning of my journey 3 yrs in...God broke my heart, best thing he ever did...looking back...

Edited June 25, 2021 by clancy

[Riverwalker]

6 hours ago, Michael37 said:

I think "overthinking" is one word. I'm still thinking over the contents of this part. If the thread does get complicated I might be able to simplify some things, Riverwalker. 

I think I might be over it already

[Riverwalker]

4 hours ago, clancy said:

It has been a very long “ hard journey “ walking with the Lord......without pain in ones life, we learn nothing...which I’ve had plenty of...Praise God For That Pain....in Jesus Name..Amen!

Indeed.  It is simple, but not always easy

[Walter and Deborah]

21 hours ago, Riverwalker said:

God is a very complex being, but our relationship with Him is very simple.  He is our Father. Our Lord and Our Helper

We are told that if we had the faith as a mustard seed we could move mountains,  But what is that faith

The promise of the mustard plant is in that seed. It will not be a rose bush or a weed. If properly planted and tended will grow into a large bush, to give shade, food and spice.   So too is our faith.  If we plant the seed of faith in our heart, tend it, give it room to grow, it will produce in the course of time a mature Christian.  We don't have to accomplish 27 goals in a 15 step program and mark a log book of activities to make this happen and we cannot earn it.

To grow into the Christian we will become we only have to to do a few simple things. We have to keep ourselves planted and rooted in Christ, keep ourselves weed free, and apply liberal dose of the Living Water (The Word)  to our hearts, and then all we have to do is live and these things will happen in our lives.

Just live as it is in your nature as a Christian to do and you will accomplish His will, be the Christian who are supposed to be and at the end of all things, be dancing on streets of gold

 

 

Amen! as I was reading your post that Faith Without Works Is Dead, and We Must Earnestly Contend, thanks,  

Love, Walter

Edited June 25, 2021 by Walter and Deborah
More info.

[Starise]

Overthinking is really a thing for some people that borders on anxiety disorder. Often it is intrinsic to certain personality types and more difficult for those types to deal with compared to others who don't have to deal with it. If you just met with someone and had a discussion with them, then afterwards you are going over in your mind whether you said the correct thing to them, maybe should have said something you didn't say, could have said something more effectively, even kicking yourself for not doing something you wish you had thought to do at the time, reevaluating the outcomes of the discussion and going over all of the possibilities over and over again- These would be the symptoms of that kind of a trait that is highly a part of some people.

And yes, some of us can "overthink" scriptures study. If we read something that doesn't seem to correlate with something else we begin to dig deeper to see if we can find an answer. There's always the idea that maybe we overlooked something or read something the wrong way which could be the reason some passages aren't gelling for us. For some things no matter now many times I revisit a passage the answers aren't totally clear to me from a reasoning perspective.

How do we know when we are overthinking something? I think there is a place where we are at the end of our ropes. This is also a potential excuse not to investigate further. We throw up our hands and simply say. " I can't figure it out". For me at least when I don't have an answer I am still "investigating". I'm not giving up just collecting more information over time. Admittedly some things might take my whole life to investigate.

The idea that we have this simple formula that can solve all of our immediate problems sounds an awful lot like the most recent diet advertisement. Yes, the steps are all there in black and white. It should be "easy", but much like the diets that are a dime a dozen, the 1st step is to stop putting so much food into our mouths. Seems like it should be easy right? Sometimes or maybe more accurately, often times that one step involves a whole long drawn out process full of trial and error and making mistakes along the way.

While the process is all laid out in simple form, it's a journey that begins with a decision. It's up to us to weed out our lives. God does the rest. What is involved in that process could involve many smaller decisions. Take the example of the drug addict, some decisions include staying away from some places and going to different places. Parting ways with maybe people you considered to be close friends, changing regular routines to avoid the temptation to get more drugs. Lots of things have to change in order to bring about the big desired changes.

If we have decided to keep some of those weeds we will live with those decisions which will work against our goals. We can't keep the weeds and still meet the goals.

[missmuffet]

We can over analyze christianity. I see this a lot on Worthy. That can become more harmful than good. Keep it simple. The Holy Bible gives us the instructions on how to truly be saved. Use the Bible as your guide and instruction manual.