Hosanna Restoration Church

Even though there are times when faith comes effortlessly, we all know that it takes effort. We have all had to make hard choices. We have all experienced the battle of submitting to God and resisting the devil. More than likely we can all say that there have been times when we resisted God more than our enemy and his temptations. And, prayerfully we have all come to realize that whatever it takes, it is worth the effort.
The door to the kingdom is always present and it always presents itself. I was thinking of this just this morning and saw it like a door that we just keep seeing. We may pass it, but there it comes again. It is like God in His mercy, keeps us on a loop. Do you remember the movie Ground Hogs Day?
Well when I thought of this I was reminded of how the earth spins and rotates. How amazing is God, that we are traveling at a thousand miles an hour and do not even feel it? How amazing is it that everything stays just perfect. How amazing it is that people ignore how amazing He is. Just as it takes an effort to believe, it also takes effort not to believe.
When we come to know Christ, the natural thing becomes living as He planned. It then begins to take an effort to resist God. So we become people needing to make the effort not to resist. Either way, it does take effort. When a person appears to walk by faith effortlessly, it is because they have put in the effort. It is like an athlete, a musician, a vocalist, a teacher or anyone who has put in great time and effort until what they do just seems to come naturally and effortlessly. The truth is, they put in the effort.
Jesus was able to look to the joy and endure the cross because He put in the effort. The thing we need to consider is where we are putting the most effort. Scripture tells us that the Kingdom of God is like yeast in dough; it spreads through the whole loaf. The truth is, the Kingdom will grow if we don’t stop it.
In the rotating of our lives, we pass the kingdom door many times and have many opportunities to step off the merry go round and through the door. Until we make that effort, we just keep passing by. Once we make that step, life takes on a new rotation in which we must continue to choose the Kingdom of God over that which is not the kingdom. These choices range from not so much, to huge and what may seem not so much to one could be huge to someone else. Take forgiving as an example. With God, forgiveness is all the same size, but we may tend to put it in compartments. It takes effort to just do it. Consider this a seed that the Holy Spirit can grow in your life. Let Him lead you into deeper places and always be willing to make the effort to follow.