NCarolinian

                    In case  you did not know, faith is a struggle, it is a fight! Paul writes to his protégé, Timothy, saying - "Fight the good fight of faith." (1 Tim. 6:12)           However, Paul does not simply stop there, he continues with the admonishment to -  "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:12)          There seems to be two levels of action implied here - striving (fighting) and seizing (taking hold). These descriptive words do not have anything to do with the initial Salvation of an individual. The Holy Spirit makes this point clear through Paul to the believers in Ephesus -  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) ...

I am guilty at times of perceiving Miracles as instant acts of God. Survey says, (buzzer sound) wrong! Not that God does not work instant miracles, but some miracles are processes. In this sin stricken, death and decay ravaged world, our faith must be lived out through our trials. The first miracle Jesus ministered, the water turned into wine, was a process. Let us look at the Scripture. "Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water' ; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.'" (John 2:6-8) So, we have six stone water jars, vats or containers. The stone vats were empty otherwise Jesus would not have instructed for the servants to fill them -  'Fill the jars with water' . The reasonable assumption here is that  the servants went...