Tried With Fire

For most of my Christian life, I've had this lurking fear that it was up to me to make the right choices, live the right life, or else. If I failed, then I missed God's will. If that happened, I missed Plan A so I might be in Plan B or even C or D depending on how badly I messed up. This past combination of Arminianism and deeper life teaching was a double whammy because acceptance with God was based on my sanctification not my justification. There was always a question in my mind about God's acceptance if I wasn't living the victorious Christian life which was the result of a wrong choice which was a result of not living the victorious Christian life which was the result of a wrong choice which was the result of not living the victorious Christian life... So forth and so on. It was like a hamster wheel because I was trying to get to the place where I would be received by God because of something I had done. But the place I was trying to get to does not exist . Hence t...

I am relatively new to the Doctrines of Grace so I am pondering these in relation to things I had previously held to be true. In the last several months, I have become more aware that my view of God often makes Him smaller than He really is which is also demeaning to the character of God. The idea that God is totally sovereign and reigning over everything would be something that I would certainly not deny. But when the rubber meets the road, do I really believe that or do I believe that somehow He is not fully in control and that sinful man (myself or others) and the devil can thwart Him? I can say that I believe God is in control but my actions and attitudes may contradict that. What hinges on this is - if God is fully in control then everything that comes into my life whether good or bad is from His hand and according to His purpose and ultimately for my good. Conversely, if somehow He is not fully in control, then there may be things that come into my life that are the result of sin...