3529 Form faith.... convinced faith....

August 30, 1945: Book 45

In times of greatest earthly adversity the spiritual state of individual people clarifies itself insofar as faith is either strengthened or completely lost, if it was previously only a formal faith which could not yet convince people. Many fall away from faith, their eyes are still too earthly directed and they cannot bring world events and their own fate into harmony with the eternal deity, from Whom they only expect a happy earthly life due to their ignorance. They only want to acknowledge a God Who gives them all the comforts of life, but the fact that they themselves forfeit their well-being on earth through their way of life, through their distance from God, is incomprehensible to them. The more severe the hardship becomes, the more they distance themselves from Him, they reject Him, they do not surrender to their fate but grumble and complain and try to reduce their state of hardship through unjust actions and unkind behaviour towards their neighbour. Their faith in God was only a formal faith which did not stand up to serious scrutiny, but which was also worthless and must first become a convinced faith. There are only a few people who cling more closely to God in times of adversity because they firmly believe in Him and do not let themselves be diverted from this faith. They see suffering for what it is, as a means by which God wants to win over people who have fallen away from Him. They constantly ask God for strength and are now also able to endure suffering. Faith gives them this strength and God does not rely on His own, i.e. those who believe in Him and take refuge in Him in every adversity. But the state of those unbelievers is hopeless as long as they only pay attention to earthly events and don't think about the meaning and purpose of them. But a clarification must take place, for the faith in form is not faith as God demands it.... It has been scholastically transferred to people and has not yet come alive in them; it is a dead faith which does not support the soul in its development and therefore requires a strong examination so that the human being will become clear about his thinking and his attitude towards God. Anyone who rejects Him, impressed by adversity and earthly events, by his own fate, will have to go through greater trials in order to still gain faith after all, or he will get lost and in the end belong to those who are condemned, who belong to God's opponents and therefore receive the just punishment, who will have to travel the path through the new creation again for the purpose of their redemption. The believers will also be exposed to severe trials, yet a convinced faith cannot be shaken so easily, and God stands by those who are faithful to Him, who withstand all trials and attach themselves to God all the more intimately because they firmly believe in Him and His love, omnipotence and wisdom. And this firm faith will be rewarded to them on the day of judgment, when God Himself will lead them into paradise, where all adversity will come to an end and they will be exceedingly happy in the presence of God....

Amen

This proclamation is used in the following themebook:

Themebook	Title	Download
150	Form Christians - Living Christians	ePub   PDF   Kindle

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