In the school of FAITH

I consistently ask my Father for His equipping in preparation for going to Asia.
Only the Spirit has given me the wisdom to know to ask for this and I am fiercely
pursuing the understanding and the supernatural ability of faith.

Only by the grace of Him am I unlocking new treasured understandings of this single word.

I have to say this has been the most treasured find so far:

True faith is a radical departure from the status quo, a renewal of personal conviction despite all contradictions and a recognition of UNCERTAINTY. Without a recognition of uncertainty, faith has no meaning. The strength of true faith is that it acknowledges that uncertainty exists, and yet still forges on in spite of the uncertainty, willingly accepting and embracing the consequences of conviction in the face of uncertainty. There is not fear that the conviction may be misled and flinching because of the uncertainty, there is a recognition that this lack of absolute rational proof and certainty is what gives faith its supreme virtue. This is what makes faith courageous and is something that only mortal humans can do, since angels are blessed with absolute knowledge whereas humans are blessed with uncertainty, which is the only way that true freedom can exist. Without this freedom, the choice of "faith" would not be possible, would not be courageous, and would not make mortals eligible for the reward of heaven.   (taken from a review of Soren Kierkegaard's, Fear and Trembling)


To Kierkegaard the human experience is that of making choices; perceiving something objectively does not require a decision or commitment, and as such it cannot really be called existing. However, when uncertainty is present, the individual must take charge of his or her life and make a decision whether to believe or not. "The greater the uncertainty - the greater the risk the believer takes in believing - the greater the faith," and there's really nothing that takes more belief, more faith, than Christianity, which is not just irrational, but in fact a paradox (Anderson 52). "When the paradox is paradoxical in itself, it repels the individual by virtue of its absurdity, and the corresponding passion of inwardness is faith" (Anderson 53). 

I am LIVING IN PRAISE of all that my Father is giving me the ability to understand and to see around me.
I can feel His continual equipping in my spirit!  HALLELUJAH!!

No one can understand Abraham, for the entire act occurred within him, between him and God. Kierkegaard writes "Abraham cannot be mediated; in other words, he cannot speak. As soon as I speak I express the universal, and if I do not do so, no one can understand me." Abraham of course cannot express himself in the universal, ethical sense, because "he has no higher expression of the universal that ranks above the universal he violates." Abraham performs the ultimate act of faith: he risks everything, and then by virtue of that risk, of his faith, he gets it all back. It makes no sense at all, but that is how religion operates, according to Kierkegaard. Even believing the story of Abraham requires an act of faith, for "the observer cannot understand him at all; neither can his eye rest upon him with confidence." But while having faith is tremendously difficult, Kierkegaard stands in awe of it: "to be able to lose one's reason, and therefore the whole of finiteness of which reason is the broker, and then by the virtue of the absurd to gain precisely the same finiteness - that appalls my soul, but I do not for this cause say that it is something lowly, since on the contrary it is the only prodigy (Anderson 60)." (Philosophic 271).
It is difficult to find flaws with Kierkegaard's argument and description of religion, since he is not speaking in rational terms, and not trying to convince his audience through the methods of logic. He does seem to be taking faith as a prima-facie good, and since the whole of his argument basically stems from the idea that faith is inherently worthwhile and beneficial, it's a bit of shaky ground to be on. But that's not really the point: faith, like Abraham's situation, cannot be mediated, simply because it is by definition irrational and inexplicable

I know what it is to gain something by giving something up, and I know how you have to lose yourself in order to find yourself.   It's all subjective and it's all irrational, and it's something you cannot explain.  That in itself, is absolutely wonderous!

This has been my current schooling and I am totally dependent upon my Father for this kind of supernatural FAITH!  He is my teacher and I desperately want what He is teaching me.

Father, HELP me shout the GOOD NEWS!