Present-Active Participle Belief

Those who presently and actively believe God are prompted to make wiser and healthier decisions. Authentic faith cannot help but act. How we behave overwhelmingly flows from what we deeply believe. -- Beth Moore


The past two weeks have been internally tumultuous. I've made some tough personal decisions and while I know I'm on the right track, I still feel the polarizing sway of this earth. It's a constant battle to remember who I am in Christ. But I'm learning (actually re-learning) that I am not a slave to my sin nature. I have choices. That's liberating.

In my Bible study, we just finished up an eleven-week journey on faith and what it means to employ "present-active participle" belief. The premise is that when you accept Christ, you initially believed, but it didn't stop there---you continued to believe, and you presently act according to your belief. The concept is simple, but gets a little more complicated in daily life.

I may have spoken before about a book that changed my life, and that is John Eldredge's Waking the Dead. Eldredge espouses that we are battling against our flesh (sin nature) and that the heart of a Christian is redeemed and made whole. The outpouring of my heart should dictate my action. And if my heart is good, it yields holiness. That doesn't mean that I am no longer tempted by sin, or that I even refrain from sin, but that my heart is transformed to desire obedience. And if I simply allow my Christ-purified heart to lead me, I am compelled to make better decisions.

It requires effort, and it requires thought. It requires me to evaluate the consequences of every decision I make, and to quit blindly walking through life, accepting myself as a fallen legacy. I have new identity in Christ, and every once in awhile, this realization smacks me in the face. Sin manifests fradulence. My heart's desire is for authenticity. Mary Anna Brown wants to be who God created her to be.

I am experiencing relief, and peace, and finally, some healing.