Familiar, but not really
This past week, our pastor spoke to us about being so familiar with some things in the church, we almost "warp" our beliefs by the familiarity which has become a way of life to us. Let me explain what he meant with this statement. We get so familiar with the things of God, we almost take them for granted - taking them for granted leads to us not always developing and keeping a keen awareness of the truth. We can sometimes "soften" the truth about God's character. For example, we "believe" God is all powerful - but do we go to him in prayer each and every time we are faced with the impossible? We "believe" God is all knowing, but do we turn to him for the wisdom we need or just try to figure things out on our own. We can end up in the pursuit of religious thoughts and principles, but miss out on the fact of the powerful God in the midst of our lives. As Israel was set apart as the nation God would choose to dwell among, he told them to n