Guided By Faith

The enemy would like to keep us distracted, to distort the truth, and to deceive us into believing his lies. We have to keep our hearts and minds focused on the Lord, as we're reminded to do in Hebrews 12:
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

There is evidence that a spiritual awakening is at hand in our world today - you see pockets of revival, certainly, but could that become more widespread?

A well-known actor think so; in fact, The Christian Post quotes him, saying: "I think there's a spiritual awakening actually going on in our country right now," adding, "There's been a lot of turmoil, and that's what spiritual awakenings look like because of what it takes to get there. I think we're right at the beginning of it."  He relates that he has seen it in Hollywood, which has demonstrated a receptivity to faith being integrated into films.

He's seen it in his own life, as well.  He now claims to have read through the Bible four times, and he has publicly expressed his faith in Jesus.

The Christian Post article says that after a period in which he became a spiritual seeker, exploring a variety of religious teachings, he became involved with drugs and was addicted to cocaine.  The, in the mid-90's, he discovered the truth.  He said:

"I went back, and I read the Bible again, cover to cover, and what really struck being that this time were the red words of Jesus and who He really was," he recalled. "That was the beginning of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that's really what it's all about. From there, it's grown, and it does fill up that hole inside me. I was there all along; my mother taught me that, but we have to learn things for ourselves. It led me right back to where I started."

As of late, he's recorded a gospel album and been featured in a documentary that includes an interview with Bill Gaither.

This weekend, this actor, Dennis Quaid, will be featured in a new film, in which he portrays former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Movieguide reports that...

...Quaid was initially unsure about accepting the role.

“I didn’t say no, and I didn’t say yes because, really, fear,” he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “Reagan was my favorite president personally, and he was also such a recognizable figure around the world, sort of like Muhammad Ali.

“Everybody knew what he looked like, sounded like, and so that was a pretty scary proposition,” Quaid continued. “It was about feeling like I was going to be judged and feeling unworthy. He was the great communicator and all that. But I didn’t want to do an impersonation of him. I wanted to really kind of get to the core of who he was as a person. So, I put off saying yes.”

But when Quaid visited Reagan’s ranch in Southern California, he got the sense that the former president was a “humble man.”

So Quaid agreed to do the film. At the film's premiere in Nashville earlier this week, Quaid told The Christian Post: “The film is about family values; one of the most important things in the nuclear family and being raised with family is that feeling of constancy, that people being around to have your back. That's where those values get instilled. They don't get taught to you. You live them..."

That Christian Post article also relates:

Screenwriter Howard Klausner echoed the sentiment that Reagan’s faith was central to his story. He told CP he wanted the script to highlight Reagan’s quest for purpose, a journey that took him from small-town Illinois to Hollywood and eventually to the White House.

“Reagan’s faith was integral from childhood on,” Klausner explained. “It wasn’t just politically expedient. The man believed in the Lord, and that belief guided him throughout his life. To leave that out wouldn’t be true to who he was.”

“Reagan lived so many lives,” Klausner said. “He was an actor, a sports announcer, a union president, and it wasn’t until he was shot that he truly understood his purpose. That’s the spine of the movie — his search for meaning.”

Reagan made a profound impact on the decade of the 1980's and on American and world history. He stared down the Soviet threat, and was a President who demonstrated a reliance on God.  

It's important to know what drives you.  Why do we do what we do?  Is it a search for meaning, as the filmmaker contends that it was for Reagan?  If it is, then we can be confident that a relationship with Jesus can give us the sense of meaning that we seek. 

If our motivation is to please God, then we can be confident that He is with us, and will fulfill His purposes for us.  However, if the love of worldly things, the pursuit of wealth, or fame, or power and control, are our guiding factors, then we miss the plan of God.  If our eyes are not on the right things, then our selfish desires will lead to bad decisions; the worst of all being to not accept Jesus as your Savior.  We have to keep focused and keep our eyes squarely focused on Christ.