What is required

"This is what the Lord says- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'"
Isaiah 48:7
~I feel like God was answering me when i came across this scripture this morning. It was kind of like a 'Tabby, don't worry about it, i'll lead you where you need to go'. Sometime it's important for us to remember that God knows what is best for us but more than that, he teaches us what is best. He also directs us to the best solution as well.

What makes Christianity a belief that you cannot find in the rest of the world is that it requires you to give up the idea of trying to 'earn' your way to heaven (or paradise or Nirvana or whatever you call it). To believe in God and his son Jesus requires you to give up the little control you believe you have on your life and let God drive the steering wheel from now on. There is no pray X amounts of times or give X amount of money or mediate X amount of days- there is only the "God, i from now on acknowledge that you control my life and that no matter what i do i will always fall short of you holiness. With that in mind, i will still strive to be more like you and to keep myself dwelling in your righteousness so that some of your holiness will shine from within me. I bring death to my flesh and birth to your holy spirit dwelling in my soul"

Therefore, the only requirement there is for Christianity is Faith- which is defined in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

When one becomes a Christ follower, he or she is as certain that there is a God as the ground beneath the feet or the air that one breathes. This does not mean that there wont be doubt or questions of or about God, sometimes you will even doubt your faith if it get really bad, but the truth is that you still have that initial faith that keeps you from turning away from Him and his word.
Going off that, the only way one can have faith in someone, is by knowing that someone. We know God by praying to him and reading his word. Think about it like a best friend.

The person who you consider a best friend is someone who you know everything about. You know what they hate, you know what they love, you know what annoys them, you know what saddens them, you know their accomplishments and what they want to accomplish- you know everything about them and you do that by getting to know them!
If i sit next to the same girl in all my classes and never speak to them, then i could never in any instance call her my best friend- because i don't know anything about her. Same with God. In order for me to have faith in him i need to know who he is. In order to let that faith grow, i need to know more about him.

The more we read the bible the more we see why God is so amazing and the more we love him for it.

As a side note, i think i'm going to go over Hebrews again after finishing Isaiah because Hebrews makes A LOT of references to Isaiah. Idk tho, we'll see : )

Other scripture that i found quite interesting today:
"Therefore, I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My Idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them'"
Isaiah 48:5

"If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea."
Isaiah 48:18
~just a side note on this as well. This is why it's so important to listen to God when he tells us to do something- i mean when he shows us in big fat letters and flashing lights that this is what he wants us to do. Not listening to God can be devastating and may take a lot to recover from. But do not think that he'll just leave you there to sulk in your own misfortune, if you ask for help He will answer you. I can't exactly remember where it is but my father always says it "In the day of trouble, call upon me and i will deliver you and you will glorify me" (i think it's in psalms somewhere...). Just look at the history of Israel, time and time again, The nation did not pay attention to God's commandment but God never left them- God never leaves his people.

"'There is no peace,' says the Lord,'for the wicked'" Isaiah 48:22

"He says: 'It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
Isaiah 49:6
~Obviously speaking of Jesus. This is a foreshadowing of the destiny of Israel, to help be a light to the Gentiles (the non Jewish peoples). It is fulfilled when Jesus, a Jew, is born by Mary. But through Jesus' disciples, the preaching of salvation to the Gentiles begin (a little from Peter but mostly Paul); and i must say, thank you Lord for doing so!! :D

"to say to the captives 'come out' and to those in darkness, 'be fee!' They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill."
Isaiah 49:9
~I just put this here because one day, after church back home, one of the ladies came up to me and said that she felt God wanted me to hear this scripture- i'm not sure exactly when it will hit me as something that opens my eyes but i make note of it every time i pass by it.