You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘faith’ tag.
We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again. So, because of him, God will raise with Jesus those who have died. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NCV)
“It’s not so important what you believe. The important thing is that you believe something.” Ever heard someone say something similar to that? To think that belief is more important than the validity of the object believed in is ludicrous at best and dangerous in most cases.
I could say I believe I can fly. I could believe is with all my heart. But one jump from the roof will prove me dreadfully wrong. I don’t need to go to that extreme. I know from what I’ve heard and learned and seen in life that jumping from the roof will bring me quickly to the ground and may cause injury or even death. My decision NOT to jump off the roof is based on quantifiable fact.
Faith works in me the same way. There are many religions that speak of some sort of life after death. Many systems of belief encourage morality and philanthropy. But the question that has to be asked of each of these belief systems is, “Where’s the proof? What evidence can you provide that insures I will live forever?” When it really comes down to it, that’s what each of us wants. In life we’d like money and health and vibrant, passionate relationships. But what happens after life can haunt us. It’s not knowing what happens after we die that puts the fear of death in the number one place of terror in our hearts.
That’s what sets us apart as Christ-followers. Jesus rose from the dead. There is a plethora of evidence, scientific and historic, that proves that point. Jesus is the only religious leader that not only stated he would rise from the dead, but actually did it. Not only did he say he would rise from the dead, he promised us that some day he would return for us.
If Jesus did what he said he would do by rising from the dead, we can be assured that his other promises will come true as well. Promises to always be with us. Promises to forgive us, show mercy to us and love us. Most of all, the promise that he will return one day and bring us to himself. We will rise again! How do we know? First of all our leader, Jesus Christ, did. Secondly, he told us we would rise from the dead. If it was true of him, it will be true of us. We will live forever. Death will have no victory over us because Jesus defeated death once and for all.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank you for offering me forgiveness for my sin. Thank you for fulfilling every promise you have ever made to me. Thank you for rising from the dead so that I can be assured I will live forever. In you I put my trust because no one else can do for me what you do. In your name I pray, Amen.
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
A few years ago the then-governor of Minnesota made the statement that “Faith is for weak-minded people.” However, weak-minded faith is faith in something that isn’t true. Weak-minded faith is faith in a lie, a system, a human, a philosophy.
Faith in the one and only triune God isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength and courage. It’s faith with a capital ‘F’.
A person with this kind of Faith has the strength to face the challenges of life with the attitude that says I’ll do what I can to make my world better, knowing all the while that the success of my venture isn’t dependent on me but on God.
A person of Faith makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are huge. Sometimes those mistakes are willful choices to take the easy way. But in the end the person of faith is secure in knowing that they are loved by God. This person of faith, even when far from where he/she wants to be continues to battle back. Knowing all the while that their ‘righteousness’ isn’t based on their actions but on their hearts desire for a fulfilling relationship with God.
A person of Faith sees the social ills of the world around him/her and works to make them better all the while making the sacrifices needed to show the love and grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Even to those people who they disagree with. Even to those people who abuse the system. This person knows that true justice will never come to this world at the hands of mankind but still works towards that end.
A person of Faith looks at family and friends who are living apart from God and loves them back into the kingdom. They realize that restoration of the soul takes time and effort and prayer. They realize that relationship is more important than condemnation and that restoration is done better with gentle hands and patience than a sledge hammer and duct tape.
A person of Faith thinks before he/she talks. Puts themselves in the other person’s shoes before taking action to change things. Loves in the midst of hatred. Brings an attitude of calm in the midst of the storm. A person of Faith realizes that the still quiet voice based on Godly principles is much louder that a beating drum and blaring speakers or legalism.
PRAYER: Father God. I want to be a person of Faith. I’m so frustrated right now with where I find myself on the journey of life. I’m angered and frightened by what I see going on around me both on the world-wide scale and in my own corner of the world. Empower me with your spirit to practice strong faith. Faith that says no matter what happens I know you are in complete control. Help my actions be the change-agent my loved ones need. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18
Moses and the Israelites were trapped. Ahead of them lay the Red Sea. Behind them, the Egyptian army was closing in fast. It was a hopeless and fearful situation. The Bible says that they cried out to the Lord in their fear. The answer they got was (my paraphrase) “Why are you standing here crying and whining to me about such a small matter? Put your staff up, split the sea and cross! Then turn around and watch how I will deliver you.”
They did just that, and, as we know, the sea parted, the Israelites crossed, and the elite Egyptian army was destroyed! The prayers of God’s people were answered but only after THEY took action. Sometimes it’s not enough just to pray, we need to act.
If God is speaking to you about an enemy that you need to stop hating and start loving, don’t just pray about it, pray sincerely asking God to show you ways to mend the relationship. Then…DO SOMETHING! That something may just mean forgiving them and moving on. That something may mean doing some tangible act to mend the relationship. Sincere prayer often requires action on our part to see God act.
There are times, of course when God will provide answers without a physical action on our part, but even then we must be openly seeking guidance from our Father to know how to act. Do we wait, or is he giving us direction? The closer we are to him in relationship the easier it will be to discern his plan for our lives.
Many times, when Jesus healed someone it required some action on their part to be healed. For example, was there something magical in the mud that Jesus put on the blind man’s eyes so he could see? No, but the act of faith to go to the pool and wash was proof of his sincerity! Was Jesus’ robe ‘magic’ when the woman touched it? No. It was her act of faith the provided the avenue of Jesus’ power to heal her.
What are you seeking God for today? Have you come to him with a pure and sincere heart? Have you come believing that he is willing and able to save? Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and do something ‘spiritually risky’ in order to open and avenue for his power to flow through you?
When you come before your Heavenly Father with a sincere and pure heart he draws close to you as well. He crosses the room to meet you as you enter. He gives you his full attention. He may not give you the answer you were hoping for, but he always gives you the answer you need.
PRAYER: Father God, there are so many times I’ve prayed and felt like you didn’t answer. So many times my prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and fall harmlessly to the floor. Help me to pray with a sincere heart and a willingness to take any action that you may ask of me so that your power can flow freely through me. Forgive me for my doubt, rebellion and selfishness. Help me grow in relationship to you. In Jesus name, Amen.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15
Have you ever taken the time to sit and listen to any of the promotional television shows? Each show has a product or ‘system’ to sell that will make your life easier physically, relationally financially or career-wise. The problem with most of these shows is that they can’t possibly take into account your particular life circumstance, your past, your family situation, your feelings or your hurts.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a show on TV that gave you ten easy steps to having whatever you wanted or needed in life? The unfortunate reality is, it’s not going to happen. No one can possibly give you an easy answer to all the things that are troubling you. There is no quick-fix to the disappointments, the pain of abuse, the fear of the future or the shadows of your past, those ghosts in the closet that you have kept hidden for years.
Worse yet, no one fully understands how you feel. You may be lucky enough to have one or two friends that can understand somewhat the feelings you are going through. They may be able to cry with you, listen to you and support you, but nobody can climb inside your body to know exactly how you feel. No one, that is, except Jesus.
Jesus alone knows and understands exactly how you feel and understands your weakness. In fact, the Bible says he personally has experienced every temptation, every rejection, every struggle you have. The difference is that Jesus never gave in to those temptations, never let the rejection keep him captive, never allowed the attacks of other people to affect how he viewed himself.
Even though he knows how to overcome all those obstacles, he’s not going to hold that over you. You’ll never hear Jesus say, “Suck it up! I resisted. I overcame. You just need to be strong. You just need to reach deep within yourself and resolve to be better”. Jesus won’t criticize us because even though he was victorious over the struggles of life, he knows we are weak. He knows we fail.
Jesus is our great high-priest. A high-priest was the person that would go before God with our sins and seek God’s forgiveness on our behalf. When Jesus goes to the Father with our sin, he says something like, “I know he’s failed again. I know she’s having a hard time with forgiveness and that addiction, but I know how he/she feels. I was there. I know the struggle and the power life can have over them.”
There aren’t ten easy steps to perfection. But there is one easy step to forgiveness in Jesus Christ. There is one person in this world who understands every time you’ve failed. Every time you’ve given in to an addiction, a struggle, anger, hate or any of the other things that attack. Jesus understands. He longs to hold you in his arms of grace. He’s only a prayer away.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I don’t fully understand how you can understand me when I don’t understand myself most days. There are so many days when I wake up in the morning determined to conquer the obstacles in my path, only to fail miserably. Thank you for knowing how I feel. Thank you for accepting me anyway. Forgive me for my failings and empower me to get up and keep going. In your name I pray, Amen.
“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ Luke 19:17
Have you ever caught yourself looking around and asking yourself ‘Is this all there is?”. You look at your abilities and compare them to the abilities of someone else. You measure your past against those whose past is ‘squeaky clean’ and stable. You see a couple walking hand in hand down the street and with your relationship was like that.
If we are honest we each have those moments where we wish we had more money, more time, better skills, a better relationship, a better body and a whole list of other things to make us more successful, better respected and more comfortable. These feelings can bring on depression, discouragement, anger, hate, envy and a whole bunch of other destructive and retraining emotions.
Jesus tells a story about three men who were given money by their master before he went away on a trip. When he returned, he went to see what each of them had done with the money given them. Two of the men had used the money for good things. They’d invested wisely, spent frugally and, in the end, made their master more money. The third person did nothing. He held tightly to what he had so that when the master returned he gave him everything he had been given, but not a penny more.
When the master returned he commends his servants for being faithful in the small things, the little things of life. They may have thought it was a huge responsibility, but he didn’t. In fact, the person who was given the least was afraid to do anything at all because he was afraid of failure. Fear keeps us from doing the little things that lead to success.
God gives us what we need to excel in life. You may have made some terrible mistakes in life. You may be suffering from consequences that will last you a life time, full of scars and wounds that are taking much longer to heal than you’d hoped. Don’t allow these things to keep you from investing your time in the little things that will enable God to use you. It wasn’t the amount of money the master gave his servants that was important, it was what each person did with it that counted.
For those of us that are Christ-followers, those little things that matter may be starting to read the Bible and pray on a daily basis. It may be spending more time with your kids or building that weak relationship.
Think of life as drama production. Usually you have one or two people who are major players. You have a cast of others who support the plot. You have people in the background making sure costumes are right, the set is in place and the sound and lights are in place. We normally think of the stars as being the most important, but how would the play be without supporting cast members or crew? Just as there are no unimportant roles to play in drama, there are no unimportant roles to play in life.
Use what you have to glorify God alone. Do the little things you know you need to do to grow stronger in Him and into a closer relationship with Him. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by what others are doing or others have. Play your part to the best of your ability and let God do the rest.
PRAYER: Father God I thank you for me. Thank you that you have given me all that I need to excel in life. Forgive me for letting my past cripple me. Empower me to enjoy who I am and where I am without comparing myself to others. Give me the grace I need to be the person you want me to be. In your name I pray. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 