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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12
It seems like it is getting harder and harder to really take a stand for Jesus. There are so many voices in society that tell us that the Bible isn’t relevant or that there are lots of ways to get to heaven. Truth, along with right and wrong, have become subject to one’s own interpretation. What’s right for you may not be right for me.
The voices of tolerance tell us that we need to be sensitive to those who have different beliefs because ‘we are all God’s children and he reaches out to us in many ways. To preach one way is right and one way is wrong is simply spreading hate.
We shouldn’t be surprised at the attacks leveled at our faith in Jesus. These attacks have been going on since Jesus walked on earth and they will continue until He comes again to take those of us who are His follower’s home.
When Paul wrote to Timothy is was as a loving father or teacher would write to a much loved son or student. He knew his time was short. He also knew that as Timothy grew older and more experienced in ministry he would encounter more and more resistance to the message of love and forgiveness through Jesus.
He tells Timothy that he must ‘Fight the good fight of faith’. The actual wording for this admonition in the original languages is to “Agonize the good agony.” In other words, the Christian life will be full of agony! For some of us this agony is an internal struggle. We may look squeaky clean and spiritual on the outside. We do all the right things, go to church, sing the songs and say the right words. But inside we struggle with addictions, fear, worry or thoughts we know are not pleasing to God. We can hide our struggles from others by ‘doing all the right things’ even though we still lose the inner battles of our hearts.
For others of us, following Christ can be an external struggle. Maybe you smoke and want to quit but can’t. Maybe it’s an addiction to chemicals. Maybe it’s anger and rage. It could be overeating. There is a whole list of things that we struggle with that are evident because try as we might, we can’t hide them.
Paul says to fight! Don’t give up. Know that God understands your weakness. He knows your heart and that you are trying to follow Him. He is more than willing to come along side you and help you have the strength to endure the battle. He doesn’t want you to give up on yourself. He can’t help you if you give up on Him.
Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on God. Jesus is THE way to truth and to life. He alone can help you with whatever fight is ahead of you.
PRAYER: Holy God, you know the battle the rages in my life right now. I struggle with some things that I’m able to hide (so far) from others. I struggle with other things that are very evident to everyone I meet. Some days I don’t like me and I doubt you. I feel the battle is too much for me. Please help me to remember that you are by my side and understand my weakness. Help me to fight the good fight with you by my side. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to live free from the things that try to hinder me. Amen.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36
During New Testament times the most cherished and protected item of a soldier’s armor was his shield. Those who lost their shield, and survived, were humiliated and at times killed by their own men. In fact, it was nobler to be carried home dead on your shield than to return home healthy and minus the shield. The shield was more important than life itself!
The word picture that the writer to the Hebrews gives us of confidence is likened to the shield of battle. The faith we have in God should be the most important thing we possess. Our faith in Jesus should be so important that we are willing to set aside our own personal reputation and safety to protect it. Jesus was humiliated, rejected by family and friends, wrongfully accused and eventually murdered by the very people He came to save. In spite of all that pain, He believes in you!
To many people their faith is an add-on to life. Faith is fine to have when times are tough, but when times are good it’s not necessary. To some it’s even confining. When faith is nothing more than an add-on and adversity comes we’re faced with a dilemma. We blame ourselves and try harder to ‘be good’ but this leads to frustration because we aren’t perfect no matter how hard we try.
We blame others and become angry and bitter, but that really only leads to our own emotional prison. Anger and bitterness robs our joy and our strength and keeps us from experiencing the joy and freedom only Jesus can give.
We blame God when our prayers aren’t answered the way we want or ask. But God isn’t a vending machine. His promises aren’t for an easy life here on earth. Jesus warns us repeatedly that we will be faced with tribulation and pain throughout our lives.
When you encounter battles and trials in life, learn a lesson from the admonition of Hebrews. Don’t throw away your faith! It doesn’t matter who is at fault in the trials you are enduring. If it’s your past you can be forgiven. If you’ve suffered evil at the hands of others God can help you recover from the wounds. But if you lose your faith in God, then you are truly without hope. Faith in God through Jesus Christ is the only way we can endure the attacks that others put in our way.
Persevere. Be strong. Guard your heart from the enemy. Never grow tired in your quest to follow Christ. Trust Jesus to empower you through His Holy Spirit to work in your life for good. Regardless of how things look around you Jesus is in control and madly in love with you!
PRAYER: Father God, I praise You for the protection and strength You have promised through Jesus Christ. I confess to you that I’m struggling with the things that are going on around me. There are times when I feel completely overwhelmed by enemy attack. Help me to hold fast to the confidence I have that You are an all-powerful, loving God. Empower me by Your Holy Spirit to live a life of faith in the midst of struggle. Amen.
Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” Genesis 18:25 (NLT)
Even someone with the strongest faith has to admit at times that we wonder why God allows the righteous and innocent suffer. We are appalled when news reports tell of women and children being used as human shields by people at war. It seems even more appalling when God seems to condone this activity. Face it; if He is the Sovereign God we claim He is, He certainly should be able to protect the women and children of the world.
In our weaker moments we can understand why some people boldly proclaim that God doesn’t exist or, if He does, He’s completely lost control of the world and its events. An all-powerful God of love and justice would never allow these tragedies to happen.
Perhaps Abraham had the same thoughts going through his mind when he overheard God talking with the two visitors who accompanied Him on a visit to Abraham. That event, in and of itself is an amazing thing to think about. How would our lives be different is God visibly and personally visited us as He did Abraham on several occasions!
The visit in Genesis 18:25 may have been the most troubling however. As Abraham listens in, God and the other two men with Him (Jesus and the Holy Spirit?) were talking about the destruction of two cities that had become increasingly evil: Sodom and Gomorrah.
Normally, Abraham may not have really concerned himself with the topic. However, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom. Out of love and concern for his nephew Abraham dared to question God’s plans! He bargained with God: “If you find 50 righteous will you destroy the city? 25? 10? At each level God promised that if righteous people were found the city would be spared.
Sadly, that didn’t happen. The angels had to literally drag Lot, his wife and two daughters out of Sodom moments before the city was buried under burning sulfur. Even then, Lot’s wife perished when she looked back and was transformed into a pillar of salt.
Throughout our lives there will be events that will cause us to question why. Abraham’s conversation with God before Sodom was destroyed shows that we serve a God who is not unapproachable. Abraham argued with God over Sodom for the sake of his nephew and by doing so may have saved Lots life. During those times of struggle in our lives we need to remember that we can come to God and let all of our emotions out. He will listen to you in the midst of your struggles!
Each of us needs to realize that even though the actions God allows seem to be harsh now, His actions seek a better good. We can’t always understand why God acts the way He does. There are times when we need to just accept His actions based on our faith in Him. We see things in a finite way with a beginning and end. God sees things in relation to eternity. When calamity happens it falls upon the guilty and the innocent, the rich and the poor, the young and the old. But God is in control.
When you are in the midst of adversity, even those times when you don’t think you can go on, remember that God IS there. He is NOT silent. He DOES love you. Rely on Him for the strength to carry on especially when you don’t understand the ‘why?’
PRAYER: Holy Father. I confess to you that I don’t understand the way you work. I see so much pain in the lives of others. I’m going through emotional and physical pain myself. There are times when I doubt your existence and your concern. I ask that you would help me to be honest with you and with myself. Help me, in Jesus name, to seek understanding where I need to understand, and faith to trust you when there are no answers. I ask today that if my struggles are not going to leave, you would give me strength and comfort to endure. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
Imagine for a moment your day starting like this.
You groggily reach over to hit the snooze ‘one more time’. A few extra minutes will seem so good. As you do, you notice the room is filled with an eerie sort of a glow. You look over in the corner and notice a glowing shape sitting in the corner. No chair, it’s still sitting in the corner.
Even though you are only half awake and should be scared out of your wits, something you see in the face of this person not only keeps fear away, but peace and love flood your very soul. You’ve never seen an angel before, but you know this is no angel. This….is GOD!
Before you can speak, He does. “Good morning sunshine!” He says in a gentle, yet firm voice.
You stumble for words and the first words from your mouth you desperately wish you could pull back, but it’s too late. “How long have you been here?” What a stupid thing to ask God.
“I’ve always been here. Watching you all night long. Walking by your side during the day. Cherishing every moment we have together. But today I decided you needed a reminder that I’m real and I’m here.” He moves to the side of your bed and sits beside you, placing His hand gently on your shoulder. “I want you to know that I’ve got your day prepared for you. I’ve looked over every moment and know exactly what is going to happen. There will be some things that concern you, some that trouble you and there will be times that you even doubt my existence. But don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere and everything will work out EXACTLY as I have planned.
“Um, okay” You say as a sick feeling comes across your mind. “About yesterday….I didn’t mean to think those thoughts and I don’t know how I ended up on that website, and I never would have said those words if…”
He lifts your head so that you look Him square in the eyes. You have never seen love like this, or understanding, or compassion. “It’s okay. I know. We talked about this last night before you went to bed, remember? It’s a new day now. I love you. Now come on. You know how rush hour can be. We need to get going.”
A little farfetched? From a human standpoint maybe. But right in the middle of the book of Lamentations, a book that lives up to its name. A book full of sorrow and agony, there’s this little tidbit of truth, a gem sparking in the darkness. God loves you. Every night He watches you sleep. He walks with you throughout your day. He hears the words you speak, sees the sights you see, and is part of every thought that crosses your mind.
Regardless of where you take Him or what you let Him see or hear, or how often you completely forget about His presence, He is there watching, guarding and protecting. Every morning He longs for you to spend some time with Him. He loves you and His love starts out fresh, new and hot every day.
PRAYER: Father God, I praise you for the fact of your presence in my life. I worship you for the fact that you have gone on before me in everything that I do and that nothing in my day today, or any day, surprises you. Forgive me for some of the places I’ve taken you, the words I’ve let you hear or the thoughts you’ve been a part of. Thank you for your love. Help me to ‘see’ your presence throughout my day. Amen.
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22-24
Why is it that some people seem to have the ability to pray for things and see those things come to pass while others pray and it seems like their prayers never get past the ceiling? The Bible is full of examples of great men and women of God who have prayed for personal or national healing and deliverance and seen great things happen.
Even in our world we hear of people who have prayed for miracles to happen in their lives and seen God work mightily in making things happen. Yet for many of us, while we ‘believe’ God CAN do anything, in those quiet times we confess to ourselves that ‘He won’t do those things in me.
There are many lessons we can learn from the story in the Gospel of Mark about faith, about prayer and about doubt. The fact of the matter is, if we believe God is who we say He is, and if we really believe that His power can accomplish anything, and then we have to believe that Jesus’ words are true. If we have the faith, we can move mountains.
When we pray for miracles to happen, one thing we must ask ourselves is this. “Who gets the glory for my answer?” Many times our prayers are self-seeking. That’s not necessarily the same as self-ish. Selfish can have a negative connotation. Self-seeking simply means that in reality, we want this miracle for us. It will make us feel better about ourselves, it will make others respect us more or it will in some way make my life easier.
There are many times in Jesus’ ministry when He made the statement that ‘this was done so My Father will be glorified’. Our Father in Heaven is more than willing and able to do ANYTHING we ask, but our motives must be in the right place. Everything we do in life should be with the desire to see God glorified and His name proclaimed to those in our world.
Secondly, when we pray for miracles we must remember that God has promised that He knows what is best for us. In one of Jesus’ teachings on prayer He asks this question: “If a child asks his father for bread would that father give him a stone?” The answer of course is, “NO, never!” We know that a loving father would never give his child something bad for him when he needs something good. But the opposite is also true. If we ask our Heavenly Father for something we honestly think will be good for us, but in the big picture it could be harmful, He won’t give it to us. He loves us to much to give us things that will hurt us.
Draw close to Jesus. Walk with him daily. Read His love letter to you. Pray believing that He CAN answer your prayers and trust Him to answer those prayers in the way that will be the best for you and bring glory to him.
PRAYER: Father God, I have to admit that there are many times when I’ve prayed and been disappointed in your response to me. There are so many things I’ve prayed for that haven’t happened and now, when I pray I doubt you will really answer. Forgive me for my lack of faith. Empower me with Your Spirit to pray believing you hear me and that even when I don’t get what I want, you will give me everything I need. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 