Walk by Faith

Faith walks… it doesn’t just talk or profess.  We can watch in amazement as the waters of the sea divide and a path through the impossible appears.  But without faith in the goodness of the God who delivers us, we will not step into it and pass through.  We will stand on the shore in fear and ask.. ‘what if?’  (Not having any other options for survival often seems to help.)  Even though the general pattern of Israel’s entire existence demonstrated repeated unbelief and apostasy, they are commended in Hebrews 11 for crossing the Red Sea “by faith”.  But scarcely had they gotten to the other side when they instead believed the God of all Creation had abandoned them.  They quickly fashioned one of their comforting idols they could actually see.  Of course they believed he COULD take care of them, but they usually doubted He WOULD.

What is faith?  Is it a mental assent to the fact that there is a God?  Is it coming to an intellectual acknowledgment of a man named Jesus who died on a cross, and the mathematical equation:  Blood of Jesus = Forgiveness?  Do we practice our faith simply by reading a Holy Book and attending services, or having a goal for our personal prayer time so we can assure ourselves we are “in the faith?”

The first time I read through the stories of the Old Testament, one thing came through to me over and over about the relationship between God and fallen man, the one thing mankind (with a few exceptions) could never seem to do – simply believe what God said.  If you don’t believe someone, you will not act on what they say, or follow their instructions.  If you don’t believe a person’s words, you don’t have faith in their motives, honesty, or reliability.   Hebrews 11 displays the Biblical Hall of Fame for those who did trust God’s good intentions toward them in His promises, and acted on the accordingly as instructed.

By faith…. they (fill in the blank).  Action.

This chapter also has the best definition of faith.

1.  Believe that He IS

2.  Believe that He rewards those who seek Him.

The entire book of Hebrews encourages suffering, persecuted Jewish Christians not to shrink back in fear or fall back into the obsolete comfy “religion” they’d always known, following the pattern of unbelief of their forefathers.  It offers contrast after contrast of the superior nature of Christ’s priesthood, covenant, sacrifice, and ministry.  The ultimate disobedience that births all wrong action is turning back in unbelief.

The best news of all is that we do not manufacture or muster up this faith in ourselves.  We “look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”  (Hebrews 12:2)  He is our light and our strength.  If we can doubt the goodness of God and His love toward us, or the faithfulness of His promises, while at the same time looking at His Son – what a strange thing that would be!!

But the question remains.  What does He want to do through you by this faith?  Hebrews 11 is not the end of the story, but the beginning of many more.

Communion

“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.  For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things…”

Hebrews 2:10-14

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.“

John 6:53-58

I was reading the passage above in Hebrews and the phrase “since therefore the children share in flesh and blood….”  brought a new picture to me – a deeper meaning in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.  Most communion services focus on having a clear conscience before we partake (which should be anyone trusting in the blood of Christ), and the meaning in the atonement of the death of Jesus as payment for our sin.  I know I am a child of God through the spiritual birth He has worked in me, but never before connected communion as being a sign of this also.  The passage in John came to mind as well.

Bread and wine, flesh and blood – the death of my old self in being one with Him in his death.  Bread and wine, flesh and blood – my new identity in HIM, as His offspring in His resurrection and Life.   He took ours, so we could have His.  Communion.

Mowing

Using the phrase “mowing the grass” is not really accurate in the case of our yard. I think of it more as indiscriminately hacking down an undiscovered, wild, medicinal-herb garden. We may even have species of plants no one has yet named. Seems such a shame to do violence to it. And violent we are. People approach every-day lawn care without taking into account that each small weed is actually a miniature tree. If only we could see it from the grasshopper’s perspective as the ground shakes and toads are leaping without aim to avoid a doom they cannot name. If they have an expectation for a coming apocalypse, my lawnmower would be the Angel of Death. Why not just let everything be? Leave it all in peace. God said it was good, but we have to groom it to our liking.

Today I had to go out and do this act which civilization sees as so vital we must write city codes concerning it. I was fighting the boredom of it all, composing the above paragraph and making up proverbs about moving hastily when one doth cut off the top of a fire ant mound, when I looked toward my house to find I have an audience of two. My son and daughter have seated themselves on chairs and covered their laps with blankets as if attending an evening concert of Mozart in the Park. They each have a Barbie, one of which is actually dressed. My daughter has another blanket tied as a cape and their assumed characters are conversing excitedly, maybe about the plight of frightened toads and what should be done about it. I forgot. Life is never boring with small children, the most creative people in the world.

I love to make myself laugh because it kills boredom, defies grief, and helps me resist the occasional impulse to do someone bodily harm. (Assault with deadly sarcasm is not something you can be arrested for, although maybe they should think about outlawing it.) Today I realize I’m not just running from boredom, but trying to push a picture out of my mind. A deer crashed through the front window of a church building this morning and I could not believe how much I identify with the poor deer. It’s an amazing metaphor to me. This poem came and with it my answer too.

She crashed the party, bleeding and trapped

innocently searching for natural habitat.

Of course, no one wants her to stay,

She doesn’t belong, she’s in the way.

She attempts to communicate her need

but instead makes a mess beyond all belief.

Someone comes to her aid, helps her escape

but she still can’t find which road to take

that will lead her where the pasture is green

and water flows free from a clear running stream.

by Ramone Romero http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com/

Then the voice came and it all made sense

“This home isn’t found in a building or tents

Come to me and I will give you rest

and food and water and oil for your head.

Your wounds are deep, but they will mend

and you’ll soon forgive all who offend

So stop your running and crashing and crying

I solved all this confusion when I was dying.

You don’t need to keep living this way

just believe that I have you and what I’ve promised today.

Our Pain, His Glory

This is a part three… continuing on from the last two posts.  First, Job’s suffering as refinement of character which sometimes lead us to brokenness, repentance, salvation, and restoration.  Part two – trials that strengthen our faith and teach us to stand in the armor of God in battle, such as the opposition Nehemiah faced repeatedly as he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. (A future topic in itself.)  Today as I was reading the end of Paul’s journey, from Jerusalem to Rome, I saw a picture of suffering for God’s glory.

Paul had been warned repeatedly what lay ahead for him in Jerusalem, but he felt compelled to go anyway.  Many prophesied by the Spirit that he would be in chains and have persecution.  Just as Jesus told His disciples of his coming death on his last journey into Jerusalem, so Paul was also aware of the suffering waiting for him.  When he was taken into custody, which essentially saved his life from an angry mob, and men planning ambush, God reassured him in a dream that He was with him, and to not be afraid.  In spite of the way things looked, Paul was comforted of Christ’s presence and plan.

I think if I was Paul’s friend at that time, my first reaction would be to attempt to pray away the problem – this obviously being an attack from the enemy to squelch a man the world so urgently needed as an evangelist.  He had a sure calling and none of the brethren wanted him to continue toward Jerusalem and walk into an obvious hornet’s nest.   Nothing about it made logical sense to human reasoning.  But looking back we can see incredible testimony coming from this path he agreed to walk.

Did he meet with much success?  Rulers converted?  False accusers silenced? Doesn’t seem that he would have been much encouraged by the results he saw, but nonetheless, God still showed himself strong as continued evidence in the shipwreck crew saved, snake venom immunity, and the spread of the gospel in Malta.   In the midst of one crisis after another, one rejection after another, God’s truth and light shone through even brighter.  If we measured ministry success by the terms that Paul lived under in his calling, we might have different concept and definition of success.  Success is loving, sacrificial obedience to our King, not visible results.

Paul’s life ended in Rome, pouring his life out,  “as a drink offering”  he once said – faithful to the very end, glorifying Christ until his last breath.  This would all seem very sick for a God to ask this of His children if He had remained aloof and untouched by our pain.  But He took all of it on his own head, and asks us to follow His example in pouring ourselves out for Him and others.  This is our gratitude, our compulsion, our highest aim.

When Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that ALL things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purpose, there is no total despair or defeat in any trial we face if we believe this with our whole heart.  The enemy’s lies can be convincing and sometimes we lose hope, but hope is built on faith in the truth.  The joy of the Lord comes in knowing we have total, complete, and final victory no matter what.  We have joy knowing that the darkness, pain, and suffering we face today can never shut out the light of God’s glory and His plan will not be thwarted.  Everything the enemy throws at someone who is abiding in Christ will only work to strengthen the person and glorify God.  I can’t imagine how infuriating that must be to the forces working against us.

I am not suggesting we don’t fail and fall, as Peter denied Jesus in His darkest hours.  These failures bring terrible pain, and often lasting consequences.  Yet even in them, God is glorified in His mercy and forgiveness.  I personally would love to avoid these paths to higher wisdom, but I know He holds even my imperfections and failures in His hand… He has dealt with them and I no longer need to fear that I am not strong enough, smart enough, brave enough, busy enough.  I once was offended when I realized how Sovereign He is in my life, but now I am comforted.  Only in Him can I stand all the tests and pain this life holds.  By His Grace, I will count it all joy.

God’s Boot Camp

Moving on from Job… then what?  This came to me this morning, as a continuation of thought on the problem of trial and tribulation, and spiritual attack.  Job was most definitely attacked by the enemy.. but we must know the purpose of the attack.  Job only gives us one example.  There are others.

When we become God’s offspring.. many things change. We place ourselves in His hand to be refined and purified.. often through the fire of very hard circumstances. I have been thinking about that so much the last few months contemplating my life, other people’s lives, and the Word. We must comes to terms with the fact that God does not always protect us from pain, and often to bring about good in our lives. (Romans 5:3-5)

Part of our training is intended to take things away that hold us back. Cutting and pruning hurts.

But another aspect of His training is becoming skilled for war (with the enemy.. not each other btw). This is a hard balance and requires much discernment (of which I don’t have much yet). I do not believe we are supposed to just roll over and accept everything the enemy throws at us, but only by being in tune with the Holy Spirit will we know the difference between that which is the thorn in the flesh to keep us from being too exalted (like Paul) or that which has come to teach us to stand. And having done all… to stand. (Eph. 6)

The first key is to know your calling. What has God commanded YOU to do.. What has He told you He wants to do through you? Jesus got into the boat, and said.. “We are going to the other side.” A storm came, and suddenly the disciples didn’t believe they were going to get there, in spite of what God said. God seemed to be sleeping. We must wake up God and ask Him to save us! Well.. didn’t we believe we were going to the other side? Didn’t we understand.. even when He is silent, He is still with us?

If we know for certain what He has called us to do – those things that come against our “directive” are to be stood against. We see this over and over in Scripture (Nehemiah is one of my favorite examples), and also in the lives of many great men and women of faith who have lived amazing testimonies after the Bible was written. Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith has continued for 2000 years.. and we can also be a part of that story, if we do not shrink back in fear and unbelief.

Some people teach that faith is given to avoid all pain and suffering – that God has given us authority over anything negative. I do not see where this is taught or promised anywhere. But I also don’t believe that we sit back and say.. “Oh well… guess God didn’t want me to do this after all.” NO.. He wants you to stand up and do the impossible because He is the God of impossible situations. But when it’s HIS agenda, not ours. Not for ourselves, but for others.. He gives us the 5 loaves and 2 fish and says.. “feed them”.

I am still very much in boot camp.. basic training… about 3 days in.

Job’s Test

This morning I read several of the last chapters of Job (looking for something entirely different) and I can’t believe what I saw that I never realized before.    I feel like I missed something in Kindergarten and am just now saying… Did you know the letter “Y” is sometimes a vowel???  Who knew?

When I read Job before, I came away with the idea (and seem to remember hearing it taught somewhere) that no one ever knew why God allowed this test.. that we just all take this example as fair warning that God may put you up to some trial for no other reason you can fully ascertain than it’s just His sovereign decision to do so.  I think I was taught it was all to prove something to satan, even though Job never knew about those conversations.   It’s true that God doesn’t have to tell us why, and often He doesn’t explain things.  Job kept asking and got only silence.   To sum up God’s response at the end He says,  “Who are you to ask me why?”  I interpreted this as “I’m not going to tell you why” but today I finally realized…this question is the answer itself.

Job needed most of all to see who he truly was before God.  He was upright in every way possible.  “A blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil”.  This is how God describes him and also how Job describes himself as he is lamenting his unjust predicament.  I have never heard of anyone as great as Job.  He did everything right, had wisdom that no one could refute, refrained from evil and sought to do good to all within his reach that needed help; orphans, widows, poor, the stranger, and those who were being unjustly accused.   But in all his boasting, there is one thing he cannot see – mainly that he is boasting.  He does not see himself in his rightful position before a Holy God… flawed and deserving of nothing.  We are all born with Adam’s fatal flaw, and pride is the most blinding one of all.

Job has a fourth friend who speaks only once at the end.  He is young but says in spite of his youth, he is speaking wisdom from the Spirit of God.  He is  not rebuked by God as the other three “friends” were.  I love what he says in this passage in Job 33:23-28, a foreshadow of our redemption in Christ.

If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, Then He is gracious to him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom; His flesh shall be young like a child’s.  He shall return to the days of his youth.  He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.  Then he looks at men and says,  “I have sinned and perverted what was right, and it did not profit me.” He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, and his life shall see the light.

When God tells Job to stand up like a man and be questioned, He asks, “Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?”  This is what we do when we suffer and complain to God that this is not what we deserve, and I have been guilty of this many times, even the very small measures I have suffered in my lifetime.

The big picture I see in Job is this.  God is the one who pointed Job out to satan in the first place.  He presented him as a human subject to be tested.  The test was allowed to go no further than God’s decree and intended to work out a purpose in Job’s life.  I don’t see a random, arbitrary God playing with his creation as pawns on a chess board for His entertainment.  Romans tells us that ALL things work together for our good.  Tests are calculated and measured according to our need.  And we all need them.   Elihu tells Job that in suffering,  God “opens their ear to instruction” – Job 36:10.

Recently in following God I came upon an unexpected test.  When we are following God’s leading, we assume that He will only take us into happy places.  This was such a shock to me to find myself in pain instead of the joy I was expecting.   As an intense spiritual attack poured down on me, I doubted I had heard Him in the beginning, even though He had confirmed it many ways.  Then the trial began to reveal very ugly things in my life which I did not realize were even there!  I began to give these things to Him and be thankful for the pain that opened my eyes to them.   I realized it truly was His leading, and even though it felt like abandonment for awhile, I know He was there through it, loving me enough to refine me.

I have finally stopped seeing suffering (at least the kind that is not self-induced) as punishment, but training.  Discipline is not punishment!  When we are born again, we are no longer under God’s penal system.  We are in boot camp.    This is a picture of God saving Job from himself, and the lesson so huge, only a deep valley could open his eyes to it.  God loved and restored Him, and I believe gave us a picture of the journey from believing we are okay in our own righteousness, to seeing ourselves as helpless, admitting it, seeing God as absolutely sovereign in all things, and then passing from death into life and redemption.

This is all so easy for me to say, not walking in the shoes of so many people I know.  The song “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” comes from the book of Job.  After he lost his family and wealth he said,  “He gives and takes away.. blessed be His name.”  But when his body was racked with pain and disfigurement, the real test began.  The true refining.  This earth is full of incredible pain of many kinds, and it takes great faith to still believe God has your best interest in mind when you are in the middle of it, especially if you can see no light at the end of the tunnel.   When it comes from situations outside our control, it feels as if the hand of God is crushing us for no apparent reason.   I see many situations I don’t believe I could endure.  In fact I think it’s better to realize I never could, without Christ as my hope and shield.  I trust His purpose and His plan because I trust His Love.  Unless I was assured of this, nothing else would be sure.  Unlike Job, we have a cross in our history, not our future.    I desire to glorify Him in all the paths He leads me through, high and low.  I pray only for His strength to do so.

TV

Five months ago we had our satellite dish turned off  for financial reasons, after having it for about two years.  Prior to that we had been perfectly content without it for three years, but my husband missed football games, so we decided to try it again for awhile.  This time it came with the new DVR technology which allows you to record any program, and skip commercials when you watch it later.  We also loved the “rewind or pause  live TV” feature which will spoil anyone from ever being able to watch regular old TV ever again.  How empowering to stop a program until the often urgent crises small children create have passed!  We had great intentions of keeping it under control… and we did for a little while.  Not sure at what point we slid into being a typical, American, TV-addicted, couch-potato family, but we did.  Husband comes home from work, tired and stressed.  Plop.  Kids need to do something to get out of mom’s hair while she blogs.  Plop.  Family hanging out for a few hours on a Saturday night.  Plop.  Then came the incessant.. “Can I watch…” questions.  Pretty soon, the oldest younger child learned how to work the remote control and they were off running with mom-approved programming only of course, for several hours a day.

Even at this point, the impact it had on our home was not fully realized.  We were just normal, average people, and everyone else is doing it, right?  With the more advanced technology we believed we had more control than ever and that we were still really in charge, when actually, we had become obedient servants (yet again) to the box in the room.

Then came the big day we boxed up the equipment and sent it back.  What to do, what to do?  I set no restrictions on DVD’s and the younger ones detoxed on that for a few weeks, watching the favorites over and over.  After the initial shock to their systems wore off,  I  noticed some really odd behavior.  They were playing games using their imagination, with their toys, in their room!  How bizarre!  They might put on a movie, but half-way through they are off playing again.  My daughter discovers she loves to draw and fills up pages and pages of fairly impressive artwork for her age.  My youngest turns the hallway into a race track every day for his box full of Hot Wheels.

My husband and I realize we talk more.  He has experienced a major growth spurt in his spiritual walk, and has been able to discern so much more clearly how God is leading our family.  Do you realize how huge these two things are even by themselves?   I told him I was curious how many marriages die just from sheer lack of nurturing that a TV can take away from a relationship.  We still have plenty of things that take up our time (like this computer I’m holding) but we have noticed such a huge transformation in our home and family.

The other major revelation came when we saw how much TV controls and influences nearly everything people do, think, and believe.  When we unplugged from it, we felt like Neo in the Matrix.  As in, “wow.. THAT is not real life.. THIS is real life.”  Everything in our culture is molded by the information and expectations that come through that one source; fashion, music, entertainment of all kinds, best-selling books, religion, spirituality, history, art, and the bizarre stuff that keeps us from observing how we are all spinning and swirling – headed for the sewer pipe at the bottom of a toilet bowl.  There is no other single more influential element in people’s homes than this.   Is that claim too bold?

Consider this:

According to A.C. Nielsen, in a 65-year life the average American will have spent 9 years glued to the TV. Now think about that for a minute. Nine years of their life spent – doing what? Achieving what?  Can we imagine in our wildest dreams that this is what God wants  for us?

Statistics also tell us that on average, parents only spend 3 – 5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children.  And yet the average child watches television for 1,680 minutes per week. So who is raising these children? Parents or the TV?  Who is molding their minds, values, and attitudes? Why do so many Christian children rebel and turn from God in their teen years? Is there a connection?

- Andrew Strom (see full post)

What if Scripture and prayer were the most powerful influences in our homes?  What if all Christians in this country focused themselves in this way?  I know some who do, but they are considered extreme and fanatical.  Passing by a mobile-home sales lot a big sign advertises “media room”.   It’s the shrine room to the idols we need and trust.  What if Christians wanted a prayer room in their houses the way we all want media rooms?  What would God be doing through us?  When I read the book of the ACTS of the Apostles, which I find myself doing often, it amazes me how often the setting describes them in prayer.  Earnest, fasting prayer.  Listening prayer.  Good thing TV and computers did not come till recently.  We could write a new chapter for the church today called LAX, not ACTS.    This is the truth about ourselves.

Can TV be good?  Of course.. educational, a tool for evangelism and spreading the gospel.  It’s just a tool, but one that most people have very little ability to use without it controlling them.  We are not the family that can safely have TV reception (movies we can manage).  I am not suggesting everyone should throw theirs out as we have – just see it for what it is.  But the reality is you may have no idea what you are truly missing until it’s gone.

Fear and Love

Finally watched the movie Amazing Grace last night about William Wilberforce and his tireless campaign to end the slave trade in England.  When he was wallowing in failure, he met a woman who encouraged him to pick up the torch again and not give up.  He lost his popular support when France and England went to war because his activities were seen as subversive.  People doubted he and his cohorts were loyal to the King so most distanced themselves from the cause to avoid being seen as revolutionaries sympathetic to France and America.

As the political climate cooled, this woman (soon to be wife) told him, “When people stop being afraid, they will rediscover their compassion.”

That statement struck me deeply and reminded me of a verse I have always had some trouble fully understanding.  Speaking of the end of the age, Jesus said,

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.   And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.   And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:12

I have tried to figure out exactly what Jesus meant by that.  How does lawlessness make love grow cold?  It finally occurred to me that an atmosphere of fear, no matter what the source or situation, stifles love. (takes me awhile sometimes.)  When we are forced to choose between taking the risk to love or protecting our own hide, we choose ourselves without even thinking twice, in our natural born state.  Totalitarian regimes thrive off this fear and people’s willingness to betray their own friends and relatives in order for their own innocence to be established.  Lawlessness creates fear and transgresses love at the same time, because God’s Royal law IS love.  I see as our culture becomes more violent and criminal,  people are afraid to reach out and help others they don’t know, welcome the stranger, or even get to know their neighbors.  Everyone is a potential threat.

The ability of a true Christian to love in spite of fear, even at the expense of their own lives, is one of the most miraculous evidences that God is real and His Grace is effective.  The empowerment of the Holy Spirit overcomes fear and brings boldness because the Spirit is immersing and filling the believer in the agape Love of God.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  1 John 4:16-18

The only way we can overcome a fear-driven world is to have our complete being and identity derived in the Love of God – trusting in what Jesus has done for us.  Any false gospel that puts the burden of performance on us for our own justification before God does not give us peace or assurance.  We must be absolutely secure in the love of God for His children in order to be bold and self-sacrificing.  I believe God gives this Grace in times of urgent need, but we can also seek to cultivate it on a daily basis – filling up on the TRUTH of God and fellowship with Him through the Spirit rather than to focus on the doubt the enemy assaults us with on a daily basis.

Do you ever hear, “Yes, you are saved all right, but God doesn’t like you very much.  You aren’t measuring up to who you are supposed to be as Christian.  You are not good enough to call yourself a Christian.  God is probably looking for a way to punish you and humiliate you because you have not yet overcome (fill in the blank).”  Even if the enemy can’t attack your assurance of salvation, he can still cause you to walk in fear in your relationship with God, and this will stifle the love you can show to others.

If we keep our honest communication open with Him, laying out our whole heart, struggles, and failures before Him every day, we will walk in complete honesty and dependence.  This is how the attacks of the enemy are used for our own good – to feel a deeper need and a stronger trust of Jesus Christ.  When we respond in this way, the enemy can’t win. In fact his loss becomes our gain.  We come to fruitfulness, peace, love, joy.. all those things the Holy Spirit promises to produce in our lives.  We know by faith, that even though we fall and fail in the flesh – the reality is the entirety of our sin has already been brought to nothing in the death of Jesus on the cross (Romans 6) and we are promised victory.  If we know we have already won, what is there to fear?  If we believe the promises of God and as John says, we believe the love God has for us, love will be perfected in us also.

His promise for victory over sin is also not just a future promise.  We may sin, but we are no longer SLAVES to sin if we are born into Christ. (As I John says.. we don’t “practice” it – we have a new relationship with it)  It does not rule us.  We don’t love it.  We grieve for it, we hate it, we plead for it to be rooted out.  But in all the work of God to bring us into the peace of holiness in our present walk… His love is ALWAYS there.

In Isaiah 55 when God says His ways are higher than our ways (which I hear quoted alot), the context is in his depth of forgiveness and mercy.

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.   Isaiah 55:6 – 9

People who are not in Christ (a secure place) and love their sin, should indeed have a terrifying fear, because Jesus says the wrath of God remains on him.  But this is not for the sheep of the Good Shepherd.  When we stop being afraid, we will find that we can truly love.

Invite People to Jesus

Last Friday while my oldest daughter and I were shopping, a friendly older gentleman handed us little booklets about one inch square that said “God Loves You” on the front.  They were full of scriptures telling the Good News.  He wasn’t obnoxious or pushy – just freely sowing the Word everywhere he went.  I put them in my pocket and thought, “Maybe I will find someone to give them to before the day is over.”  But.. the sad truth was I didn’t have the guts to do it.

Lately I have been thinking hard and long about how to share my faith.  I have never been actively involved with any Christians who regularly did this (outside of a “program”) and lately my desire to do so has been getting stronger.  But I don’t know how, and I’ve given up hope of finding a group of people to show me.  I keep thinking there is a right way – a safe way – an effective way.  But the truth is – the sower goes out to sow and scatters seed.  It’s that simple.  If I am waiting for a safe way that is guaranteed results – I will never start.  In most churches evangelism is something someone else does.  We sit and wait for them to come to us.  In this I think lies the problem and the cause of our handicap.

Discipleship is the art of passing on what you know and do to someone else.  Those who followed Jesus were discipled by hearing Him, watching Him, and walking with Him.  They imitated what He did.  He empowered them and sent them out to do what He did.  Today we sit in churches while one man speaks to a whole bunch of people, and very few people hearing him can duplicate what he does.  We look to the pastor to give the invitation and say the prayer that leads hearts to trust Jesus.  So lets say a miracle happens and someone actually hears the true gospel in a church and is challenged to trust Jesus as Lord.  When the new believer is excited about his faith and wants to share it with his friend, what will be his first inclination?  How did he receive salvation?  Listening to a preacher preach!  The logical way to get your friend saved is to bring them to church, so they too can hear the preacher preach.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it puts alot of pressure on one man, and one method.  And we all know how hard it is to get anyone out in the world to walk through the doors of any church.  What if we invited people to Jesus?  Isn’t it that simple?  What did the woman at the well in Samaria do?  She asked people to come and see if this Jesus was for real – as He claimed to be the Messiah.

What if Christians were empowered by the Holy Spirit (to prophesy ..  boldly speak the Truth) and sent out like Jesus sent out His first followers?  Shouldn’t we be?  What if most of the people who came to believe and trust Jesus did so as a result of someone reaching out their hand or personally speaking the truth into their lives?  Faith comes by “hearing the Word of God.”  What if the occupation of proclaiming the Word was not seen as something only a professional could do?  It seems to me, people would not have this notion that they could not also go out and do as it had been shown to them.

Network marketing companies stress the importance of duplication.  That is – you recruit new members by a method they themselves will easily use to recruit others.  The key is to keep it simple and people are encouraged to know, “If you can do it, I can do it too.”  If we can apply such a simple concept in the business world to make money, why can’t we practice this type of discipleship for God?  The early church was a miraculous success story of evangelism, through the power of the Spirit and obedience to the Great Commission.  Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel… teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you.”   It would seem simple that this first command would also be taught, yet it rarely is.  We see evangelism as a special gift or function rather than  something all disciples are called to pass on.

I have procrastinated long enough.  God has laid on my heart some simple things I can do, and I have made a beginning.  No, I don’t truly know how.  Yes, it terrifies me.  And no, I have no idea if I will ever personally see the seed that I sow sprout and grow, but that is up to God.  I greatly desire others to share the joy I have found in Christ, and to be obedient to Him, as He ordained that we are His hands, feet, and voice to proclaim His Kingdom in this world.  I see stories every day of my brothers and sisters in hostile nations who are putting themselves in great danger to carry out this simple act.  Will I let my own fear stop me in a free country?  I don’t yet have to face prison or death for sharing Jesus with others.   How could I stand before Him without shame at His coming if I kept such a great salvation to myself?

We can’t all preach – but we can sow the Word in many ways.  Let’s be about our Father’s business!  Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.”  Let it be so for us too!

YouTube – Do You Desire God? – Paul Washer