FAITH – Part IV: FAITH vs FEAR

“Oherwydd nid ysbryd sy'n peri llwfrdra a roddodd Duw i ni, ond ysbryd sy'n peri nerth a chariad a hunanddisgyblaeth.”  (2 Timothy 1:7 from the Welsh Bible)

2 Tim. 1:7 “I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.”

I have a good friend who is a prayer warrior and always encouraging.  We have had a number of marvelous discussions lately and one of them was about this verse, about how awesome God is to establish His Spirit in believers’ hearts as we grow ever close to Him so that this verse becomes reality in our lives no matter the circumstances we are experiencing.  I also have a very caring church family at St. Mark’s Missionary Baptist Church and they are praying for me.  One friend there has her family members that live all over the United States praying for me as well.  Like she says, “Sister Linda, we’ve got you covered in prayer from the North to the South and from the East to the West.  As I have been going through the symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure I seldom experience fear;  my legs and lower body have filled with a little over 30 lbs of fluid as my heart only pumps at 40% and I often get very short of breath, having to stop and sit often to catch my breath.  With so many praying for me I am filled with their love and reminded about God’s love so there is no room for fear.

“For God did not give us a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and love and a sound-mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7 DLNT

If all He gave me was love then I might feel better but would have no ability to face the fear.  If all He gave me was a sound mind then I might be able to reason out what was going on but I would lack the talent to cope with what I reasoned out.  If all He gave me was power then I could do something but I would not be able to focus it to just where it needs to go.  No, He gave me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind so that I could recognize the problem (sound mind), connect with Him and those He placed around me so I could be strengthened in the Spirit (love), and finally He has placed at my disposal everything I need to come through this triumphantly (power).  Why?  To reveal His glory to all around me (including my neighbors and those around me who are unbelievers – because, believe me – they are watching to see what will happen).

I am not afraid anymore, are you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs25aM0GTO8&index=111&list=PLFrpR56Tw_YcaY92kZiRPGx4-0a5ARXAp (“I Am Not Afraid Anymore” – Twila Paris

FAITH - Part III: Faith and Works

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” - James 2:14-26

I think this scripture is pretty clear about how faith MUST be accompanied with works, but to help us understand it better imagine this:

At the circus the tight-rope walker stands ready to walk out on the tight-rope.  Does he go out there without anything in his hands?  No, he is given a very long pole to which he puts his hands in the middle of the pole.  When he feels he is balanced and ready he steps out, holding the pole to help him maintain his balance.  He walks forward and he even walks backward, all the while holding the pole in the middle.  He finally makes it to the other side and the crowd cheers and claps in elated applause at the feat he just accomplished.

Now, imagine him take the pole and stepping out on the tight-rope holding it more towards one end than the other.  He will not be able to maintain his balance because the weight of the pole will pull him toward the longer side which has become heavy.  He will fall.  What if he decides to hang on closer to the other side of the pole.  The same thing will happen; the heaver side will pull him down and he will fall.  The pole must be evenly balanced to prevent the fall.

Now, imagine yourself as the tight-rope walker.  You are given a pole with one end labeled “faith” and the other end labeled “works”.  You step out on the tight-rope and do the routine you have been called to do by the Lord, keeping the pole evenly balanced the whole time.  Success!  Yet if you step out and give more credence to “faith” then the weight of the “works” side of the pole will pull you down.  Or if you give more credence to “works” then the “faith” side of the pole will pull you down.  Praise God that He is our “safety net” and catches us when we fall, then he sets us back up on the rope with our pole evenly balanced and we finish our walk.

Implementation:  when I sit on the steps and share with my neighbor about what God is doing in my life then I am using both faith and works.  God prompted me to go out and sit on the steps (faith) and then the neighbor comes along and I share (works).  When I go to the store and have to sit to wait for a motorized shopping cart I start praying silently for those customers passing by (faith & works).  When I go to church and someone mentions that they need prayer to obtain food for their family I not only pray there but I pray about it at home too (faith) then I get a bag of food together and make sure it gets to them ASAP (works).  This is just to give you ideas; I recommend you ask the Lord to show you opportunities to put both your “faith” and “works” into practice.  He will open them up for you!  He has just been waiting for you to ask.

FAITH – Part II: The Necessity of Faith

Today you decided to sit in a chair.  It was a simple action and one that you have repeated many times.  Did that chair ever NOT hold you up?  Chairs (unless defective) always hold us up.  We come to believe that chairs will hold us up because of experience.  The same is true about light switches.  When you come into your house at night you reach for the light switch to light up the room so you can see where you are going.  You expect the light to come on when you flip the switch.  Why?  You expect it will from years of experience of it coming on when you do so.  You believe it will come on.  This is experiential belief, but it is not faith.  As we learned in Part I – What Is Faith:  Webster’s told us that faith is “…belief and trust in and loyalty to God, firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust, something that is believed especially with strong conviction, and without question,” and the Bible told us that faith is “…the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV).  This week we will see just WHY faith is necessary.

Faith goes beyond experiential belief.  It truly is the “evidence of things NOT SEEN.”  Today we will see just how necessary this faith that goes beyond experiential belief is.  Let me ask you something, “If you did not believe in God, why bother having faith?”  What would be the need to have faith if there was no God?  God and faith go hand-in-hand.  Webster’s says that faith is belief and trust in God.  Change those words from nouns to verbs and you have true faith in action:  I believe in God.  I trust God.  You went past the idea of believing and trusting into actually doing the action.  This is what God calls us to do with faith:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” –Hebrews 11:6 KJV

“The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man’s while to try to find God.” –Hebrews 11:6 PHILLIPS

I am sharing this article about faith with BELIEVERS and some ask me why, since they already believe and have ‘found’ God?  Not to sound harsh, but let me ask you – and please honestly consider your answer, “Do you think you have ‘arrived’?”  Even the great evangelist/missionary, Paul, stated that he had not ‘arrived’ but rather kept pressing onward toward the goal Jesus called him to.  I know that, even though I am 44 years old in the Lord, I have not ‘arrived’.  I need to continue to take my faith beyond a noun and enact it as a verb.  I need to pursue God.  I need to go hard after him, for when I do I am pleasing Him and strengthen my walk with him.

“But you, dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up even stronger. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit.” –Jude 19:20 ERV

“But you, beloved, build yourselves up on [the foundation of] your most holy faith [continually progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], pray in the Holy Spirit,” –Jude 19:20 AMP

“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” –Jude 19:20-21 MSG

The final challenging question I leave with you, in light of what I shared, “Is faith still necessary”?

FAITH - What is Faith?

Webster’s says that faith is:  allegiance to duty or a person, fidelity to one's promises, sincerity of intentions, belief and trust in and loyalty to God, firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust, something that is believed especially with strong conviction, and without question

If you look up the word “faith” in a concordance you are going to find over 300 verses, but Hebrews 11:1 sums them all up with its simple explanation:

Hebrews 11:1

 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

Substance and evidence, now they sound like things someone can grasp and hang on to – but are they?  I like how the Amplified Bible puts this verse: 

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)

So, faith is assurance, a title deed, a confirmation of what is hoped for.  Someone can assure you that you will get the car you are purchasing but is it really yours?  No, at least not yet.  When you actually hold the title to that car then you can claim it as yours.  I do not know about you but the first car I bought was a used 1969 Plymouth Valiant and I paid cash for it.  I was then given the title to the car.  I felt completely at ease with that title in my hand because it was my guarantee that it was mine in my eyes and the eyes of the law.  It was a “done deal”.  Faith is the title to whatever God promises us.  When we hold faith in our hearts and souls we are holding God’s guarantee that what He said is ours.  It is a done deal.

Faith is also the evidence of things not seen.  This second part of this verse is often kind of ignored compared to the first part but it is just as important.  Faith is the conviction of the reality of what we cannot see.  I cannot “see” the wind but I can know it is there because I “feel” it.  This is not faith.  I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord on October 30, 1973.  It took faith to do so.  Could I see Jesus?  No.  Could I see God?  No.  I went to church.  Did that make me a Christian?  No.  What made the difference?  I heard the preachers preach from God’s Word and say that I was a sinner and Jesus came to take away my sins.  I heard the preacher that night ask me if I was ready to see God face to face that night in February if I happened to die in a car crash on the way home.  I acknowledged that I was not and I decided to make sure I was by accepting what Jesus did for me that night.  That decision was faith in action.  Faith was being convicted of the reality of my sin and my need for Someone to take it away.  Since that night I have grown in faith day by day, month by month, and year by year.  How?  “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” (Romans 10:17 KJV).  I spent daily time with God by reading and pondering His Word (but more about this verse is for a future blog article).

Basically faith is trust in God and getting the handle on His promises even though we cannot see them yet.

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.” (Hebrews 11:1 MSG)

Are we alone in this endeavor of finding faith and using it?  Definitely not!  Read the rest of Hebrews 11 and find many many more Christians who found and used their faith.  Find out just how powerful God was in their lives.  It will encourage you in grasping and using faith.

“Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see. It was this kind of faith that won their reputation for the saints of old. And it is after all only by faith that our minds accept as fact that the whole scheme of time and space was created by God’s command—that the world which we can see has come into being through principles which are invisible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3 PHILLIPS)

I love how Graham Cooke puts it:  “I think the problem in modern day Christianity is that we mostly use faith as an event, a special time to believe for something. I think faith is way more precious than that. It is an ongoing relational experience. I would see it that faith is a consequence of our continuous relationship and fellowship with God's majesty and sovereignty. One thing I have learned, and am learning, is the more you sow faith, the more it grows!”