VIDEO Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.

For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology

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Enoch: The Walk of Faith (Hebrews 11:5-6)

Hope in God

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:24

As the holiday season approached, package shipments were delayed due to an unprecedented influx of online orders. I can remember a time when my family preferred to simply go to the store and purchase items because we knew we had very little control over the speed of mail delivery. However, when my mother signed up for an account that included expedited shipping, this expectation changed. Now with a two-day guaranteed delivery, we’re accustomed to receiving things quickly, and we become frustrated by delays.  

We live in a world accustomed to instant gratification, and waiting can be difficult. But in the spiritual realm, patience is still rewarded. When the book of Lamentations was written, the Israelites were mourning the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army, and they faced a series of challenges. However, in the midst of chaos, the writer boldly affirmed that because he was confident that God would meet his needs, he would wait on Him (Lamentations 3:24). God knows we’re inclined to become anxious when answers to our prayers are delayed. Scripture encourages us by reminding us to wait on God. We don’t have to be consumed or worried because “his compassions never fail” (v. 22). Instead, with God’s help we can “be still . . . and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7). May we wait on God, trusting in His love and faithfulness even as we wrestle with longings and unanswered prayers.

By:  Kimya Loder

Reflect & Pray

How have you been waiting for God? How might you trust His timing?

Heavenly Father, sometimes it can be difficult to wait on You. Please give me the strength to continue hoping in You.

Sunday Reflection: Be Brave, Be Loved

Healing is possible after we have been hurt by others

To get the most out of this devotion, set aside time to read the scriptures referenced throughout.

This month, we explored what it means to be members of a community—along with the blessings and requirements that come with such involvement. God made us to serve and live alongside one another, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. Nor does it mean we’ll avoid getting hurt along the way. At some point, we’re likely to fail each other.

When that happens, we might find it helpful to limit—for a time—the people we allow into our life. Doing so can help us recover from past pain and find a way forward, but we can’t remain in that state forever. The Lord calls us to love and forgive one another, just as He has done with us (Ephesians 4:32). 

If we can give ourselves to this process, we’ll eventually be willing to take risks again—to open up and share our true self. That can be scary at times, but when we choose to be vulnerable, we experience the deeper, more fulfilling relationships God wants us to enjoy.

Think about it

• If you’ve been hurt in the past, ask a trusted friend to help you process what happened. If you have hurt another person, be brave and offer him or her an honest apology. Both actions can bring about great healing and joy. 

An Acceptable Sacrifice

“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

Our text instructs us that we, as a corporate church and as individuals, are designed for the purpose of offering up acceptable sacrifices to God. These are not animal sacrifices as before but “spiritual” sacrifices made “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” What kinds of spiritual sacrifices are acceptable?

Prayer. An amazing scene is recorded for us in heaven, for an angel is seen at the altar offering up to God incense mingled with “the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 8:4, see also 5:8). Our prayers are precious to Him.

Giving. The use of our financial resources for the furtherance of His Kingdom becomes “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).

Praise. In some way not fully comprehended by us, we can “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Good work and sharing. “But to do good and to communicate [share] forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). Remember, we are saved entirely by God’s grace but also created specifically unto good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Ourselves. We have a distinct privilege in that we may “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

God is a magnificent God! He can be trusted with our prayers, our resources, our praise, our works, and our lives. His perfect sacrifice has made it possible for our sacrifices to be meaningful. JDM

Not a Self-help Religion

He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. —Galatians 6:8

Christianity takes for granted the absence of any self-help and offers a power which is nothing less than the power of God. This power is to come upon powerless men as a gentle but resistless invasion from another world, bringing a moral potency infinitely beyond anything that might be stirred up from within. This power is sufficient…for it is the Holy Spirit of God come where the weakness lay to supply power and grace to meet the moral need.

Set over against such a mighty provision as this ethical Christianity (if I may be allowed the term) is…[a]n infantile copying of Christ’s “ideals,” a pitiable effort to carry out the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount! All this is but religious child’s play and is not the faith of Christ and the New Testament. POM088-089

You cannot know whether your self-denial is genuine or whether it is spurious, without knowing whether it is founded upon a supreme attachment to the glory of God. To deny yourself from a supreme regard to a higher interest than your own, is to possess the spirit of the gospel. DTC149

Fear and Cold Feet

You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.—2 Timothy 2:1

When Simon Peter stepped out of the boat and attempted to walk on the water to Jesus, he was afraid. “And beginning to sink he cried out ‘Lord, save me!'” (Mt 14:30). Fear makes you sink.

When Jesus healed the paralytic, His first word was, “Have courage, son,” and His second,

“Your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). When Jesus lifted the guilt, this lifted the fear which, in turn, lifted the paralysis.

When the disciples fell on their faces at the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, terrified because they had heard the voice of God, Jesus said: “Get up; don’t be afraid” (Mt 17:7). Fear puts you down; faith lifts you up.

The man who brought back the unused talent said: “I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground” (Mt 25:25). His life investment was in a hole in the ground! Fear did it.

Again, it was said of the disciples that they were gathered “with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews” (Jn 20:19). Fear always puts you behind closed doors; it causes you to become an ingrown person.

Joseph of Arimathea was “a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews” (Jn 19:38). Fear always drives a person underground.

A man I know says that fear gave him cold feet. Prior to the Lord delivering him from fear, his circulation was so bad that he had to wear socks in bed. “Now,” he says, “my circulation is normal. God took away my fear and gave me warm feet.”

Prayer

God, I see that fear is indeed costly. It is so costly that I dare not keep it. But I cannot easily get rid of it, for it has put its roots deep within me. Help me tear it up, root and branch. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Further Study

Mk 4:35-41; 5:25-34

What had Jesus said to His disciples?

What had this caused Him to do?

Spiritual Enemies

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.—Ephesians 6:12

In a battle, it is imperative to identify your enemy. If you are not aware of the point of your attack, you are vulnerable. Paul had many enemies. Some resented him, others hated him, and others wanted to kill him. Some, who were supposedly on his side, sought to harm him and his ministry (Acts 9:23; Phil. 1:17; 2 Tim. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 4:14). In spite of the persecution he faced, Paul never lost sight of his real enemy. Paul was wary of Satan. When people attacked him, he knew they were not his real opponents. They were simply unwitting instruments of the spiritual forces of darkness.

When you meet opposition to your faith, your first reaction may be anger toward your antagonist. This may divert your attention from the deeper, spiritual dimensions of your conflict. Your adversary may be hopelessly in bondage to sin. Rather than retaliating, you should immediately and earnestly intercede for that person. Your opponent’s hostility is your invitation to become involved in God’s redemptive work to free him or her from spiritual bondage.

Be alert to the spiritual warfare around you. It is real and potentially destructive to you and those you care about. Knowing your real foe will protect you from bitterness and unforgiveness. Your hope lies in the reality that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Do not place your hope in humanity, but steadfastly trust in the One who has already defeated your enemy.