05-17-13 Faith

Hebrews 11 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword;whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Couldn't have said it better myself.... 26 times...

I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII

05-16-13 Faith in the Midst of Battle

2 Kings 6:15-18 "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked."

How many times have we felt like this servant, proclaiming fear and doom and gloom because all we see is the armies amassed against us? We cry out, "LORD, what shall we do?" and He opens our eyes.

Well, He opens our eyes if we want to see and if we quiet ourselves enough to listen to His voice, saying "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Even if the warring angels were not present, the Lord's Presence is more than enough to route the enemy.

When we have faith, even as small as a mustard seed-

then He will use that very small amount of faith and allow us to see what HE sees in the spiritual, not just what we see in the natural.

I've quoted the scripture before that Jesus is always interceding for us. He wants us to see - Our Father wants us to see what HE sees. But not just to see it, believe it! THAT, my friends, is faith.

Jesus has already defeated the enemy - satan - lucifer - any and all of his demonic horde -- we must come to believe THAT if we are to overcome and defeat him/them in our lives. Jesus has done the work, but that doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing.  Francis Frangipane has a book called, "This Day We Fight".  I don't usually promote anything one here, but this is an excellent book on rising out of ourselves and learning to fight. Yeah, we have to fight the enemy... but it's alongside of Jesus... and in knowing that we have the victory. It may not look like it or feel like it at the time, but Jesus already has set us free. Our job is to not listen to the flesh, the world and the devil - to pick up our swords and any other weapon the Lord has given us and shoot the Word of God, shoot faith, shoot hope, shoot trust, shoot love, shoot patience, etc. right back at the enemy.  

If we resist him, he will flee (James 4:7-8). Doesn't mean he won't come back, but does mean that if we've persevere in our resistance, he learn that we are going to back down... then he'll go pick on someone else... right after he gets a good butt-kicking from his boss. Sometimes, he tries harder. We ask others around us for help - for prayer, for support - and route the enemy that way.

So, if you're in the midst of a battle right now between the forces of darkness and Light... know that the Light always wins. Have faith - there are more with us than with them!

Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) - Chris Tomlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBDKtzzrR4

05-15-13 Faith Rewarded by Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." 

Faith is believing in something we don't yet see.

Grace is having favor with someone even though we have done nothing to deserve  it.

Faith is going for a morning run or walk and seeing the dark clouds all around - but believing that sooner or later the clouds will go away. 

Grace is looking up and seeing a patch of blue sky and no matter where you run or walk, if you look up, you will another patch of blue sky - and maybe the sun starting to come up on the horizon with white clouds all around.

It's not that we never have to do anything and just 'have fun in the sun', but as the first set of verses say, "it is by GRACE we have been saved, through faith". Another way of saying it is, "even though we have done nothing to deserve it, God has saved us solely because we believe in Who He is and what He has done for us."

Father just wants us to 'be'. To know who we are and Who He Is and what He has done in us and for us. The next set of verses could read, "we have gained access to the grace of God through believing that we have been washed clean of our sins through Jesus Christ."

Faith is a choice. We ask Father for something or better yet, we declare one or more of His promises; we choose to believe; Father turns to Jesus and says, "Hey,  did you hear what I heard? I think we should do it." Sometimes, He waits to do it and sometimes, for reasons beyond our understanding He doesn't do it - or at least we THINK He didn't do it. But faith is still a choice and it's by His grace that He does what He does.

I like it when He does come through on a visually level - because it builds our faith. We grow in faith. We grow in grace. We hope in the GLORY of God.

What Faith Can Do - Kutless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNBWv33-QI

05-14-13 Faith in the Midst of Fear

Psalm 46:1-6,10-11 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam    and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.... He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Okay, so I'm praying a little bit ago,and ask the Lord what should I write about today? You know those looks that you get when you as a silly question in which someone has just told you the answer? It's a look of amazement at how much we just didn't 'get it' (or 'duh - I just told you').  I was like, oh.

Imagine a mountain in front of you - an obstacle in our personal path with Him. Contrary to popular belief, no, we are not in any way, shape or form, perfect ;)  We ask Him if He's going to remove it or are we going to climb it or is it something that's going to take a little longer and go around it. He said, "It's not A, B, or C - It's D (none of the above). We're going to go through it." At this point He turns to us and smiles. Somehow, we know we are not going to like this.

So, He simply parts the mountain. No falling rock, no loud noises - a part of the mountain has simply been removed to reveal a narrow path through it. It's not really a straight path, to where we can keep our eyes focused on the other side, maybe a little daylight shining through to make us feel better - none of that. Just a small enough amount of light that is glowing off of Jesus - so, we figure we had better stick to Him like glue - like super-glue.

Some of us (as in I) am afraid. I like a challenge, but really - I don't like closed in places. Just like I don't relish the idea of falling from heights, but force myself to get into places where I try to overcome that.... until I look down....

Well, we go in a little scared, but we are on Jesus' heels (almost literally). Then we look up and see how tall the mountain is. We look at the rocks jutting out that could fall at any time. We look at just how narrow this opening is and this little thought comes into out heads 'what if you get stuck in here'? Our eyes adjust and we see little ground creatures - some are kind of cool, others are not so cool.

Every once in a while we snag ourselves on a small sharp rock - maybe producing a cut here and there - some bruises here and there, but we can't stop, because Jesus isn't stopping.

Jesus just keeps walking and what?  He's even whistling, like He's done this a million times before or something! In the meantime, our hearts are beating wildly and it's getting hard to catch our breath. At this point we are wondering if the path is ever coming out on the other side... it's been such a long journey.

Jesus stops - we stop. He turns around takes us by the shoulders, looks into our eyes and says, 'It's okay. Do not fear, WE are going to get through this.' As we look into His eyes, a calmness comes over our souls and a courage floods over our wildly beating hearts and he starts to back up - still looking at us. His eyes are like fire and He's emboldening us with that fire. The more we look at Him, the more light comes from Him and we see sparkling in the walls - they are gems! Beautiful gems....  The light dims and He turns back around and keeps walking. Fear instantly starts to clamor for our attention, and we do have to admit we're still a little afraid, but as long as we just follow Jesus, it's doesn't overwhelm us. This happens a few times over the course of meandering through the mountain path.

Eventually we come through to the other side of the mountain. The work is done, the beauty of the valley is awesome to behold, because the Lord created it for us and He is Awesome.

The point? Being a Christian, doesn't mean we don't go through hard things in our lives. It doesn't mean that we don't become afraid to walk through those hard things. The Lord wants to reassure us that He has/is/always will go before us and all we need to do is follow His lead. He'll turn around when we need His to and if we look into His eyes - we will see the love and courage that melts away the fear... and we can go on a little further...

Overcome - Jeremy Camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERMzo0npg_g

05-13-13 Faith - Protection

Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

God watches over us.

Think about that sentence. The Great and Awesome, Almighty God, is watching over you (plural) and I. The Creator of the Universe that is so vast and beyond measure is watching over us right this very minute, and the next and the next, and then the next - always... ALWAYS. The Lord God who has died for our sins and has risen from the dead in the Person of Jesus.... the One Who Gives Us His Power through the Person of the Holy Spirit... is watching over us day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second.

That is why we can say with complete and total confidence 'I lift my eyes to the mountains (in our lives - wondering) where does my help come from. MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD, THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.' 

In this short Psalm, it says so much about what the Lord is doing to watch as He watches over us... as He looks at the mountains in our lives and either removes them if they aren't supposed to be there, or helps us overcome them.

He won't let our foot slip. He is our firm foundation.

As He watches over us - He will not sleep - He never closes His eyes on us.

He is our shade (Psalm 91 - He has us under His wing). Where we can rest.

The heat of the day nor the darkness will not harm us.

He watches over OUR LIVES - hear that? Our Lives. From the day we were conceived to this very second as you're reading this. 

HE HAS, IS AND WILL WATCH OVER US! Where we go, where we come from - HE WATCHES NOW AND FOREVER!

Ok, so if we're doing wrong, that may bring consternation - so stop it ;)

BUT it doesn't negate the fact that He is still watching over us.

His protection is there. So, look at the mountain, it's a reality - but don't dwell on it so much as to try to figure out how in the heck and I going to get through it... Look higher than the mountain and see where your help comes from!

God Will Make a Way - Don Moen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zo3fJYtS-o