Faith vs Fear part 2

“He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26)

I had to do a "part 2" on this topic because there were still so many scriptures that I hadn't used yet! This has been such a good exercise to remind me of who I serve! The more I work on this topic the more I wonder why we allow fear to rule our lives. If we are "believers", what are we “believing in”? Are we believing in “God” or in what we think or hope He will do for us? Oswald says "If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself."... And if we really have “given our lives” to the Son of God, our life belongs to the one being in existence who has the power and wisdom to do what is right with it. (Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 6:18)

Interestingly enough, Oswald had a couple devotions featuring “fear” at the end of October and then another one in November so I copied them below. He has a way of getting to the “heart” of the matter!

October 30

Faith

Hebrews   11:6 - “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.”

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 . . ." (Rom_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 (Mat_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" (Joh_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.

October 31

The Trial of Faith

Matthew 17:20: “He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. "

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith --- faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to "walk by faith" (2Co_5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him --- a faith that says, "I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do." The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is --- "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job_13:15).

November 13

Faith or Experience?

Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven't had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides --- He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." (1Co_1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ --- not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

When we say we have faith in God, what does that really mean? What should trusting in God look like in our lives?  

“So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)

“So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” (Matthew 10:26)

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed… "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." (1 Peter 3:14)

“But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." (Matthew 17:7)

“Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." (Mark 5:36)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Father, I know I need more faith which means I need more of YOU! Forgive me for all of the times I allow fear to rule my life and my heart instead of Your Spirit.  Please teach me to have more confidence in You, the God of all creation, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is, and who was, and who is to come, God Almighty... and not what You can DO for me!

"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Revelation 1:17-18)

Faith vs Fear

The subject of “fear vs faith” has been rolling around in my head for a few years now. I can’t say that I have it all figured out, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought I would write out some of the thoughts that have run through my head on this subject… maybe in this process I will get a little more clarity… or not :)

“… like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3:6)

The reason it has been rolling around in my brain is because most of the women God brings to me seem to be full of fear, on so many levels… and most of them are Christians. I get where some of the fears come from when you are dealing with a spouse of an addict, their whole marriage just blew up in their face and their future is uncertain and scary… These all seem like normal legitimate, and understandable fears, but the other fears like, fear of bugs, germs, flying, storms… those I don’t get so much. And some people even wear their fears like a badge of honor saying things like: “It’s my job to worry about my kids, if I don’t who will?” But I can’t help but hear the words of Jesus saying "do not worry” and “do not fear" over and over again... which leads me to believe that we can live our life completely, or mostly, free from fear and worry.

“But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. don’t be afraid." (Matthew 14:27)

So, why is it that we have so much fear in the body of Christ? Not that I don’t have my own struggles with fear, but it seems to me that, over the last few years, the fear level in general in the body of Christ has increased to new levels. Or, maybe it is just my “new” awareness of it and it’s always been there?? That may be the truth of the matter, but even still it makes me wonder, why is it even there at all when we have such an amazing and faithful God? Are we doing something wrong, do we not “get” something important?? What are we missing here??

“He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)

For me personally I have noticed that the closer I get to the Lord, and the more I get to know Him, and see the amazing things He does in my heart and life, the more my faith grows and the less “fear” I have. So, would it be fair to say, we can know the depth of our relationship with Jesus by the degree of fear or faith we have in our lives? Or, in other words, if we think we know Jesus, but have more fear than faith, can we really say we “know” Him?

“…Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." (Mark 6:50)

There was a time in my life when I self-righteously and pride fully “thought” I knew Jesus and would confidently tell anyone that asked me that I knew and loved Him! But fast forward 15 years, and LOTS of trials, refining fires and difficulties have come and gone, I look back and have to admit to myself, I didn't really have a clue who Jesus was back then!! And to be honest, I pray that my relationship grows even more in the next 15 years so I can say again, I had no clue back then who Jesus was… I want to keep pressing into my relationship with Jesus more and more every day… I feel like Paul when he said, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Philippians 3:8) (Sometimes this is evident in my life and sometimes, no so much :P)

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

So, what exactly is fear? When I asked Tom he said: “The absence of faith... Faith in things other than God… Afraid that God won't do what he promised… The belief that things won’t go the way I want them to.” (I think he has something here…) Google says it is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” And Dictionary.com adds: “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined…”

“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

And what is “faith”? Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” When I think of faith I think about a young child completely unconcerned about the difficulties and stresses of life. A child who is with his daddy and has not a care in the world because he knows and trusts in his daddy and has that childlike confidence that his father will take care of everything. He doesn't think about where the food on the table comes from or the gas in the car, or the roof over his head, he just enjoys life with childlike faith. Hmmm…. That reminds me of when Jesus said:  “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Logically this makes no sense to us at all! What does He mean, “Change and become like little children”? I am a grown man or women and need to take care of my responsibilities! How can I revert back to the carefree life of a child!?  When Tom and I were talking about this I realized that maybe, what He means is, as we grow in our knowledge and faith in Jesus, we do change and the fears ebb away, our faith grows and we are just like little children, trusting in our heavenly Father so much that we no longer have any more worries, fears or concerns about where the food, rent, car payment, or job will come from. We will no longer worry about our children, our health or retirement because we have such childlike faith that our Father will take care of all things that we can go about our “adult” business and responsibilities without fear, trusting Him to care for us. Is this even possible?? I believe it is! But it certainly won’t happen overnight, and I think it is ONLY possible in our journey to KNOW GOD, surrendering OUR life and taking up His.

“But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." (John 6:20)

The Word of God is refreshing to me. It calms my heart and is like a salve to my confused and conflicted mind and thoughts. I decided to look up the scriptures that would help me with this topic. The first one I found is one that I had never noticed before. This is the prophecy from Zachariah after John the Baptist was born and God loosed his tongue so he could speak again: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68-75) Did you catch that? We can serve him without fear all our days!

Is it truly possible to live a life without fear??

Are you "Qualified"?

After I posted my last blog I started thinking about my views on training and education and felt like I needed to flesh that out a little more and clarify it for myself as well as for others. I want to reiterate that I have nothing against “formal” training and education but feel like, for me personally, God’s training and education looks a bit different and goes beyond just that. While I know that God specifically calls people to go through formal training, everyone’s journey is different and God’s directions and training will be different for each one of us, but I think there is one thing that we ALL need to remember no matter what our “education” looks like… But before I go there, let me first say this...

Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, if you haven’t figured this out by now, is one of my favorite devotions! Oswald was a teacher and set his heart on training others to be missionaries. But, what I like the MOST about Oswald is his intense focus on the student’s relationship with GOD and not on “missionary training”.  He is always telling his students that God wants their absolute surrender, and a “right relationship with Him”, and nothing less!! He says “Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God”!!  One of my favorite “Oswaldisms” is when he says, “are you seeking the blessings of God, or are you seeking GOD who has the blessings?”!! This statement was a huge forehead slap for ME! I had not differentiated that before and once the Spirit pointed that out to me, I realized just how much I was seeking His blessings over my relationship with HIM! I still have to check myself on a regular basis to make sure I am still on track… it is SO easy to be distracted by cool spiritual “shiny things” and leave my pursuit of God in the dust of pursuit of His blessings!!

So, with that said, I think training and education is MOST effective, whether it is formal or not, when we are always seeking GOD to education us and not looking to man to train and educate us on how to serve God… Hopefully that makes sense. While God uses people for His purposes we need to keep our eyes on God for our knowledge, training, education and insight. Always seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness in every situation and trusting that God will take care of the rest… one day at a time. And for a little deeper clarification, I don’t think that it is our “formal” training and education that qualifies us, but God does. I read somewhere that “God doesn't choose the qualified, but qualifies the chosen…” I love that!  That is what we all need to remember! It is God who qualifies us as we seek HIM first, and pursue our relationship with Him, and trust Him with our own personalized training and education and not rely on the certificate hanging on our wall. I believe that our “formal” training from God is mostly in our “life” circumstances as He calls us to our specialized “classrooms”, which are the circumstances He allows in our lives. And yes, He may call you to a formal school training program, as one of YOUR specialized classrooms, on your journey to know Him.

So, in my musings on this topic I thought about the Biblical characters that were trained by God in their own unique and specialized “training” courses. Abraham’s training was in obedience, trust, faith and patience!! God told him he would have children as numerous as the sand on the sea shore and the stars in the sky but, he and Sarah were getting older and older and they still didn’t have any children… does he have faith that this will happen and believe in God for this promise or does he eventually think he just ate a bad squirrel and imagined it all? He did get to see the miracle of Isaac’s birth but We get to see the end of that story… Abraham just had to have faith that what God said would come to pass.

Joseph’s education in humility was pretty intense. He endured mistreatment from his brothers, slavery, and mistreatment from his master’s wife, imprisonment and neglect!! All these circumstances, or “class courses”, were specially designed by God to shape, mold and train Joseph to be the kind of leader God needed him to be in the end!!

Moses realized when he was a young man that God would use him to deliver His people from slavery, but God sent him out into the wilderness to herd sheep for 40 years as his training ground!! That makes me smile when I visualize him with the sheep, knowing he would be doing that very same thing with the Israelites in the desert for another 40 years! Moses was trained by God in that way so that he would be ready for God’s purposes when the time came.

For some New Testament examples, in Acts 4:13 it says “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” The disciples training ground was also a huge lesson in faith and believing that Jesus WAS the Son of God, even though Jesus didn’t do what they thought their Messiah would do! I am sure they had many doubtful moments but they hung in there and believed despite the confusing behavior of Jesus.

And in regards to Jesus, in Hebrews 5:8 it says “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered”. It is a hard thing for us to imagine, but suffering is used by God in many ways for many reasons. It stands to reason that if God's Son suffered, than we will too... and suffering is not a bad thing when it is ordained by God, especially when we are able to see God even better having gone through it! Also, in Matthew 10:19-20 Jesus said “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Sometimes I “think” I know what to say in situations but I feel much better knowing that the Spirit of God is speaking instead of me!

And for me personally; initially my training and education was in my difficult childhood and struggles in my marriage for 21+ years. I was being refined and humbled by this process so that God could shape and mold me into the person He needs me to be for His Kingdom purposes… And, He is still at it!  My training is certainly not over but continues with each life circumstance He places before me. Of course in ALL our journeys there will be books we read, Bible studies we go through, sermons we hear and people who speak into our lives that will also serve to “educate us” but they are as God directs and not always a part of a standard training course.

The cool thing about God is that He is a BIG God and can do ANYTHING in ANY WAY He wants to! He is not limited by what we think He can do but can go above and beyond in so many ways! As an example, a women shared with me that God spoke to her through the words on her laundry detergent box!! Yep!! Her detergent box!! God had been preparing her for an important “word” and He used a detergent box to communicate this message to her.  This may be a strange way to speak to someone but the women was transformed that day by the words God spoke to her on that box of soap!! I LOVE God’s creativity :)

What is God’s special training ground for you?? Can you see His refining and educational purposes in your life’s circumstances?

Father, help me to always look to YOU and pursue my relationship with you, and nothing else, and allow you to orchestrate the circumstantial class rooms in my life! Please keep me focused on You and not on Your blessings or the things you can DO for me. Help me not to resent or miss the tools you use to shape, train, educate and mold me but instead I choose to embrace them knowing You placed them there for Your amazing purposes!! I want YOU Lord, and I will trust you with the rest.  With much love, Linda :)

I Want Your Weakness...

Tom brings the scripture up about the rich young ruler on a regular basis and once again, we were talking about it a couple days ago and there is so much in here I decided that we needed to write a blog on it:

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." Which ones? The man inquired. Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' " All these I have kept, the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-22 (NIV)

In this scripture the rich young ruler believed he had a lot to offer Jesus and His ministry but Jesus said he needed to get rid of all that he had before he could follow him. He was a “rich young ruler” so he must have been a leader in the synagogue with wealth, power, authority and influence. He had a lot of confidence, self-righteousness and pride in himself and in his position. He had “kept” all the commandments that Jesus mentioned and was looking for the one “good” thing that would give him eternal life.  But Jesus said that he lacked one thing… He told him to sell all he had, give to the poor and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he could follow Him! The saddest part about this scene is that the young ruler went away!!! He was sorrowful but he chose his possessions and position over following Jesus, the only one who could give him eternal life… which is what he was asking for!! So, what did he lack??

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

Let’s face it, aren't we like this rich young ruler? Our possessions, education and talents are very valuable to us… sometimes they mean more to us than following Jesus. I think this story in the Bible needs more of our attention than we give it. It isn’t a metaphor or a parable spoken by Jesus but He really IS asking the young man, and us, to give it ALL UP before we can follow Him! I don’t think Jesus wants anything “we” can offer Him except our weakness, surrender and obedience. Anything else is worthless to Him (All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”  Isaiah 64:6). Paul recalls what God said to him in 2 Corinthians 12:7 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”

I have nothing against getting educated or trained in general but, for me personally, I have chosen not to get “formal” training in some areas of ministry because I know that I would tend to lean on my “training” or “education” rather than on God’s Holy Spirit to lead and guide me. I think, if we let Him, the Holy Spirit trains us as we surrender and trust HIM in all situations (It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. John 6:45). It may sound weird but, I feel better NOT knowing what God will do so that the Lord can do and say what He wants through me rather than me relying on my education and trying to do things MY way.

This blog could very easily go under the “Upside down” header because it is another very unnatural thing for us to do. In the world we are groomed, trained, educated and prepared for our careers and ministry, but in the Kingdom, God does things very differently… He wants us to TRUST Him, no matter what things look like and have faith in HIS good plan. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, able to talk and reason with the Jews since he was one himself, he could explain things so they could understand, but he was sent as an apostle to the gentiles!! And Peter, an unschooled fisherman was sent as an apostle to the Jews! (Philippians 3:4, Acts 4:13 and Galatians 2:7) Does that make sense to us? They went to the people they were not “trained” for so that God could lead, guide and direct them in every way. I believe He wants us completely empty of ourselves, knowledge and expertise so he can fill us with Himself, His knowledge, love and compassion! We need to be broken bread and poured out wine, surrendered, and emptied. We need to be emptied before we can be filled… are we too full of ourselves for God to fill us up with Him??  I would have to confess my answer would have to be “yes”…  "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV)

So what did the rich your ruler lack?? I believe he lacked the humility and the willingness to come to Jesus empty and weak with only his life to give. I believe he lacked the willingness to let it all go, all that the world deems valuable, and be emptied of himself so that he could be filled with Jesus. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

Is God calling me to let go of something (my children, my finances, my life…)? Is God calling you to let something go?

Lord, what you ask of me it so hard! It makes no sense to me at all! It goes against everything I have been taught and have known all my life, and against my logic, common sense and reason, yet you still ask it of me. Give me the strength and the courage to let it all go and follow you!! I choose YOU Lord. I want to be weak so that YOU can be strong!