Following Faith - Step 5 (Time)

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." - Hebrews 11:13

There is one final step to following faith - time!

Faith followers of the past did not all receive during their earthly journey what they were wanting, neither did they all receive immediately. Sure, by faith Abraham received his son, Daniel didn't get eaten by the lions, and incredibly small armies defeated incredibly large enemies, but the Bible also points to others who received their reward later.

Some children never come to Christ while their parents are alive, yet those parents hold on in faith because of a longer view of life than their breathing.

God is for eternity, our life is for eternity, faith is for eternity.

Be willing to take that last step, the step of time.

- fritz

Following Faith - Step 4 (Confession)

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." - Hebrews 11:13

There is always a spoken element to following faith.

A careful reading of scripture points this out. For example, when Jesus taught on removing mountains by faith he said,

"if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done." - Matthew 21:21

Or when a women who couldn't stop bleeding for 12 years came to Christ it reads

"For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." - Matthew 9:21

But confession alone isn't enough, there are three (3) steps that must come before. Many start confessing before they're even convinced what they want is even possible.

And what did the heroes of faith confess? That they were only passing through to a better place! They weren't trying to be friends with this world but living with eternity in mind.

- fritz

Following Faith - Step 3 (The Embrace)

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them" - Hebrews 11:13

To embrace is to hold on and not let go.

It was what the Syrophenician woman in the Bible¹ did when she kept pressing Jesus for her daughter's deliverance in spite of insults. It was what blind Bartimaeus² did when he kept crying out to Jesus in spite of everyone telling he to pipe down.

There is an IF to receiving from God,

"for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." - Galatians 6:9b

When you see what you want and you become convinced you can have it, embrace it and don't take "No!" for an answer.

- fritz

^{1 - Mark 7:28
2 - Mark 10:46}

Following Faith - Step 2 (Being Persuaded.)

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them..." - Hebrews 11:13

Following faith is a five (5) step process beginning with seeing God's promises afar off - choosing to believe that what looks impossible right now is possible with God.

But that is not enough! We must become convinced what we see is intended for us, and that comes through persuasion - an interesting combination of evidence, testimony, and choice. God doesn't expect us to believe without evidence but he does expect us to allow ourselves to become persuaded.

That persuasion usually comes through what's called a "witness", or "testimony". God provides a witness in our hearts that what we are desiring he wants to give.

Read it in Hebrews 11 - Able had the witness, Enoch got the testimony, Abraham heard the "call", Sarah believed what she heard from God and though she laughed she became convinced!

Where does the witness come from? Ultimately from God, but sometimes by way of listening to others we respect, by reading what is written in the Bible, and by asking God to speak in our hearts.

Spend some time with godly people - those following faith. Listen to some good preaching (you don't have to wait until Sunday), have some alone time reading the Bible and asking God to speak it into your heart.

Tell God you are willing to be persuaded!

- fritz

Following Faith - Step 1 (See afar off)

"The just shall live by faith."
- Romans 1:7, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

Living by faith is more a matter of following than leading. It involves a five (5) step process revealed in Hebrews 11:13. After listing some famous people it says,

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

The first step, "seeing ... afar off", is seeing something from God that looks impossible, and wanting it.

For Abraham it was a son, for Enoch it was not having to die, for Noah it was being spared from world catastrophe, and for all the heroes of faith it was having a place to call their own that would not wear out or fade away.

The Bible says,

"[God] is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" - Ephesians 3:20

Our problem is that we settle for so little, thinking all we can expect is what we currently have right now.

God can do more! Take that first step; begin to dream big and follow faith!

- fritz

Pretending to Believe

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

Substance is, actually, a combination of two words in the original language - "under" (or "sub") and "stand", hince the literal translation, substance.

If something has substance we can be feel it, hold it, and use it - which is what the heros of the Bible did!

It is not an idea to believe in without any evidence. Real faith is the evidence without which we are only pretending to believe - which doesn't work.

It's time to stop pretending and get some real faith from it's source - God's word!

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the [spoken] word of God." - Romans 10:17

Put yourself under some good preaching, read the Bible asking God to speak it into your heart, let the Holy spirit give you the substance of hope and the evidence of what you can't, yet, see.

- fritz

More than Mere

For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? - 1st Corinthians 3:3b(NIV)

"I'm only human!" is no longer an excuse because we more than mere!

We are not only human - we have God, in Christ and through his Holy Spirit, living within. It's time to realize it and start acting like it!

- fritz

Gospel - Like a Cake Mix!

"but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." - Hebrews 4:2b

I'm no cook, but I do know something has to be added to dry ingredients to make them stick together and become an actual cake! Just putting the dry mix in the oven doesn't work.

The Gospel is like that. Faith needs to be added to make it hold together in a person's life and become a blessing.

Where does the faith come from? God, gives faith for the asking.

- fritz

Two Oars on Life's Dinghy

"..holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck" - 1st Timothy 1:19

Living is sometimes compared to guiding a boat. It could end up where you want to go or it could end up drowning everyone on board.

There are two (2) oars on life's rowboat:

1. Faith
2. A Good Conscience

The Bible says letting go of either is a real mistake!

- fritz

Keeping The Faith

"I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith." - 2nd Timothy 4:7 (GNT)

There are lots of things we can't do.

We, really, control so little. We can't make things turn out like we want or people to do as they ought.

But we can, with God's help, keep the faith - knowing Jesus paid for our sins, obeying Christ in our choices, and trusting that through it all God is at work in the world, our families and our lives.

If we do that we have a great future.

"... I have kept the faith. ... The prize ... is now waiting for me. ... He will give it not only to me but also to everyone who is eagerly waiting for him to come again. - 2nd Timothy 4:7b-8 (GWT)

- fritz

Caught, not Taught

"Christianity is a revealed religion."
- Fr. Desmond Gooneskera

My pastor brought out an important fact - faith in Christ is more successful when it is caught than when it is just taught!

Begin noticing variations of the word, "reveal" throughout the Bible. It's not just for newbies! God is only known through revelation, and always through Christ.

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith ... mention ... you in my prayers; That ... God ... give unto you ... revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know ..." - Ephesians 1:15-18

- fritz

The Gift of Faith

For to one is given by the Spirit ... faith" - 1st Corinthians 12:7a, 9a

Faith has the distinction of being both a Gift and Fruit of the Holy Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, - Galatians 5:22

The difference? Fruit is grown, starting small and increasing over a period of time. A gift doesn't grow, it is either fully there or not.

Faith, the gift, is a deep sense that, in spite of doubts of mind and logic, a particular desire shall be accomplished and/or an impossible obstacle shall be removed. It's described by the Apostle Paul's in his "Love" Chapter,

"though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains ..." - 1st Corinthians 13:2a

There is, usually, a sense of excitement with it, and a decision has to be made to either hold on to it until the desire is accomplished, or let go of it.

If you hold on it will be an amazing ride full of wonder at God's greatness; and when it's done the fruit of faith will have grown a lot!

- fritz

The Shield of Faith

[T]ake up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. - Ephesians 6:16

God uses our everyday objects to teach us about unseen things.

Paul, imprisoned for his faith,¹ saw soldiers quite often. He advised Christians that they, too, have armour for their spiritual battle. We use our faith like a soldier uses his shield.

This scripture tells us two things:

1) The evil one uses "flaming arrows"; his weaponry pierces and burns - a past or present regret, a perceived fault or character flaw, rejection, isolation, gossip.

2) The burn can be extinguished by faith - faith that Jesus is not just the savior but my savior, faith that all my guilt and flaws as real as they may be or have been are covered by his sacrifice, faith that since he did this when I was his enemy how can he do less now that I am his friend.

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." - Romans 5:10

-fritz

^{1 - Ephesians 6:19}

At Some Point Trust Must Begin

They spoke against God, saying, "... Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out; torrents overflowed. But can He also provide bread or furnish meat for His people?"

Therefore, the LORD heard and became furious - Psalm 78:19-22a

It gets really old to continuously say, "Well, is God going to come through for us this time?"

At some point the child of God has to start trusting God's Care.

- fritz

No Fear in Troubled Times

"And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be ... nation shall rise against nation ... and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles - Mark 13:7-8

Jesus predicted that before his return some fearful things would happen.

Could he have been referring to just the sort of things we see now - terrorists, Middle East wars, global warming fears (real or imagined); political and geological problems increasing everywhere? I think so.

Ahead of time he told us this so his people would trust his care and not be afraid like those without hope or faith.

We choose to believe in his personal care, acting from faith not fear.

- fritz

Audacity of Faith

Into the massive ornate Jewish temple, only the second of its kind, rushed a man on a mission. He wasn’t a priest or a prophet just a “good, God-fearing man…waiting for Israel to be saved”¹

But he had a secret he probably told no one else; if he had they would have thought him presumptuous. He really believed God had told him he would see the Christ before he died. The faithful had been waiting for generations for the Christ but this man had the audacity to believe God had spoken to him.

Something inside Simeon that day said, “Go to the temple now”, he probably didn’t know why. He obeyed and there at that moment were Jesus’ parents offering two doves and two pigeons, a poor family’s redemption for their son.²

The Holy Spirit speaks audacious things to people who love God. Those things can be generic to all Christ's followers, but sometimes they are very specific - for a child, a situation, a calling.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” – Jesus (John 16:13)

Have the audacity of faith to believe the Holy Spirit and his word.

- fritz

<sup>1 - Luke 2:25 Good News Bible
2 - Leviticus 12:6-8

Related Post: "God Speaks, We can Hear", October 7, 2010</sup>

God has no Grandchildren.

[The rich man] cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. - Jesus (Luke 16:24)

Jesus told a parable about a rich man and a poor man. Most focus on wealth aspect - in the story the rich man ends up in hell and the poor man ends up in pre-heaven, "Abraham's Bosom", the place the Jews believed the faithful awaited the advent of Christ.

Few notice both the men were descendants of Abraham. The hearers commonly believed all descendants of Abraham were an automatic shoe-in to God's kingdom.

The story indicates entrance into heaven is not a matter of heritage but personal faith and if one ignores what God has already said, more evidence won't make a difference - note the conclusion:

Then he said ... father ... send [Lazarus] to my father's house:...that he may testify ... lest they also come into this place of torment ... Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them .... If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. - Luke 16:27-31

We can apply, today, that being a member of a church or religious group is not enough, one must have a personal faith.

- fritz.

He is all we need.

Handkerchiefs taken from Paul's body healed the masses¹, yet a self described "thorn" was impervious to prayer.

Why? We may not appreciate the answer.

Apparently God has a bigger plan than just us and our wants.

"I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." - 2nd Corinthians 12:6-10 (Message)

-fritz

^{1 - Acts 19:12
Related Post: The Prosperity Gospel, September 24, 2010}

Faith when you get and when you don't

Gideon, Barak, Samson ... who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised...Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured ... Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were ... put to death by the sword...destitute, persecuted and mistreated ... These were all commended for their faith" - Hebrews 11:32-39 edited

Faith isn't just shown in the receiving of miracles, but in staying true and faithful even when you don't!

- fritz

The Good Old Days

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions. - Ecclesiastes 7:10

Remembering the "Good Old Days" is a waste of time. You can NEVER go back to what was - but you can go forward to something better if you keep focus.

[T]his one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore ... be thus minded - Philippians 3:13b-16a

There is better yet to come!

- fritz