October 22, 2015

"Now faith is....." Hebrews 11:1

Here at the beginning of this 11th Chapter the Apostle is addressing some issues these Christians were having with their faith.

Paul reminds them that faith is an issue of belonging. Under the pressure and pain of persecution you can lose sight of Who you belong to. In Chapter 10 verses 19 through 23 he reminds them they belong to God and should draw near to Him.

You were made to belong! The need to belong is a powerful human need. Belong to God satisfies that need like nothing else.

Are you longing to belong? Put your faith in Jesus and confess your need to belong to Him.

Faith is a belonging issue and it is also a believing issue. 

In 10:23, Paul urges, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

How can you be in relationship with someone unless you believe in them? 

One thing you need to believe is that God believes in you!

Faith belongs. Faith believes. Faith behaves.

Faith is a private, personal spiritual decision. It is subjective and it is internal. So, faith must be demonstrated in the behavior of those who claim to believe. For faith to be real the behavior must match the beliefs.

Paul devotes the last twelve verses of Chapter 10 and all of Chapter 11 discussing and demonstrating how faith should behave. Chapter 11 hails the exploits of those who became exemplary models of faith because of how they behaved in obedience to God.

You cannot read through Hebrews Chapter 11 and doubt that they had faith. Their historic and heroic deeds demonstrate their belief!

Faith belongs!

Do you know for sure you belong to Jesus?

Faith believes!

Have you placed you faith in Jesus and confessed Him as your Savior?

Faith behaves!

Do your attitudes, your actions, your associations and your announcements give evidence of your belief in Jesus?

October 23, 2015

"Now faith is....." Hebrews 11:1a

I have already established that faith exists in the now. The faith I had when I began writing this article is of little consequence at this moment. Faith is based on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and relationships are dynamic not static.

So, there is no doubt that "now" faith is what changes the world because now faith brings God's presence, God's power, God's purpose, God's peace, God's perspective and God's passion to your life!

Now that I have reiterated the importance of "now" faith I want to add another truth about it. "Now" faith is powerful because it bridges past victories to a future vision!

How do I know what God can and will do in the future?

I only know what He will do because I know what He has done and I know His character and nature has not changed. Isn't it true that the best predictor of what someone will do is what they have done in the past?

When it comes to developing a vision for my life or for my ministry I do it by using my "now" faith to factor God's past performance forward to a new project. 

I know what God CAN do by knowing what He HAS done! Faith believes that because God has done it before He can do it again!

Isn't that the main truth that drives Hebrews 11? Abraham had faith God would use him to build a great nation because he knew what God had done in days gone by. 

Noah had faith to build an ark to save his people from a flood despite never having seen rain not having built a boat. Where did that vision come from? Where did he find that faith? 

He believed what God could do because he believed what God had done. Faith allowed him to believe God could do it through him! Noah's "now" faith led him to connect his past faith to a future vision. And, it was his "now" faith that gave him the strength and stamina to go to work on the ark every day for over a century!

"Now" faith is powerful in the moment because it is anchored in past victories while anticipating future vision!

If you are struggling with a vision for future blessings spend time reflecting on past blessings!

October 21, 2015

"Now faith....." Hebrews 11:1

These first two words in this great chapter give significant insight into this critical aspect of spirituality.

Faith is a "now" issue!

That is true because faith grows out of a personal faith relationship with Jesus Christ and relationships exist in the "now". Yesterday's faith won't help you today. 

Hebrews Chapter 11 is a primer on faith and one of the primary truths about faith is that it exists in the moment. It is a "now" experience.

Abraham had a "now" faith! His hope was in a future promise but his faith was in a daily walk with God.

Noah had a "now" faith! His hope was in a very large ship he would build to some day save his family but his faith was found in a daily relationship with God.

So it is with every saint in this prestigious list of faith heroes! Each of them whose faith we honor now had a faith that was founded in their now. Faithfulness develops moment by moment and obedience by obedience and step by step.

God meets us in the moment. It's all we have. When we meet Him in the moment and we surrender to Him in that moment He gives Himself to us in that moment! It was what Abel, and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and David and Joseph and all the other faith heroes are remembered through the millenniums because of the faith they had in the moments. Faith is a "now" issue that leads to forever results!

How is your faith right now?

What are you doing now?

October 20, 2015

"Now faith is....." Hebrews 11:1a

These three words form a powerful transition from a rallying cry to a reality check.

In the 10th Chapter of Hebrews the Apostle is writing to encouraged the believers to persevere in their pursuit of their faith. This the well-known "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together" speech. Reading the second half of Hebrews 10 really sets the context for Chapter 11. To a people who are needing to recapture their courage the Apostle reminds them that "faith is" the core of courage!

These three words remind us that faith is possible!

So, faith is possible by virtue of the fact that it is impossible to NOT BELIEVE. It takes faith to disbelieve! Many would argue that it takes more faith to disbelieve something than it does to believe in something. The crucial question is where will you direct your faith?

These three words remind us that faith is powerful!

Everyone believes something and what you believe determines how you think about yourself, about others and about life. What you believe shapes your actions and your attitudes. 

Because faith shapes your actions and your attitudes it has the power to shape your life. Where you find yourself today is a function of what you believe. If you want to change your outcome you will need to change your outlook.

These three words remind us that faith is personal!

I can't have faith for you and you can't have faith for me. We may encourage one another in our faith but each of us must decide what we will be believe, who we will believe and how we will believe. Faith is a personal commitment to believe in a personal God and His righteous principles.

Faith is a hugely important issue because "without faith you cannot please God".You can choose to please God with your faith and I can choose to please God with my faith because faith is personal!

You will have to decide for yourself but as far as I'm concerned I'm very glad that "Now faith is.....!"

October 19, 2015

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.  Psalm 1:1-2

I found this article that describes well the spiritual progression expressed in verse one: walk, stand, and sit.

"From birth there are distinct phases that mark the normal development of a human being in terms of their ability to move. At first we are completely helpless and need to be carried and supported as our bones, spine and muscles strengthen. Soon we learn to hold up our heads and push ourselves up, eventually to a sitting position. After this we build up the courage to pull ourselves up to stand and in short succession we, with faltering steps, learn to walk and then run.

Perhaps it is a coincidence that the order in Psalm 1 is opposite to that of positive, healthy development of a human in the physical world. Perhaps it isn't.

In the physical, so in the spiritual.

In Luke 10:39 we read that Martha ‘…had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said….’.

Sitting is not a bad thing, if we are sitting at the feet of Jesus.

In Ephesians 6 the church in Ephesus is encouraged by Paul to, ‘… put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes...’ (Eph 6:11)

Standing is good, if we are standing girded with the full armor of God.

Earlier in Galatians Paul wrote “…This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh….” (Gal 5:16)

and in Ephesians:

“… As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…” (Eph 4:1).

(It is a commonly known fact that here, and elsewhere in Ephesians, the verb ‘live’ is actually the Greek verb normally translated ‘walk’ as reflected in the King James Version).

“…I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…” (Eph 4:1)

“…And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour...” (Eph 5:2)

“…For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light…”(Eph 5:8)

So let me ask you what is your spiritual posture or condition today?

Are you sitting at the feet of Jesus or in the seat of scoffers?

Are you standing in the full armor of God or in the way of sinners?

Are you walking in the Spirit or are you walking in the council of the wicked?"

My prayer is that your delight “…is in the law of the LORD…”, that you will be “… like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither….”

That whatever you do prospers. (Psa 1:2-3)

October 18, 2015

"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint."  Psalm 77:1-3

This week begins the fourth week of my "Summer in the Psalms" series of messages. I will be camping out in Psalm 77 all week. This Psalm is timely and insightful because it shows how to battle discouragement.

Christians are not immune from discouragement and may, in fact, be prone to discouragement for several reasons:

1) We tend to care more than other people

2) We tend to care more about other people

3) We have intimate knowledge of a God Who has the power to "fix things" but sometimes doesn't

4) We are under constant attack from the Enemy who continually attempts to discourage  us

5) Faith is a journey that doesn't have clear mile markers and progress can be hard to measure

6) There is a constant dynamic tension between the work of grace God has accomplished in our lives and the awareness of how much more growth needs to happen - this "holy dissatisfaction" is necessary but hard to manage.

7) We are called to accomplish a task that is never completed and often overwhelming

8) We hold ourselves and our leaders to a high standard and therefore, are often disappointed

I could go on, but I think you get the picture!

Psalm 77 is a Psalm of Aseph. Who was Aspeh?

Aseph was one of the three musicians who worked for and with King David. He and his cohorts were responsible for developing inspiring worship to maintain the spiritual climate of God's nation and His people.

Sort of a big job, eh?

If Christians are prone to discouragement (and they are) how much more so for the "point people" who serve on the front lines of ministry?

Discouragement not properly handled will lead to despression. Over the seens I have seen many good and effective ministry people knocked out of the game by perpetual discouragement that morphed into depression.

Before I depress you with these thoughts, let me get to the good news! Aseph discovered how to work through discouragement before it became depression.

Read and meditate on Psalm 77 and see if you can find out how he did it. See what the Spirit says to you.

That is what I will be sharing throughout this week in my preparation for Sunday's message. But here's a hint - devotion has to trump emotion.

Be encouraged today!

October 17, 2015

“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1

When I played baseball I was a good contact hitter. I had a wide stance and a short quick batting stroke which meant I hit a lot of line drives and seldom struck out. In fact, during my first two years of college ball I didn’t strike out at all. I didn’t hit any home runs or many extra base hits either.

Going into my senior year I decided I was going to start swinging for the fences. Sure, I struck out a few more times but I also got more extra base hits!

I share that to say this, how can you be a Home Run Kid if you don’t swing for the fences? As I close out this series on Raising Home Run Kids I am going to challenge you to raise kids who live out their faith boldly in a rapidly deteriorating culture.

How can you raise kids who swing for the fences unless you are willing and ready to go deep as a parent? You must be willing to swing for the fences with three bold parenting decisions. Tomorrow I will share those in greater detail and share practical suggestions to help you with those decisions.

Solomon says that “the righteous” are bold as a lion. What does he mean by that?

Here are a few thoughts on boldness.

Those who are righteous have the peace of God. If He has made you righteous you have made peace with your past through His forgiveness and grace. You can also have peace in the present because He is with you! And you can have peace over your future because He has said He will be with you always!

The righteous can be bold because they have the presence of God! When you have His presence you also have His power, so why fear?

When you are righteous you can claim the promises of God. You know what God has done for His righteous people in the past and His Word promises what He will do for His righteous today and tomorrow! You can live with courage when you trust His promises!

Righteous people have the partnership of other believers! Everything that righteous people have individually they also have corporately as they worship, fellowship and serve together! We have each other’s back and God has all of us covered! Why should we fear?

To Raise Home Run Kids who swing for the fences, kids who are bold as lions in believing and living their faith it will require bold parenting on your part and bold pastoring on mine.

I pledge to live righteously before you and before them. I pledge to call you to righteousness through the Word in my preaching and teaching and leading.

Together, let’s help them to know the peace of God in a world of strife and turmoil!

Together, let’s cherish and nurture God’s presence in our lives in everything we do at FredWes!

Together, let’s help them know the promises of God through the Bible and by making bold decisions based on God’s promises for the church and in our individual lives!

Let’s make bold decisions that will show our kids what happens when we trust God courageously and He comes through in supernatural ways for His glory at FredWes!

You can’t have a Home Run Life or Home Run Kids if you aren’t swinging for the fences!