On Fear and Faith

Friday morning (just barely), October 26, 2007
Your responses to yesterday’s “perspective” let me know that fear is very much a part of the life of those of us who call ourselves His, but they also let me know that faith is also very much a part of our lives. Interestingly, out of all of the responses I received, I received only one that indicated otherwise—that if we really have faith, then we should have no fear.
As I was writing the previous paragraph, I received a call from one of God’s children, whose daughter-in-law just delivered a 2 pound, 4.5 ounce baby girl. As you might imagine, the past several days have been very difficult for this family, as the mother’s cervix was dilating very prematurely. To say that another way: this family has been fearfully trusting over the past several days. There is no doubt in my mind that they have had utmost confidence (faith) in God and in His ability to carry out His perfect plan for this family; however, there is also no doubt in my mind that they have experienced fear—the kind of fear that any human being would have, at the thought of losing a child and/or a grandchild. In my opinion, the Psalmist’s words, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Him”, becomes very precious in such times!
Go ahead and try to tell these precious folks that if they had really been trusting God, they would have had no fear; well, on second thought, please do not be that foolish. The truth is they are continuing to fearfully trust because this baby is very premature and they want it to survive and to thrive. Yes, I know that some would say that if they really trusted God, they would simply want what He wants, even if that means that the baby will not survive but, somehow, that mindset simply does not fit with what I know about Jesus. His “not my will but Thine be done” cry does in fact declare that, in that Gethsemane experience, His will and God’s will were opposed to each other. Granted, He did (finally) make the “. . .but Thine (will) be done” statement, but that did not remove the anxiety and fear that He was experiencing. He was a genuine man, even with feelings, in case you have forgotten, and certainly a man of perfect faith.
I will be the first to tell you that I have absolutely no fear concerning my relationship with Jesus, my security as a believer, my righteousness, or my eternal life; to be sure, His perfect love for me does, indeed, continually cast out those fears. If, however, I am to be honest with you, then I must also be the first to tell you that I would be experiencing the very same fear that this family is experiencing, if I were in their “shoes” and in various ways, I have been on many occasions.
Even if I live to be 100, I will never forget the night before my son’s 17th birthday, when he was involved in a terrible auto accident. When I knelt beside him in the brush and rubble, the first words out of his mouth were these: “Daddy, I am about to die, aren’t I” and my response was this: “Not if I can help it!” The picture that is even more vivid in my mind is when I was standing beside his ER gurney, realizing that it was very possible that he was going to die, and with a huge lump in my throat, saying, “God I release Him to you, which is all I know to do.” Was I fearful? You can rest assured that I was not only fearful, I was “scared to death” BUT I was also trusting—FEARFULLY TRUSTING—my Father to allow my son to survive and to thrive. In the end, He did and I am very thankful; however, I know of many other similar situations, where He did not, and I can only tell you that those parents were fearfully trusting, as well.
Sometimes, God does not do what we want Him to do and knowing that fact precipitates fear—always—but it also always gives birth to faith—great faith!

Fear or Faith, or Fear & Faith?

Monday afternoon, October 22, 2007
Have you noticed that many of the people who claim to be living in faith are really living in fear? Have you noticed how susceptible many of those within the Body of Christ are to this deception? The truth is many believers are fully persuaded that faith and fear cannot coexist and, as a result, they are easy targets for the enemy’s deceptive techniques. Somehow, we must begin to realize that faith and fear do coexist and that they will continue to do so until we get Home—when faith becomes sight.
The pattern usually looks something like this: the believer has no problem trusting God for things like the sun rising in the morning, or the changing of the seasons, or the spring rains, even for justification, sanctification, and glorification; however, when it comes to trusting Him for things that might not be so certain, he has a very difficult time.
For example, I well-remember a group of ladies from a local home for drug and alcohol addicted women attending our church and being faced with receiving the Lord’s Supper. Their leader was very adamant that they could not participate because we use wine, as one of the elements, not grape juice. In his mind, for them to participate would mean that everyone of the alcoholics in the group would immediately begin craving alcohol and revert to their old ways of abusing it, thereby, completely defeating the purpose of the center. Yes, I understood his concern and, certainly, did not attempt to change his mind; however, I did wonder how he could so readily trust God for their justification, even their continued justification, but not trust Jesus’ words, when He said, “This is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remissions of sins”? If the wine of the Eucharist is, as Jesus indicated, His blood of the New Covenant, I seriously doubt that anyone need worry, as to its substance or it efficaciousness. I am willing to bet that no believer has ever turned back to abusing alcohol, as the result of drinking the wine of the Eucharist! As to non-believers: they aren’t supposed to be participating in the Eucharist anyway!
Yes, I know that some of you are thinking that he was just using common sense and protecting the ladies from their enemy (alcohol), and you would have done the same thing. And, yes, I know that some of you are thinking that I could have used some commons sense and offered them a different “table” and used Welch’s grape juice, instead of wine. All I have to say to that is this: Jesus could have done the same thing but He did not. I am absolutely confident that Jesus never even entertained the thought that the wine of the Eucharist—His Blood of the New Covenant—would somehow be looked upon as an abusive substance that should be avoided by alcoholics!
I could serve up many other examples for you to consider but let me, simply, say that oftentimes, when we say we are walking in faith, we are really walking in fear, and that fear robs us of some of the most incredible blessings of the Christian life. Furthermore, let me remind you that fear and faith do coexist in every situation of our lives, and, I might add, it is the fear that produces our desire for faith.
One last thing: it is fear, not faith, that causes us to attempt to manipulate things, so as to prevent what we fear from actually becoming reality. Just for the record: God is pretty much determined for the righteous to live by faith, even in the midst of fear.
Just thought I would remind us that He really is trustworthy, even when we are scared to death.

The Exact Truth!

Monday morning, October 15, 2007
Luke begins his “gospel” with this rather interesting introduction: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4; emphasis added). I say this is rather interesting, not because Luke decided to write his own account of the good news of Jesus, but because of his reason for writing it—to reveal the exact truth about what had been taught.
From what I have been able to observe, it seems that few believers are really interested in knowing the exact truth concerning the gospel, as is evidenced by the fact that most seem to be completely satisfied with whatever pious pabulum they are fed by the teachers of their chosen denomination.
Folks, I have some breaking news: there is but ONE true gospel! Unfortunately, however, we seem to be more interested in protecting what our “chosen denomination” holds as truth, than we are in seeking to know the exact truth—the one true gospel! Admittedly, it is much easier to trust another to tell us what we are supposed to believe, than it is to be a serious student of God’s Word, one who refuses to settle for anything less than the exact truth; however, as John indicated in the first of his letters—there are many false prophets, who teach from the influence of the spirit of antichrist (see 1 John 4:1f). Obviously, then, if someone chooses to allow another to determine what he believes concerning the gospel, it is very important that he be able to test the spirits; otherwise, he is easily deceived, which, by the way, is one of the characteristics of laziness!
For John, the litmus test for determining the trustworthiness of a spirit is very simple: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, . . .” (1 John 4:2-3a). Sadly, many have interpreted this to mean that the exact truth of the gospel is this: believe in Jesus. Obviously, we must believe in Jesus BUT what is it that we must believe, when we believe in Him? In verse 2, John gives us this bit of added insight, when he tells us that every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh, is from God, BUT what does confessing that Jesus has come in the flesh involve? Surely, it involves more than the mere words—Jesus has come in the flesh! Just for the record: our confessing what we believe involves much more than a mere recitation of someone’s prepared “confession.”
Before I run out of space, let me tell you that the MO of the spirit of the antichrist is NOT what most think, as he is stupid but not dumb. His MO is to take error and make it look so much like truth, that it is taken for truth by the vulnerable, and I might add—he is well-aware of who the vulnerable are. For example, if you are struggling with some area of your life, with you back against the wall, he knows it, and he also knows that you will be quick to “buy” what he has to offer, even though it is error and far, far removed from the exact truth!
Do remember this: “You are from God, . . ., and have overcome them [the spirits of antichrist]; because greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world” (vs. 4). Be encouraged!!

Preaching with a Passion!

Friday morning, October 12, 2007
Because of the nature of this week, I have spent very little time listening, watching, and waiting in preparation for Sunday’s message; in other words, I have been distracted from my normal routine. Thankfully, I have learned that distractions are sometimes blessings, rather than a curses, and I think this is the case in my being so “distracted” this week. Now that I can take the time to reflect, it is clear to me that the events of this week did a much better job at keeping me focused upon Him, than following my normal routine could have ever done. Of course, the question I am presently raising is this: how is God using the events of this week to influence my understanding and my preaching of the text for Sunday’s message?
You will probably have to be a “preacher with a passion for preaching” to understand this but I will offer it: a true preacher preaches out of the overflow of his/her heart not out of the abundance of someone else’s heart. In other words, until the text become a part of the preacher’s life, the preacher ought not to preach from it. Unless the message comes from the overflow of the well-spring of life within the preacher (living waters), it comes from stagnant waters, waters that bring death, not life. As you might imagine, this mindset motivates the preacher to listen, watch, and wait, even in the midst of the most powerful of distractions; however, doing so requires that the distractions be seen as blessings, rather than curses, and that is no easy task!
Thankfully, He has His own way of “turning water into wine” and I am really thankful that I know that bit of truth; otherwise, I would be one frustrated preacher—especially in the present moment and with the present text! For the life of me, I cannot understand how the text for Sunday is related to the events of this week, at least in the moment; however, I am expecting Him to begin to show me, and by Sunday to pour from the abundance of my heart, His message for His people. I will now listen, watch, and wait!
Just for the record, here are the first two verses of Sunday’s text: “Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God—has God for its source” (1 John 4:1-2’; Amplified Bible). Yes, I could probably “preach” from these verses but mere preaching is not the goal; the goal is to preach from the overflow of my heart, and that means this: if He doesn’t come through with the message, we might as well sit and be quiet, until He does.
As you can see, your prayers will be greatly appreciated, especially in light of the fact that the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous produce incredible fruit! Please remember that prayer is not about our efforts to talk God into doing what we want Him to do, but about our being motivated to desire His will over our own.
Enjoy Him today!

Columbus Day!

Monday evening, October 8, 2007
Today is Columbus Day in the good, old USA; the day we celebrate the fact that the world is round, not flat! Granted, I am guessing, but it is my guess that you spend lots of time considering how things would be, if Columbus’ sailing trip had proven the world flat, rather than round. If you will allow you mind to wander just a bit (which is easy for me!), you will soon realize why we celebrate this glorious fact—falling off the edge would be, well it would be bad!
One of the things that intrigues me about this holiday is this: there were many people in Columbus’ day (1451-1506) who sincerely (truly, unwaveringly, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it) believed that the world was flat, and they also believed, just as sincerely, truly, unwaveringly, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it that ole’ Chris was crazy, as in C-R-A-ZY, for even thinking about taking his sailing trip, aka voyage! Surely, or so they thought, the dingbat knew that, if he sailed far enough, he would simply fall off the end of the earth and that would be his end—demise, finish, final sailing trip!
Why does that intrigue me? It does because even though they sincerely, truly, unwaveringly, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it believed that the world was flat, they were incorrect, and in the face of that opposition, Columbus set sail, even continued sailing, when most of those who were traveling with him wanted to turn around and go home. Restated: Columbus not only was willing to risk being ridiculed for what he believed, but also and more importantly, he was willing to risk his life for what he believed and there is something about that that intrigues me. I might add that he was not only willing to risk his life, he actually took the risk!
As strange as it seems, many Muslims are not only willing to risk being ridiculed for what they believe, but also and more importantly, they are willing to risk their lives for what they believe. I might add that many of them are not only willing to risk their lives, they actually give their lives for what they believe. If you watch the news, you can actually witness it happening! Yes, they believe the world is “flat” and they really believe that it is—sincerely, truly, unwaveringly, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it—but like the folk of
Columbus day, they are incorrect, and that intrigues me.
Thankfully, our God has a people—a remnant, we are called—each of whom is on a voyage with Him, a voyage that most people of our day believe to be foolish and ridiculous. We have been called to sail the High Seas of Life with the strangest of missions—to love our enemies; to pray for those who despitefully use us; to give not only our coats, but also our shirts; to go not only one mile, but two; to forgive not only once, but as many times as necessary; to turn the other cheek; rather to be wronged, than to wrong another; never even to notice when another does it wrong; to lay down our lives for one another; to consider the other person as being more important than ourselves; and, I might add, having done all, to stand, and to stand regardless of the cost, even if it means literally giving our lives for what we believe—you know, like the Muslims do!
Could someone please tell me why most of us, who call ourselves Christians, people who, like Columbus, believe the truth, would “tuck tail and run” in the face of adversity, rather than stand up for what we say we believe? Yes, I know that Jesus died, so I would not have to die, but He did so for my justification, not for my witness to the world that I really do believe—sincerely, truly, unwaveringly, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it! He cannot do that for me; I must do it myself, if it gets done.

Let's Suppose--

A SUPPOSITION:

Let us suppose that you just learned that, regardless of what you do, you cannot sin. Yes, you can violate the laws of the state of Georgia, you can violate the laws of the US Government, you can even violate international law, but you cannot sin.

You can offend you mate, your neighbor, your boss, your friend, your child, your parent, but you cannot sin.

You can murder, steal, gossip, overeat, worship idols, commit adultery, smoke, chew, cuss, and spit, but you cannot sin!

It matters not what you do, you cannot sin!

And let us suppose that what you just learned is absolute truth.


QUESTIONS:

1. How will this just-learned truth affect the way you live your life? Be honest!
2. How will this just-learned truth affect the way you view God?
3. How will this just-learned truth affect the way you view Christianity?


A SECOND SUPPOSITION:

Let us suppose that regardless of your behavior, you will have a front row seat in Heaven—guaranteed! There is none of this, “I hope I make it to heaven” or “I hope just to have a back row seat in heaven”; instead, you are guaranteed a “front row” seat, really a seat on the platform, in heaven.

QUESTIONS:

1. How will this guarantee affect the way you live your life?
2. How will this guarantee affect the way you view God?
3. How will this guarantee affect the way you view Christianity?


A THIRD SUPPOSITION:

Let us also suppose that you also just learned that the reason you cannot sin, the reason you have an unconditional guarantee of a platform seat in heaven, is because Jesus took ownership of all of your sins, became guilty of them as if they were His own, was punished to the full extent of the Law’s requirement for them, took them eternally away, never to be remembered again. In other words, you just learned that Jesus took ownership of the debt you owed God, paid it in full, canceled it, and nailed it to the cross.

QUESTIONS:

1. How will this just-learned truth affect your taking ownership of the fact that you cannot sin?
2. How will this just-learned truth affect the way you view Jesus?
3. How will this just-learned truth affect the way you view the gift of life that He has bestowed upon you?


Well, I have some very good news for you, BREAKING NEWS, as the say on Fox: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9; emphasis added); “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18; emphasis added).