The other day I was driving down the road when I realized that I had neglected to fill my van with gas. I was on ‘E’ and the warning light was on giving me an indication that I had less than ten miles to an empty tank. It is never fun to be stuck in traffic only to realize that you have to get off somewhere and refuel. For a time, panic set in and I was hoping I wouldn’t run out in the middle of moving traffic…I kept thinking of embarrassing It would be.
Are you running empty today in the faith department? Is the warning light on in your life?
Faith.
What is it? Why is it so hard to grasp at times, and other times the only thing that makes sense?
You’ve heard it said that faith is like the wind, you can’t see the wind but you can feel the effects of the wind. So too it is with this thing we call ‘Faith’. It is vital that we possess it, yet many people lack enough of it to sustain their walk with God.
Does God supply us with faith? Yes, Romans 12:3 says, ” God gives varying measures of faith to his people” So how do we get more of faith when we lack it? Because if you and I were honest with ourselves and with God we would find that there are times when we are lacking in the faith department. James 1:5 says “If any of you are lacking wisdom let him ask God and He will give it liberally.” The same goes for faith. Do you lack faith in your life right now? Is your faith tank on ‘E’? Ask God to fill you again.
The key is that we must ask! It’s not that God doesn’t already know, it’s that He wants us to verbalize it in our lives to Him. He wants us to make it personal, to realize that we need Him. We are lost without His sustaining power and grace. When we ask, the scriptures say that He will supply.
Today, perhaps instead of asking for anything else we should ask God to fill our tank of faith. We all could use an added dose of it, am I right? The issues we face, the struggles, the stress, the doubt are nothing in comparison to the might and strength of our Father in Heaven. If we allow Him access to our lives by asking Him to enter we will be amazed at what takes place.
Do you lack faith today? Let this journey of yours begin by asking Him to fill you up with His grace and to grant you more faith. He will glad supply it to those who ask without agenda or selfish intentions.
A child goes hungry, not because there isn’t food in the village, but because his family has been ostracized for being Christians. They are not privy to the market place and so they have to fend for themselves by begging, trying to cultivate some foods from a meager garden and by digging through other people’s discarded trash.
Another young boy watches helplessly as his father is executed right in front of him, then is hauled off, brainwashed, strung out on drugs and given an AK-47 as a child soldier. This method is repeated over and over again by more than just the now infamous Joseph Kony. Other places in Africa as well as East Asia this is how warfare and power is perpetrated. Many times it goes unnoticed or unreported in our Western news sources…but it doesn’t make it go away for those who are suffering under this oppression and senseless bloodshed.
A young woman is kidnapped in the middle of the night from her bed and becomes a slave to the sex industry, where girls like her are property and a money making business. She is shipped in windowless crates, transported on trains, and moved from one place to the next to fulfill her slavers lust for power, greed and sex. When she is all used up, her body will be thrown out like garbage and the evil owners move on to other victims. Some say it doesn’t happen where I live…think again!
These stories are just the tip of the ice berg that is our fight against social injustice in our world today! It is something that all of us, who claim to be followers of Christ, should be engaged in to some form or another. Whether it’s helping in a food shelf, a soup kitchen from time to time, or supporting a governmental bill that will further help those in need. As Christians we are to be the very hands and feet of Christ, and I’m pretty sure He didn’t solely reside within the walls of the church to help those in need! A part of showing Christ’s love to those around us requires us to extend ourselves and help bring Christ to other’s body, soul and mind.
“A father acts on behalf of his children by working, providing, intervening, struggling, and suffering for them. In so doing, he really stands in their place. He is not an isolated individual, but incorporates the selves of several people in his own self. Every attempt to live as if he were alone is a denial of the fact that he is actually responsible. He cannot escape the responsibility, which is his because he is a father. This reality refutes the fictitious notion that the isolated individual is the agent of all ethical behavior. It is not the isolated individual but the responsible person who is the proper agent to be considered in ethical reflection.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics
We, as Christians, have a responsibility to intervene in causes for those who cannot defend themselves or are powerless to act. As protectors of our world we not only seek to keep our environment healthy and clean, but we should also, in our power, seek to bring freedom and hope to those who have none. Social justice isn’t just for the bureaucrat, the foreign ambassador and the law maker on Capitol Hill…social justice is for all of us who have a voice and the will power to actually change the world for the better.
The quote above is apropos…we can’t merely denounce something…watching a news story we just shake our head and say out loud, “What is our world coming to?” Yet we don’t do anything about it, we change the channel and move on in our own little worlds. This isn’t just an indictment on me this is an indictment on the entire Western world when we stand by and do nothing when whole cultures are being wiped out in semi-religious acts of genocide. When nothing is actively being done to stop the active violence in villages and the formation of child soldiers in third world countries. It is just plain wrong when nothing is being done to put a stop once and for all to the sex trafficking industry that enslaves men, women and children. I’m thankful for proactive political leaders and lobbyists who fight every day to change laws and make it an active war on these plights of our world! But it doesn’t just begin and end with these leaders and lobbyists…we too have a role to play as well! We too must roll up our sleeves and get involved! We too have a voice, and so we MUST use it!
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause”. –Isaiah 1:17
“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” –Jeremiah 22:3
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” -1John 3:17-18
To Stand with God and His justice, we as Christ followers, ought to be also stand for social justice and social reform so that everyone in our world might have opportunities for freedom. God, I believe asks us to stand for those who cannot make that stand themselves. To speak for those who have no voice, and to make a difference in our world through not only environmental activism but also social activism. We are called to BE THE CHANGE!
Have you ever heard the expression from a parent just before they discipline a child, “this will hurt me more than it will hurt you?” Perhaps in your home you heard it differently, perhaps not. I used to think to myself when I heard this said, “oh sure it will, if it hurt you more than me then why am I getting the spanking?” Humorously I’d try to find ways to protect my rear end from harm. Sometimes I would have enough warning because the phrase my mother used was “go to your room and wait for your father to come home!” And so I would sit up in my room and contemplate what I had done as I was considering how many pairs of underwear I could put on without my father noticing so that I could lessen the blow of the spanking. Truth be told, I didn’t get spanked all that often but I will never forget the phrase, “This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.”
I am convinced that our Father in Heaven feels that way too! He does not want to inflict pain and suffering on those He has created, yet because of humanity’s poor choices, at times, He has to. We were not created by a vindictive God who loves to punish. That wasn’t His purpose for creating us. God’s justice wasn’t initially a part of creation until the fall took place. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, God walked with us. God communed with His loved ones. The very fact that He had to drive out Adam and Eve from the garden must have been very difficult for Him! The pain in which He must have gone through because of their deceit and consequential sin. I can almost imagine God saying to Adam and Eve; “This is going to hurt me, more than it’s going to hurt you!”
After all, wasn’t it God who created for Adam and Eve their first line of clothing? (Gen 3:21) Even in the midst of their disobedience God was there to provide for them. God’s justice is something that He withholds until it is the absolute last resort. He doesn’t want to impose punishment on His creation, yet the consequences of willful and utter disobedience is punishment within the realms of God’s justice.
I know many have a very hard time comprehending the God of the Old Testament where it seems that all God does is wipe out whole cultures…yet we fail to comprehend how it must have cost God to do something so drastic. Mankind had ascended into the deepest darkest places of morality and sin. They had turned their backs on the One who created them, and because of this His justice had to take place.
Throughout all of history, God has made the attempt to reconnect with His creation. He has made covenants with them…and it should be noted that none of His covenants were ever broken by Him…they were broken by us, humanity. God knew that humanity could never find salvation by themselves, and so Christ, God’s one and only Son, enters the world to redeem us all. Once and for all, a perfect example of humanity’s blood can now cover all transgressions should they call upon the name of Jesus.
God’s justice should never be taken lightly. We must realize that how we live makes a difference. How we live dictates how God imposes love and justice towards us. If we claim to be Christians and yet our lifestyles say other wise we are knowingly sinning against God. To do so, places us in the path of His judgement. We know of God’s forgiveness and yet many use this as a ‘get outta jail card’ like in the game monopoly. Many think that because God will forgive they can carry on in sin and at some point ask for forgiveness and all will be right again…but to do this is willful disobedience and God will have His justice.
Yes God is a God of love and mercy, but He is also one of justice and judgement to those He loves. “because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12 NIV)
What do I stand for? I stand for a love relationship with God. I stand for obedience to God…am I always obedient? No! But, I do know better when I sin and when I fall. His Holy Spirit is given to all who call upon His name and He can and will provide prompting, discernment and even conviction when we go astray.
I stand for a God of Justice even when I feel sometimes His justice is harsh. Though I may feel this way, I am not all knowing and unlike God, I do not have all of the evidence. God does, and in faith, I have to trust that He knows what He is doing. I am NOT God, nor am I even close to His level…so why feel as if I know better than He does? Sometimes, this can be temptation, after all wasn’t it Satan in the garden in the form of a snake who told Eve to eat of the fruit because then she would have the knowledge of God?
God’s justice is difficult to understand from our point of view at times. Sometimes we feel it’s too harsh, sometimes we feel it comes to slowly. Yet one thing is absolute within this line of conversation, God will have His justice and everyone one day, will account for what we have done on this Earth both good and bad.
Evidence of this truth:
Matthew 12:35-37 (NIV)
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 25:31-43 (NIV) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
What I Do Not Stand For:
Mankind taking God’s justice into their own hands; (Governments excluded they provide our base of law and keep us safe). Those who would Lord over people and inflict their marred understanding of justice are not speaking for God!
God’s justice is like the parent that says “It will hurt me more than it will hurt you”. He never wanted to punish His creation, yet without that correction His justice would be the consequence of disobedience.
***Tune in tomorrow as I explore “Social Justice”…an extension of this conversation today!*** “Same bat time, same bat channel” 😉
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Timothy 6:12)
Rocky is training for the fight (yeah I know this does age me doesn’t it?) he is running, he is working diligently for the fight and every ounce of sweat, tears and endurance is focused on THE EVENT, when he will face Apollo Creed. He is trained, ready and focused on the goal.
In this Academy Award winning film, the main character ‘Rocky’ pushes through a lot of adversity to face off with the world champ in the ring. The main theme of this film is on focus, determination and perseverance.
Aren’t these qualities what every Christian needs in this world today? Haven’t you ever felt like giving up? Have the pressures of the world around you seemed insurmountable? When you get knocked to the mat by criticism, gossip and even slander have you wanted to quit? I imagine each of us in our own power would have quit long ago!
Having perseverance in the faith requires us to have a firm footing in whom it is we worship and count on to lead us. God wants so very much for us to keep fighting no matter what! It’s not a physical fight we wage in this world, but this very real spiritual battle does spill over into the physical world doesn’t it?
Today, whatever you are facing, whatever trouble that might come your way, know that God is in your corner! He wants you to keep going and not to quit! He gives us His strength when we are weak, the supports us when we don’t have the power to stand on our own. So if you’ve been knocked to the mat, and the referee is counting there in front of you, get back up! Don’t quit…Eternity is our goal and Christ is our coach!
The door opens seemingly by itself, could it be a ghost? No, Bilbo Baggins reappears after sliding The Ring off of his finger. He has just shocked all of the Hobbits in the Shire as he vanished from sight at his birthday party. Now, placing the ring in his pocket for safe keeping he goes to his sitting room to collect his things. But Gandalf is waiting for him with questions. Finally Gandalf confronts Bilbo about the ring and, for his own sake, to give up the ring. Bilbo reacts with aggression, not a part of his normal temperament. Then he seemingly talks to himself as he strokes the golden ring in his hand; “my precious”…he whispers to it. Gandalf seems to grow taller as the room darkens as his voice booms in the small hobbit home, “Bilbo Baggins, do not take me for some conjuror of cheap tricks…I am not trying to rob you, I am trying to help you!”
The scene is epic within the story spun by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Lord of the Rings”. Gandalf is having an intervention of sorts for Bilbo. The Ring, can and will impose its will on those who possess it…they may at first believe they control it but soon enough it will control them. Bilbo Baggins’ mood change is evidence of this as Gandalf tries to reason with him. He bares his teeth and snarls like an animal…he is possessed by what he possesses within his hand. Bilbo needs help, he needs someone stronger than himself to find the strength to relinquish that which he is now a slave to.
Isn’t that a great picture of what sin does to us? We begin by dabbling, believing we are in control. But we quickly realize that we don’t possess sin, sin possesses us. We hold it in our hands, in our lives and we lack the strength to relinquish control because we are slaves to it. “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36 NIV) We need a source of freedom. We need a spiritual intervention, one who has resisted life’s temptations and has paid the price of our redemption: Christ himself! Jesus, the Son of God, comes to us and says give it to me! Give me your burdens, your sins, your enslavement. Without His help we snarl and wail like animals lost within their own entanglements.
“I have come that you might have LIFE, and have it abundantly!” -Jesus (John 10:10)
What are you holding onto that you have yet to relinquish to the Lord? Don’t be a slave to what you possess any longer! Do not let the trappings of sin keep you from experiencing freedom and abundant life! When we allow the Lord to take from us our sin and shame, we WILL be free! So let go of it! Don’t allow it to poison your life any longer! You have One who cares and loves you and He wants to give you His strength and support. Let Him help…the shackles of sin can be released immediately with His strength on your side!
The smell of smoke fills the nostrils and tears up the eyes. The view on the beach is disturbing, the ships are on fire as the smoke coats the air and blocks out the sun at mid-day. A sense of panic strikes at the heart of the sailors now marooned on this foreign soil. Soon, realization will set in. To find their way home, they have to move forward.
Infamous conquistador Hernando Corte’s is well known for his brutality when conquering and claiming the Aztec lands for Spain. He will forever go down in the annals of history as a conqueror that nearly wiped out an entire civilization in his day, but there is one saving act of leadership that begs to be examined. When Cortes’ ships landed in the new world, to prevent mutiny he ordered his ships burned and sunk. Imagine for a second being a sailor on one of those vessels and upon landing in this foreign environment your leader burns the only mode of transportation home. Your world comes crashing in, and the only way home is forward without retreat. It’s forward and never backward.
In a very practical sense, we ought to consider burning the vessels of doubt that reside within our faith in God. These modes of transportation will only move us backwards into our old sinful lives instead of transporting us forward into a deeper relationship with our Father in Heaven. Burning the ships of doubt has a motivational value that boldly declares that our purpose and our faith is all or nothing. As an Ambassador for Christ in this world, there is no escape route or exit plan to abandon the cause of Christ! We are either all or nothing; doubt can’t exist in the same place as our faith.
If we have doubt and fear present, perhaps it’s time to burn the ships. One might argue that fear is a part of our faith, rightly so…but it ought to be the fear (reverence) of the Lord not the fear of what the world might do to us within this cause for Christ! These two types of fear are different. Doubt on the other hand is something Jesus even confronts His disciples on… “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 8:26)
Burn the ships…move forward in your faith and trust in the Lord for guidance, protection and strength! He will never leave us or forsake us! (Deut. 31:6)
James 1:5-8 (NIV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
A few years ago I experienced a very bad bout of vertigo. I was laying on my bed, looking up and the room was spinning round and around and around. It was like involuntarily being on a merry-go-round as it spun faster and faster and faster. It was a very disconcerting thing for me. I felt sick to my stomach; I had lost control and couldn’t stop this awful ride. To put it plainly it was hell. Eventually I had to go to the emergency room and get checked out. After a series of tests it was revealed that I had a buildup of fluid behind my ear and this was the culprit to my world spinning around.
Isn’t it funny how such a small thing can become such a problem in life? I struggled with my world seemingly spinning out of control and it happened that one of my ears had an issue. It makes you really appreciate and also realize just how delicately balanced our lives and bodies are.
So it is with our faith as well. Not so much on God’s end, but our end. We are often like a merry-go-round in our faith. We go round and round and sometimes we never come to any decision and we make no long term commitments to God. Yet God is standing there ready to supply us with the wisdom that we need if only we ask Him. Why is it that we forget that He’s there? Why is it that we don’t cry out to God every day when our world seems to be spinning around us?
I think pride is a part of it. All too often we feel as if we need no one’s help and if we were to ask it would be a sign of our weakness or inability. Yet God wants us to call on Him in every season of life, spinning or not. He knows how difficult life is because Christ lived it. Jesus came to our level and He can truly identify with our struggles, our temptations, and our pains. Having this knowledge of His intimate understanding of the human existence, it would be foolish NOT to call upon Him in our times of need and contentment. Pride shouldn’t play a part in us missing out on His wisdom and strength.
Lastly, as James writes, we shouldn’t doubt that when we ask God that He will or will not respond. God is always faithful to those He loves…and guess what? He loves YOU! So don’t have second thoughts about God hearing you, answering you or being there for you…He will be there, He will hear and He will answer! If there’s one place in the Universe that you can place your faith and your hopes upon it’s our Father in Heaven. He will never let us down!
A closing word of caution:
Even though He will never let us down and He hears us when we call, don’t treat God like a good luck charm or a ‘Get out of Jail’ card. He doesn’t work like that. His desire is for us to seek Him every minute of every day. He desires a relationship with us that is so much more than a word of prayer in the midst of our troubled times. God desires our hearts, our lives our love. When we have this type of relationship, He not only intercedes amidst our merry-go-rounds of trouble, but He joins us in the battles and in the struggles.
Pastor's Ponderings 