Faith is only mentioned twice in all the old testament. Deuteronomy 32:15-20 states that, ‘God will
hide His face from those who forget Him, His own children who say there is no
God.’ Many think, “So what? God is only for the superstitious and frightened. He is an imagination and a falsehood.” Others say, “Faith is overrated. God only expects us to do our best.” The trouble with this attitude is that God’s
plans will not waver because of our opinions or beliefs and as He continues
toward His goals and the very earth trembles under His mighty hand He looks
upon these lost souls with amusement.
“What will you do LITTLE ONES?
Will you make war against your God?
Will you battle Him along with all the nations of the earth?” Verse 20 says that his own children have no
faith. They have become His enemy and
seek to somehow destroy God from the earth.
How sad to hear these things from former Jews and former Christians.
We know from Psalm 2:1-3 that one day all the kings of the
earth will indeed fight against God. We
know from Revelation 16:16 that this battle against God will decimate earth and
all life on it. God says that if He had
not shortened our days we would have destroyed all life on this planet. Our political leaders in America used to believe
in God and while each of them wished for different things for their people,
they ultimately wanted what God wanted.
During this time our country prospered and became the greatest and most
prosperous land on the planet. Now
however, we want what we want and few enough are willing to limit themselves to
obedience of God’s Word. We have little
enough faith in the church, and much less on the earth.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has publically stated that he would
rather go to hell than go to a homophobic heaven or serve a homophobic
God. The Pope said, “Who am I to judge
whether a priest is homosexual or not?”
They do not even see the madness of their stance. A priest may not marry and raise a family and
be in line with nature but they may have homosexual encounters with children or
each other with no penalty? Well does
scripture say, “Woe to them that call evil good and good evil (Isaiah
5:20).” This year Hollywood has begun a
reality show of pastors in their sin and the statements above have happened
just this week. Satan has sped up his
timetable.
Remember Jeremiah 12:5 If
thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou
contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they
wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
If we have no faith in our God in this time of peace in
America then how can we expect to stand by faith in the soon coming time of
trouble. Make no mistake beloved, the
time of trouble is upon us. It does not
tarry. The days will wax worse and worse
and many who stand beside you in faith and service to God will fall and be
swallowed up by sin. I believe that many
will be tested to failure like Peter but will get back up like Proverbs 24:16
states. Which will you be, the one who
fails and stays down or the one who fails and gets up? Perhaps you will be the miracle who never
falls?
The only other place in the Old Testament that speaks of
faith is Habakkuk. In chapter 2 verses
1-4 it reads: 1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look
forth to see what he will speak with me, and what I shall answer concerning my
complaint. 2 And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it
plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet
for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. 4
Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him; but the righteous
shall live by his faith.
God warns us to be vigilant in our faith. It is one thing to stand when wind and wave
crash around you, it is much wiser to watch out for the coming storm and be
prepared for it. God said the storm will
not take us as a thief in the night if we are prepared like the five wise
virgins. If we fall because we have not
studied and meditated on God’s Word until His Word is all we see then we are
like the five foolish virgins who failed to keep the lamps of wisdom filled with
oil and lit at all times, night and day (Matthew 25:1-13). Look deep into your heart beloved. How full is your supply of the oil of wisdom?
Are you proud?
Are you certain of your righteousness?
Or are you humble, believing in the grace and mercy of God
to get you in?
Do you know and believe that God will meet your needs and
feed and clothe you? Matthew 6:30.
Jesus’ disciples were terrified about the storm that raged
around them and thought for sure they would die. The problem is that they were professional
fishermen and knew just how dangerous the current storm was. Their past knowledge overshadowed their
current knowledge of who they traveled with and caused them to be terrified. Are you terrified with sudden amazement? Matthew 8:24-26.
Does your faith in God motivate you to action, or do you
wait around for God to drop it in your lap?
Perhaps you are frightened and this keeps you from moving forward. Faith moves you to move mountains; it does
not move mountains for you. Faith defeats
failure because God honors and turns failure into success. I am reminded of a saying that says, ‘a
waiter is someone who waits ON God and not someone who waits FOR God.’ Wait I say on the Lord and He will give you a
great tip. Matthew 9:1-2.
God has given every man the measure of faith. My grandson is not quite two yet. If I was to arm wrestle him I would win. In twenty years that might be different. Still, in twenty years I ought to be able to
out pray him wouldn’t you agree? I might
not get physically stronger every day but I ought to get spiritually stronger
day by day. Peter stepped out of the
boat to walk beside Jesus on the water but stepped past his faith when he saw
the waves. We each need to pray in the
spirit until our faith is greater than the wind and waves Satan sends against
us. Matthew 14:28-31.
The Pharisees for all their negative press were the ones who
lived holy according to the law in Jesus’ time.
Some churches place faith above all else, but Jesus gave us His own
order of importance. The Pharisees were
self righteous and arrogant but they tried to live holy in all things. Jesus chided them, not for what they did, but
for what they did not do. He expected
them to live holy and upright while still keeping three important duties in
front place.
The first was judgment.
Pride and a sense of entitlement destroys judgment. You begin to see yourself above all else and
you do not acknowledge the benefit of others when you see it. The second is mercy. People will fall short and unless you are
something very odd, you are people too.
God requires you give mercy when judgment won’t help. God is a God of mercy and we ought to be
merciful to those who fall short. This
includes ourselves too. The third is
faith. Faith moves God because faith
works by love (Galatians 5:6). It is
third after Judgment and Mercy. Mercy
will stop you in your tracks when you are feeling self righteous. Matthew 23:23. None of us are without sin.
Faith is the substance, the foundation and reality of those
things we hope for and have not as yet seen registered by our five senses. Faith aligns us with God’s miraculous power
and allows us to take a step where no bridge is and not plummet to our death. Faith is powerful and even violent in its
action but in spite of that, faith is loving and kind. Because it works by love, faith does not keep
a record of wrongs suffered. Faith
operates when the vessel is unworthy because faith, like the love that empowers
it, does not keep a record of wrongs. God
will not abandon you or fail to recognize your faith simply because you have
fallen short. Many unworthy and faulty
men and women over the years have had their prayers answered simply because
they believed and God in His mercy set aside their judgment and answered their
prayers. Faith also hopes for the best
and seeks the benefit of others. 1
Corinthians 13.
Faith is an action and must be seen to be real. When the friends of the man with Palsy
brought him to Jesus, tearing a hole in the roof to get to Him, scripture says
that Jesus SAW their faith. Mark 2:5.
Since it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews
11:6), and since faith works by love, faith in Christ can also forgive sins
(Luke 5:20). This is why scripture says,
“By grace through faith we are saved (Ephesians 2:8). Salvation requires an ACT of faith. When Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus,
it made him visible to his Lord who invited himself to dinner at the chief tax
collector’s home (Luke 19:1-9). On the
one hand scripture says the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just
(Proverbs 13:22), but on the other, how much better for the wicked to be saved
as Zacchaeus was. This sinner displayed
faith in abundance, first climbing the tree to be noticed and then to freely
offer to restore the money stolen by falsehoods with a trespass offering. This complete repentance made Jesus declare
he was saved. Would we be so quick to
forgive?
Luke 12:28 shows us we ought to know God is working on our
behalf at all times by watching the wonders of the natural kingdom around
us. The very heavens declare His glory,
how can we continue to doubt when even scientists can’t explain it all? What do I mean? The giraffe and woodpecker are two wonders
that can’t be explained. They shouldn’t
be able to do what they do. Both should
die before they manage to take a drink of water in predator filled areas or go
blind by the violence of their hammerings.
A single cell cannot be formed in the presence of oxygen but it requires
oxygen to function. How can those
contradictions occur?
Each day scientists discover new things about ourselves and
while they apply those things to the list of truths, they refuse to examine the
falsehoods in their belief system. Some
of the most colorful fish in the world live so far down that light never penetrates. No living creature will ever see their colors
so why did they develop. The colors are
not to find a mate as they are on dry ground or to blend in with the flora and
fauna, the colors serve no useful purpose to the fish. The only one who might appreciate the color
is God Himself.
Some of us are grumpy in faith. We’re buoyant enough when things are going
our way but cranky as can be when disappointment comes. Paul said, “I have learned to be content no matter
what my condition.” Are you at peace in
all circumstances? It’s easy to rise and
fall with our apparent status, but that status is blind and empty without
taking into account our faith. Once you
step out into the terrifying truths of faith you will be able to release your
dependence on sight to be at peace.
Nobody’s faith is perfect.
Abraham, Paul, Isaac, Peter, Sarah, Jacob and many others named in
scripture lived lives of stumbling failure in the eyes of many. God alone looked into their lives and
declared them to be the pillars of faith.
He doesn’t require perfection on your part or mine. He merely requires your very best. It grieves me that we struggle so with our flawed
brethren when God, our true judge, has accepted us.
Beloved, do not allow others to tear you down and don’t you
go around tearing others down. It is by
God that we stand or fall and He alone is our judge.
Bishop J
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