REFLECTIONS ON FAITH

What is faith?  Personally I believe I do not have faith in prayer, nor in the church, nor in people, But in God and His Son, Jesus.

Do I believe in prayer and the church?  Yes, but because of belief in the Lord God.

I've noticed during this time of "retreat" due to my medical confinement that several have commended my wife and I on the depth of faith we have.  But it seems to me that's where the priority may be off a bit.  The faith is in God and Jesus.  It is not because of the "bigness" of my faith that I will get through this all.  It is due to the loving Father, the Sovereign God who has plans and brings them to effect in life.  Jesus said, "If you have the faith of mustard seed"--that's not much, though He did chide His disciples as "you of little faith."

Faith--trust--genuine subordination of oneself to a loving, holy, righteous, compassionate God is what's important.

Faith should reflect God not you and me.  It should glorify Him, not me. 

Some of us do not live by faith; we walk by sight.  We live by God's blessings, family, personal inner strength, things human not divine.  When the blessing of God is there, then praise the  Lord.  But when things turn sour, at times even due to our undoing, we move away from God.  We abandon Him and His church.  We do not seek to be true and faithful to a Holy God, a Righteous God, or to Jesus way of living life.

Hebrews 11 is a wonderful listing of as someone has said, "the hall of fame of faith."  But there are many other examples such as Abraham, David, Ananias and a man renamed Paul.

I preached last on August 11th, just before my hospitalization.  I said, "Faith is not faith if it is only for the good times."  I stand by that.  It is especially for the hard times, but in all of them, good or bad, trust is essential--trust that God has not only "a" plan, but "the" plan.  That plan is to redeem and save, to love all, to establish a faith relationship with everyone.  And that plan is also that He would be glorified and worshiped for who He is.

Do my wife and I have stronger faith than many?  Well maybe.  We are learning in this struggle more of what faith means.  Faith can be grown if you cooperate with God in the process instead of fighting God in the process. 

The process begins when you decide to "follow Jesus" and when you decide also to be part of His body, the church, and when you seek not only to grow through teachings of others (preachers, teachers, etc.), but also do your own study/reading/praying/reflecting on spiritual literature.  It is cultivated over time.  Maybe why my wife and I seem to have great faith to many (I say we're still weak--the strength is God, not us).  Faith is cultivated over days, years and months of "seeking after God," trying to listen and be true to His purposes, through minutes which over time turn into hours getting to know God in Scripture.

Don't look for a Bible-believing church, nor a Bible-teaching church.  Look for a Bible-living church--where people seem to attempt to put into practice the teachings of Jesus and God.  Often those combine, but not always. 

And always remember that a breakdown for all of us is "living what we say we believe."  Ask for God's forgiveness when you fail (you will).  Forgive yourself, but get back to the path of faith so you don't lose your way on the journey to knowing God.

Words from 2 Corinthians 12 today:  ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV, biblegateway.com)

 So where are you in faith today?  And what do you need to do to strengthen faith NOW for the hard times to come LATER?  It is well worth the seeking and the journey to know God.