How to Develop a Strong Faith – Part Two

Psalm 27

Many people try to find their stability in externals. For these reasons their emotions ride a roller coaster with more ups and downs than a roller coaster. Then comes suffering as explained in Psalm 27.

Verses 2, 3 and 6 refer to suffering caused by people.

Verses 7 and 9 inform us there are sufferings caused by discipline. 

Verse 10 speaks of suffering caused by loved ones.

Verse 12 notes even another form of suffering. It is verbal abuse.

What can be done with our misfortunes?  

DON’T: CURSE THEM REHEARSE THEM

DO: DISPERSE THEM (PRAY) REVERSE THEM

Have you ever been where the Psalmist was when he wrote: “I would have lost heart?” This means I would have fallen apart, I couldn’t otherwise cope. The thing that stabilized him was preoccupation with the Lord, not circumstances.

“When you said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, will I seek’ … I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27: 8, 13). Keep focused on Christ. Make Him your standard.

Wait translates the Hebrew “kiwah.” It is a word that draws a picture for us. It describes starting with one thread and weaving a rope.  Every experience with the Lord is a thread in the tie that binds you closer to Him.

As a young professor at Oxford in England, C.S. Lewis was an outstanding author and one of the greatest literary geniuses in literary criticism in the world. By any standard he was an outstanding scholar. He was also an atheist.

That is, he was until he went to Tinturn Abbey, immortalized  by the great poet William Wordsworth. The Abbey stands on the banks of the river Wye. The walls are in tact, but it has no roof, windows or floor. The floor is a carpet of green grass growing as  it can only in Britain. 

The genius, C. S. Lewis, said it was there in Tinturn Abbey one day with the sunlight falling through the arches onto the green grass he experienced inexpressible joy and “All of a sudden I found the essence of the universe in Jesus Christ.”  Is Jesus the center of your universe?

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He removed every charge the Father had against us and every claim Satan made of us. Salvation is available to all who by faith trust Christ.

Salvation is actually a person. Note, “The Lord is my salvation.” Can you insert that personal pronoun “my?”

How to Develop a Strong Faith – Part One

Psalm 27

Jesus wants to enable you to stretch yourself spiritually and expand the circumference of your faith. 

On His earth walk He greatly admired faith. After a woman had exercised admirable faith, He said to her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7:50)

Genuine faith begins when a person finally decides he or she isn’t God and happily acknowledges submission to the living God.

Such faith is assuring, insuring, and enduring.

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up.

Faith helps us walk fearlessly, run confidently, and live victoriously.

Is yours a growing faith? If not, the reason may be the same as the little boy who fell out of bed. When asked why he said, “I don’t know. I guess I stayed too close to where I got in.”

Have you stayed too close to where you got into the Christian faith?  We are exhorted in God’s Word:

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 3:18)

“As new born babes (we are to) desire the sincere milk of the word, that we may grow….” (I Peter 2:2)

Are you growing in your faith walk with Christ? Pick a time in the not-to-distant past. One, two, or three years ago. Now, inventory yourself related to these questions:

How does my prayer life compare now to then?

Am I studying Scripture more now?

Has my zeal for the Lord diminished?

Has my love for the bride of Jesus, the church, increased?

Is your faith in the Lord stronger now?

Faith gives us the courage to face the present with confidence, and the future with expectancy. You have faith. The issue is in what is your faith.

Have you ever driven on one of America’s freeways in a major metropolitan area at peak driving time?  You have faith.

Have you ever gone on a date, taken a mate, driven in the rain, flown on a plane, bought or sold an item on credit? You have faith.

Now consider expressing your faith in Jesus and resolve to engage in those things that will serve you as a stimulus for even greater love for and faith in Him.

One Way: Jesus 10/25/98

John 14:6
Page 1578 Come Alive Bible

JESUS CHRIST left us a legacy of love and truth. In love He spoke truth. What He said is always best for us to know, but it isn’t always what we want to know.

Jesus Christ was God incarnate. That is, God in flesh and blood. He was the God man walking and talking. When He spoke it was the voice of God speaking. His words rang with the realism of eternity. Being love embodied His disclosure became love revealed.

On the eve of His crucifixion He had one last time to share insights. This was more than a mere pep talk. He is sharing how we can live in contact with Him and eventually share His dwelling place, Heaven. It is fitting that a persons few remaining words should be important ones. He wasted no time comforting His followers.

After hearing Christ speak of going away to His Father’s house of many mansions and assuring them they would soon join Him, Thomas asked a question: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?” (Vs. 5).

Christ did not defer from sharing one of the most important realities of all. It is a truth for which His followers are often criticized. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.”

“I” is emphatic meaning, “I and no other always am the only way.”

Our pluralistic society prefers to hear there are many different paths but all lead to the same destination. Confidently we are told we are working to go to the same place.

If what Jesus said is true, and it is, and you wanted to mislead people into not getting to the Father what lie would you perpetuate? The deceiver has created numerous counterfeits and in this way he leads many on dead end paths.

If we believe what Jesus said was true we cannot remain mute. If you had friends in a building on fire and you knew a way out and they didn’t what would be the most loving thing you could do?

Would it be to say there are many doors take your pick? Would it not be to say there is only one way out and I want you to follow me to safety? If you knew there to be only one way wouldn’t it be loving to tell your friends there is only one way?

We are told it is bigoted and narrow minded to insist Jesus is the only way to the Father. In many areas of life there are defined and limited exact standards.

There are 16 ounces and only 16 ounces, no more and no less, in a pound.

There are 12 inches and only 12 inches, no more and no less in a foot and precisely three feet in a yard.

There are exactly 440 vibrations per second in A above middle-C on the piano.

Water consists of only two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen —- no more and no less.

At sea level water boils at precisely 212 degrees.

Colleges and universities have entrance requirements that must be met. They are spelled out and adhered to. If you want to enter you must comply with their requirements.

Nations have standards for naturalization. If you want to be a citizen you must meet these demands.

We accept all of these standards and requirements and comply. Why then do some consider Christ to be narrow and bigoted when He tells us the truth regarding there being one way to heaven?

We should not marvel there is only one way. We should rejoice there is a way.

If we have a potentially fatal disease and a competent doctor says there is one and only medical treatment that will work and without it death is certain, we would rejoice that our doctor is so wise and hasten to submit to the treatment.

If we were faced with legal action that could be disastrous and our attorney were to say there is only one course of action, but it is safe and certain we would marvel at the insight of our advocate and submit to his counsel.

Suppose a student were to apply for admission to a great academic institution such as Georgia Tech declaring, “I want to study logarithms.” The counselor would say, “Great, but first you must take basic math.” The student might protest taking math and insisting on taking logarithms. The counselor would insist. The student might assert that is mean and unfair. It is a bigoted rule that says I can’t study logarithms until I take math. The counselor would insist, “There is no other way. It is impossible for you to come to an understanding of logarithms unless you take the only way people have come to understand logarithms —- namely, the way is math.” There is only one way, math. Not psychology, physical education, or philosophy. Math only. The same is true of Christ.

Why then when Christ says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me” do we suddenly become critical and resistant?

If you believe Christ, you believe that. We believe that it should alter our behavior and stimulate our loving desire to tell others. Many churches have been cowered into not offending some persons by insisting there is only one way. I would like to tell people what they would like to hear, but that is not my task. My calling is to tell people what they need to hear. If I believe it and don’t tell people I am more heartless than a so called friend who would not warn a friend of fire and show the way to the exit.

Jesus said, “The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me…” (John 14: 10, 11).

Jesus was not exhibiting a proud narrow arrogance, He was making the only statement possible in light of what He knew and Who He was. He was God in flesh and blood. Get your Christology right and everything else comes easy. Get your Christology wrong and nothing is right.

As His minister I cannot alter, amend, or expand those parameters. If I am to be true to Him I must advocate His position. I can do none else and be loyal to Him.

Jesus is the only authorized revelation of God to humanity as well as the only authorized representative of humanity to God.

To us that is startling but to the ancient Jew hearing it for the first time it was revolutionary. The statement contained three of the basic concepts of Judaism.

Isaiah warned of false “ways,” “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying ‘This is the way, walk in it’” (Isaiah 30: 21).

We need to pray with the Psalmist, “Teach me your way, O Lord” (Psalm 27: 11).

What does it mean Christ is the way?

If you were to ask directions to a difficult destination a person might go to great length giving directions only to confuse you. If the person offered to walk with you and guide you there the person would then become the way. Then the person becomes the way.

Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Jesus has not just told us the truth He embodies it. The character of the person who teaches Latin, astrophysics, or zoology does not affect the subject. The character of the person who teaches character is important. The person who declares what He espouses is the truth needs to embody the truth.

“I am the life,” was Christ’s third claim. What every person is truly seeking for is life with meaning. Jesus makes life worth living because He is the Life.

Proud parents named their newborn son Adoniram Judson. This brilliant child at age 12 was teaching the adult men’s Sunday School class the book of the Revelation from the Greek text. His genius was obvious.

As he grew his faith began to waver through reading the wrong books. He became such a persuasive advocate of atheism that not even his father tried to share with him.

He went to Brown University in Providence, R.I. There he roomed with another brilliant young man named Jeremy Ames. Soon he had converted Jeremy to atheism. Ames became a vocal advocate of atheism and gave Judson credit for helping him develop his arguments against the Christian faith.

Years lapsed and Judson, an aspiring actor, went to New York to fulfill his dreams. Enjoying success he returned to Boston for a visit. On his way the weather turned bad and he sought shelter for the night. The inn keeper told him he didn’t have a room available. Judson pleaded to be allowed to sleep in the parlor offering to pay full room cost.

The inn keeper relinquished and conceded there was a vacant room but it was next to a very sick man who had high fever and created a lot of noise swearing and screaming. The room was offered with an understanding of the conditions. During the early part of the night the man raved and shouted profanities. A few hours after midnight he got quiet and Judson slept.

The next morning Judson asked if the quiet meant the man was better. The inn keeper told him the man had died. Judson asked how he could deal with having a man die in his inn.

The inn keeper replied it was such a pity for the young man was a brilliant graduate of Brown University named Jeremy Ames.

The shock was so great for Judson that he said all the way back to Boston two words kept ringing in his mind: “death and hell.” Over and over he heard them.

Soon thereafter Judson committed his life to Christ and set sail for India to spread the good news. After a short time in India he went to Burma. Soon thereafter his wife and children died. He remarried and his second wife died also. For seven years he labored in Burma before he had his first convert. Soon thereafter many others came to know Christ.

Unknown to Judson there existed in Burmese folklore a tale that someday a man would come with a book containing the truth. The Burmese people believed Judson to be that man, the Bible to be that book, and the truth contained therein spread rapidly.

Are you misleading or failing to lead someone to the truth? May those words “death and hell” awaken us as they did Judson.

One of my favorite courses in college was entomology, the study of insects. Of the large assortment collected and classified there was one found to be most intriguing, the Procession Caterpillar. Their name comes from their habits. If one gets in line behind another it will stay and follow. If another joins them a procession is begun.

An experiment was conducted involving them using a large flower pot. One was set in motion crawling around the perimeter of the pot. In rapid succession others were put in the procession until the rim formed a ring all following in procession behind the one in front.

Fresh pine needles are a favorite food of the little creatures. A supply was put in the middle of the pot but no one left the ring to eat. They continued to go around and around in procession until they all starved to death.

We are such followers that we tend to follow the procession of beliefs of those like us. Many are spiritually going around-and-around in procession unwilling to break with the mass and live spiritually.

A list of the religions of the world will include Christianity. In reality Christianity isn’t a religion it is a relationship.

Every religion is based on a system of works whereby a person seeks to earn, merit, or deserve the favor of God. Christianity acknowledges there is no way to do so. Instead God offers us His favor and forgiveness based on THE work of Jesus Christ.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

One enters into a relationship with Jesus Christ by faith.

Jesus Christ said: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

A Guidebook for Better Living – Part Two

Hebrews 1: 1 – 3

With today’s bad news, there is a source of good news. That is what the Bible offers. A time alone with the Lord in His book can be a time of renewing, mentally refueling. 

The Bible effervesces with exuberance. It exudes exuberance.  It overflows with the superabundant advantages of doing things God’s way.  It speaks of the good things God wants to lavish on you.

To have a treasure and not know it is little better than not having it. Having a Bible in your house and not read is little better than not having one. Do you?

Several key words reveal what energizing provisions are found in the Bible. They are:

One is the word summarized as “better.” This word is used 13 times in the book to show how much better life is in Christ.  It indicates how much better He is than any other pseudo-god.  He offers you “a better hope.” (1:4)

Another word is “perfect.” This word is used 14 times for emphasis.  He can do for us what no human effort or system could do.  No sacrifice, or legal system, can make you worthy to stand before God.  In Christ He perfects you and you can spiritually stand before God as a new creature in Christ.

The third word is “eternal.”  Christ is shown to be the “author of eternal salvation.”  (5:9) In Him “We have strong encouragement in Jesus Christ.” (6:18) Therefore we should “encourage one another daily.” (3:13) Because He has guaranteed us “the promise of eternal inheritance.” (9:15) You can rely on Him because He is, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8)

Fourth is the word “encouragement.” 

Life is filled with challenges but we are promised an “eternal inheritance.” (9:15) with Christ who is “heir to all things.” (1:2)

The physician, William Osler, one of the founders of Johns Hopkins University was struggling as a young student.  He lacked confidence in his upcoming exams and his future was uncertain.  He picked up a book authored by philosopher Thomas Carlyle and read: “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”  What is the decision clearly at hand for you? Feed your mind on the Word of God that you may have His guidance in finding and doing His will.

Jim Elliot, who gave his life trying to reach a primitive tribe deep in the Brazilian Amazon forest, put life in perspective by saying: “He is no fool, to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

A Guidebook for Better Living – Part One

Hebrews 1: 1 – 3

Jesus has a message for you.  It is a message of encouragement, explanation, exhilaration and expectation. He wants to communicate to us more than we want Him to. Communication involves sending and receiving a message.

Lilly Tomlin, in her role of a telephone operator, often uses a statement which illustrates this: “Have I reached the person to whom I am speaking?”

The people who initially received this letter needed its message as much as we.  For we, like they, are going through difficult times.  The old world order with which they were comfortable was being destroyed.  A new code of public ethics was emerging which was not God’s will.  They were being pulled into it and being persecuted by their former friends for following Christ.  False teachings abounded, and they were in danger of being deceived.  Forgetfulness was causing them not to remember some foundational truths that would have stabilized them.  They were at a spiritual standstill, making no progress and in danger of sliding back into their old lifestyle.  Many had forsaken worship.  They needed an exuberant word from God. So do we . . . and we have it. It is God’s written Word. It is the Bible. Part of it is the Book of Hebrews. 

Our society needs a word of encouragement.  We look at externals and think all things are well.  In reality we are often looking at a shell that is empty.  A word has been coined to describe a segment of our affluent upward mobile society called “yuppies.”  Even they who drive Porshces and drink Perrier are not finding fulfillment in things.  Many studies are showing a number of these are now suffering from guilt and are even embarrassed to be associated with people like themselves.  They are in need of a word of encouragement.  Many of these have stopped reaching upward and have started looking upward to Christ for a word of encouragement.

He alone gives hope.  Hope is more than an emotion.  It is a way of looking at life and an understanding of the things that happen to us.  The Word of God does this and inspires hope.

If you were assured that you could go to a given spot and actually hear the literal voice of God speaking right from heaven, would you do it?  Well, we can’t, but there is a place where you can go and see the actual words communicated to us by God through holy men in a written form. That is what the Bible is. 

Designate a time and place to which you will go each day to get a written message from God. While there, He would like to hear from you. Make time to pray also. Perhaps you think you don’t have time. Make it by doing something simple like setting your alarm clock a bit earlier.

Begin today.