Ashamed Of Jesus.

"I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. And I say unto you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before angels of God. (Luke 12:4-9 NASB)

 Jesus warns us that we are not to fear man, who can only kill the body. Rather, we are to fear the one who after He has killed the body, can cast it into hell. This is a very solemn warning that we need to pay more careful attention to. It can be so easy to remain silent when those around us are mocking Christianity. Like the ten spies sent into the land of Canaan, we too are often overwhelmed by fear, and perceive that those who stand in opposition to Jesus Christ are much larger than they really are. Yet, as Jesus says, they can only kill the body and no more. We are not to fear them, but to fear God.We also receive the comforting promise that God cares for us. The same God who cares for the birds, cares for us as well. We read of Stephen, as the enraged mob was about to stone him,  

But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." (Acts 7:55-56 NASB)

God gave Stephen what he needed to face the hour of trial, the Lord Jesus himself standing up for His faithful martyr. 

We are given the promise that if we confess Christ before men, He will confess us before the angels. We are also given the warning that if we deny Him before men, He will deny us. In Mark 8:38 we read, 

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of Him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38 NASB) 

Indeed, we live in an adulterous and sinful generation. There are many who compromise with the world around them. There are those who choose to remain silent out of fear, or out of a desire not to offend someone. To them, Jesus' warning is clear and sobering. We dare not be ashamed of the one who gave His life for us. His words are truth and bring life. How can we, His followers, be ashamed of Him and His words? Yet, the temptation is very real, and like Peter, even though we may say we would never deny Him, we so often do (Matt 26:33-35). 

The same Peter who denied Christ, was filled with boldness on the day of Pentecost, as he stood before the jeering crowd and boldly proclaimed Christ crucified and risen from the dead. From that point on, we see the boldness and zeal of the early Church, as they spread the gospel in the face of persecution. May we possess that same spirit today, and boldly stand for Christ in our generation.

The Nature of Biblical Faith.

     And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
                                                              Hebrews 11:6 NASB

     For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
                                                                Ephesians 2:8 NASB

     Faith is one of the most important, yet one of the least understood elements of Christianity. If it is through faith that we obtain saving grace, and if it is impossible to please God without faith, it is of absolute necessity that we have a good working knowledge of what true faith really is. We cannot afford to be wrong in our definition of faith; there is no room for error. Our very souls depend upon our having a solid biblical understanding of what constitutes faith.
     I would like to look at some very important elements of faith as found in the scriptures; elements that are sadly overlooked, or often explained away, yet these things are found in scripture nonetheless.
     
     1. Faith is taking God at His word.
     2. Faith is active.
     3. Faith leads to obedience.
     4. Faith works by love.
     5. Faith overcomes.

     1. Faith is taking God at His word.
     We read of faith in Hebrews 11, and discover right away that one must believe that God exists, and rewards those who seek after Him. If we are to exercise faith, we must start here with the belief that God means what He says. His word is filled with warnings and promises, blessings and curses. If we have faith, we will believe what God says to us. To ignore or disregard what He says, is to lack faith. The Bible tells us that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Many people make the mistake of thinking that faith consists in believing what they want, and God is bound to honor that faith. This is not so. True faith believes what God says, no matter how unrealistic it may seem. Take Noah for example. God told Him that He was about to destroy the world with a flood as a judgment of its sin. He told him to build an ark for the salvation of his family. As absurd as this might have seemed, Noah took God at His word, and did what he was commanded to do (Genesis 6:5-21; Hebrews 11:7). He believed the word of the Lord. We too must believe the word of the Lord as well. Imagine what it must look like to God when He fills His word with promises and commands, but we fail to believe what God says. Unbelief in effect is calling God a liar.

     2. Faith is active.
     Look at the example of Noah again. Noah believed what God told him. He believed that a flood was going to destroy the world. He also believed that God would spare him and his family if he would build an ark. this belief caused him to act. As ridiculous as it must have appeared to those around him, Noah began to build an ark, a task that took around one hundred years to complete. There was plenty of time to get discouraged, and plenty of time to decide that maybe God was going to change His mind and not send a flood. Noah believed God, and acted upon that belief. He persevered over a period of one hundred years, and at the command of God, he and his family, along with pairs of animals entered the ark, and were saved. When the multitude asked Jesus what they must do to do the works of god, Jesus responded by telling them that the work of God was to believe upon the one that He sent (John 6:28-29). If they had truly believed in Christ, that faith would have manifested itself in works. James tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). A man sitting in his recliner, reading the paper is suddenly interrupted by a pounding on his door, and cries of "Fire! Get out, your house is on fire!" If he has faith, he will put down the paper, get out of his chair, and escape his burning house. It is that simple. James gives us several examples of men and women who acted upon their belief, as does the book of Hebrews in the eleventh chapter. (James 2:21-26; Hebrews 11:1-40).

     3. Faith leads to obedience.
     Paul refers to the obedience of faith in Romans 16:26. What is this obedience of faith? Jesus asks "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46) We are called to obey Jesus Christ, to follow Him, and to walk as He walked. This amounts to us living out our faith in Him with an active obedience. The true disciple hears the commands of Jesus, and believes what he hears with an active faith. It is futile to say that we are Christians, followers of Jesus, yet we balk at His commands. Just as a soldier obeys his commanding officer, or an employee obeys his boss, we are called to obey Jesus Christ, if we are going to follow Him.

     4. Faith works by love.
     We read in Galatians 5:6, that what really counts in the eyes of God is faith working by love. This is the opposite of dead works-things that we do to earn God's favor. Legalism, the keeping of commandments, observance of rituals or traditions, is based upon selfish motives. An individual who "obeys" God out of a sense of obligation or fear of punishment cannot please God, as this individual is merely serving God for reward. True faith is motivated by love for God. This is why Jesus could say that those who love Him will obey Him (John 14:23-24). Love will motivate us to what Jesus commands, not for our sake, but for His. This is the difference between a "legal" salvation, which is no salvation at all, and a salvation where the law is fulfilled in those who believe, through love (Romans 8:4, 13:9-10).

     5. Faith overcomes.
     We read in 1 John that if we love God we will keep His commandments. The passage goes on to show us that those who have faith, who believe in the Son of God, overcome the world (1 John 5:3-5).  It is impossible to love the world, and yet love God at the same time (1 John 2:15-16). The world will throw every temptation and trial at us with the intention of drawing our hearts away from Christ. Here is where the grave danger lies. If we are not overcoming, we are being overcome. Only the one who overcomes will inherit eternal life in the end (Rev 21:7). Once again, this is not legalism; trying to earn salvation by works. Jesus came to deliver us from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). By faith in Him, we overcome. It is by faith we win the victory over sin and temptation. It is by faith that we stand strong in the face of danger and persecution. If we do not overcome by faith in Christ, we are then ensnared once again in this present evil age. Jesus came to destroy the devil's works (1 John 3:8). By faith in Him, we walk this out in our daily lives. The one who has become aware of the depths of depravity in his unregenerate heart, will by faith, cast himself at the feet of the one who will deliver him from the power of sin, and then continue to trust in the Savior moment by moment until this life is over.

     There is so much more that one could discuss concerning faith, but I hope that this will encourage you to walk in the power and victory that God intends for each one of us, as we walk by faith in Christ Jesus.

     

     

The Prosperity of the Wicked.

     But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
                                                              Psalm 73:2-3 NASB  

Read Psalm 73:1-28

     Sometimes it seems that everyone around us is prospering, while we struggle. There are those who seem to live luxuriously, never in need of life's basic necessities, who always appear to succeed at everything they put their hand to. We may feel as if the wicked are prospering in this life in spite of their wickedness, as if God does not see. It can be easy to look at our hardships and struggles in comparison with the ease of the wicked, and say as the Psalmist did, Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence" (Psalm 73:13 NASB).

     But this Psalm goes on to show us that what may appear to us as an unfair situation is not what it seems to be. While the wicked go on in their prosperity, they are actually in a very slippery place. Their life will not always go on as it has. Just like the rich man whom Jesus described in Luke 12:16-21, life is uncertain. As this man was preparing to retire in his abundance, his life was required of him. Things may go smooth for a season for those who live apart from Christ, but it will always catch up to them one way or another. Ultimately, we will all stand before God someday, and then it will be worth it all to follow Him now. 

     As for the hard times and struggles that so many Christians seem to face, these are for our good (James 1:2-3). The writer of Hebrews encourages us with the fact that God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:5-12). Discipline is not fun to go through, but it is the means by which God keeps us close to Him. Much like a parent who lovingly corrects and disciplines a child to keep that child safe, and to train him to grow up into a godly individual, God also uses trials and testings to keep us from straying after the things of this world. It is better to face discipline, and thereby grow in grace and holiness, than to be allowed to persist in worldliness and sin, and ultimately go lost.
Psalm 73:1-28

     

Trusting God Wholeheartedly.

     Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
     In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
          Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
              James 1:5 KJV
    
                                                                           

Whole hearted trust
     What does it mean to trust in God with the whole heart? It is one thing to believe the promises we read in the word, but quite another thing to fall upon Him with an active faith when called to do so by the circumstances of life. It is easy to identify with Peter, sinking, as the wind driven waves crashed around him (Matt 14:28-31).
     James tells us that if we lack wisdom, God is more than willing to give it to us, if we will only ask. However, we must ask in faith,

     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
     For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
     A double minded man is unstable in all  his ways.
                                         James 1:6-8 KJV

     Peter was able to walk on the water, at Jesus command, as he kept his eye on Christ. When he looked at the storm around him, Jesus grew dim, and he lost his faith. Likewise, we are tossed about like waves of the sea, if we are double minded. A double minded man is a man who is not committed. This kind of person has no settled convictions or principles. He might have a half hearted commitment to Christ, but in reality, he is on the fence. It is impossible to have a living vibrant faith in Christ, if we are not surrendered to Him. This is why we see so many individuals falling apart today. They cannot trust Christ, if they do not really know Him. They are tossed about in all areas of life. Their opinions waver as the tossing sea. As the storms of life buffet them, they find it impossible to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7), and to look at what is unseen, rather than what is seen (2 Cor 4:18). 
     We are exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace for help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16), and to draw near to God with a true heart, in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). This is trusting God with all of your heart. It is to be confident in Him; that He is good; that He is dependable; that He can be taken at His word; that He desires our highest good. 
     To trust Him with all the heart implies that we mean business with God; that we are serious in our pursuit of Him. Diligence is a forgotten word nowadays, but it is something that God desires us to be. We are to be diligent, making every effort, in our knowledge of Him. This includes our trust in Him as well. Proverbs 2:1-5, gives us a good idea of what it means to seek wisdom with diligence. It involves a conscience effort to hear; to apply the heart to understanding, to cry after knowledge, to lift up the voice after understanding. a diligent effort is compared to one seeking after silver and other treasures. This is what it means to trust in the Lord with all of the heart.

Our faulty understanding
      We must forsake our own understanding, if we would truly desire to know the way of God. Take a look at Abram and Sarai (Genesis 15:1-6,  16:1-4). God had promised Abram that he would have an heir. In the natural this would seem impossible, as both Abram and his wife Sarai were past child bearing age. After a long while, Sarai, decides to take matters into her own hands, and gives her maid Haggar, to Abram as a wife. They leaned unto their own understanding, and tried to bring about the promise of God, through their own efforts. This resulted in disaster, as so often happens when we decide to do things in our own way, instead of waiting on God. I admit, it can be difficult to trust God, when things do not seem as they should be. We often face impossible situations, and feel that the odds are insurmountable, but does not Jesus tell us that if we have faith, we can move mountains (Mark 11:22-24)? When we have a promise from God, we need to cling to that by faith, and forsake our own natural reasoning, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).
    
Acknowlege Him in everything
     We often want to trust God with some things, but not everything. However, we are to acknowledge God in all of our ways. Every decision we make, every obstacle we face, every plan and purpose that we have, should be placed in God's hands, if we would want to walk in His will. James tells us that it is presumption to make plans without considering God (James 4:13-15). We often take things for granted, but we do not know what tomorrow will bring. Once again, this is often where our own understanding of things gets in the way. It is not a matter of God's plans that we will follow, and then our own plans that we will also pursue, but God is all. Too many people are guilty of merely adding Jesus to their already full lives. He says make Me all! This is what self denial is about. It is losing our lives for His sake (Mark 8:34-35).
     If we do this, trust Him with all of our heart, forsake dependence on our own understanding of things, and consider Him in every area of our lives, God promises to direct our steps. His wisdom will flood our hearts and minds, and we will find ourselves walking in His perfect will for our lives!