-
FEATS OF FAITH!
MY last blog post was all about resting in faith… resting because we do not have to work in order to earn our salvation. For God has done it all and we only need live and enjoy His blessings. But there is still a daily faith which gets results… feats of faith!
Photo by Alexa Popovich on Pexels.com Accomplishing a feat of faith does not involve special training to do the seemingly impossible. We only need a small amount faith and with simple belief we can move mountains, (Matt. 17:20 NIV).
So, what are feats of faith? They are not necessarily dramatic type miracles but so often just the solving of those everyday problems of life. Those things that challenge us personally can often seem too hard to manage. But, to simply trust God and see the difficulty solved and dealt with is in itself a feat of faith.
All we need do is involve God with all that is happening in our lives, a sort of daily operating faith. It could be a medical problem we are experiencing… maybe an upcoming surgery. Then there are those financial needs. Or simply the guidance and help we require to see us through a time of challenge in our lives.
God is in the mountain moving business and all that is required is just a little faith on our part. Feats of faith will begin to happen!
-
Resting in faith!
Photo by Du00f3 Castle on Pexels.com We can often ask the question… what is faith? Simply, it is to rely on and trust in something or some person. But it is not meant to be a mental struggle where we tire ourselves out trying too hard to believe. Perhaps we need to stop and rest for a while.
I recall an incident in my teenage years when several of us were going for a long country bike ride. The previous evening, I stayed up late getting my bike ready for the next day’s journey. We set off early…. but after a couple of hours, I felt totally exhausted and told the others I had to stop. I then found a grassy safe spot on the roadside and slept for an hour or more before continuing.
My memory of this experience is quite vivid for I recall a feeling of total exhaustion where nothing else mattered but to stop my riding and have a REST! Today, it reminds me of how important it is to understand that there is a spiritual rest aspect to faith.
The Bible records that God rested after the creation of the heavens and the earth. Our understanding of creation is irrelevant to the fact that God RESTED on the seventh day…. who wouldn’t rest after such a creative work? The animals and the creation of man, male and female was completed on the sixth day and God then rested, (Gen. 2:1-3) NIV.
God then visited the earth for another creative work when He caused the Virgin Mary to conceive the Christ child. That work was not complete until Jesus lived, rose again and died on the cross as our sin substitute. Salvation’s work was finished.!
It is so easy to exhaust ourselves, trying to please God… who simply says… REST for the work of salvation is done.
The REST of God can perhaps be better understood if we realize that it is in fact a peaceful state, a place of rest and quiet security like a home. We all know that feeling after a long trip away… it’s so good to be home! God’s REST is part of who He is, and He shares it with us… so let us be still and enter into that REST!
Ref. Heb. 4:9-11, 10:5-10. NIV.
-
SUBMISSION
What is submission? Is it a sign of personal weakness or perhaps the secret of personal strength? I guess, at the end of the day, the crucial question is who or what are we submitting to? We can submit to the laws of the land; we can submit to legal authorities… that is not only wise, but the proper thing to do.
Submission then, can be the correct attitude for maintaining a peaceful society. Buit there is sadly an undercurrent of lawlessness where people oppose governments and authority. Where relationships break down because people try to control and dominate others.
The Bible talks a lot about submission; submitting to one another and developing attitudes of humility where we put others first and even consider them better than ourselves, (Phil. 2:3-4). This is not putting ourselves down but recognizing God as the ultimate authority to whom we should be submitting.
The interesting thing is that when we submit and develop humility before God we are blessed. The principles of headship and authority are real and to fight against them is to oppose God. So let us bend the knee again and acknowledge the headship of the Lord Jesus… learning to submit to him and one another.
As we humble ourselves under the authority and power of God our Father and His Son, grace will always flow into our lives.Ref. Prov. 3:34, 1 Peter 5:6. NIV.
-
The Christian Password
We live in a world of ever-increasing passwords which are controlling our lives. Security demands them, but life would be much simpler if we did not have to have them… and we wouldn’t get so stressed… like when we forget them!
And another aspect is the fact that the password we use always has to be spot on, or we get error messages and access is denied. But on the other hand, it is a relief when the password we use is accepted. Suddenly, the screen before us is activated and we see the app or site immediately coming to life.
As we reflect on our Christian lives we may forget or not even realize that it was necessary to have ‘the correct password’ to begin our new life in Christ. The password is none other than our Saviour’s name… the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the important part… we must confess personal faith in the Lord Jesus believing in our heart that God raised him from the dead. There is no escaping this ‘password’ for… “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12 NIV.
But the ongoing benefit is to know that the principle of the Name of Jesus works 24/7 on our behalf. The power of that Name gives each Christian immediate and constant access into God’s presence, not just for fellowship, but authority to pray. God always knows that our spiritual ‘password’ is correct.
Should you be reading this blog and not be a Christian may I suggest that all you need do is USE this ‘password’ to find the dynamics of a new life in Christ.
I have just returned from a Motel stay where the Wi-Fi Password was simply the name of the motel… nothing else was necessary. To become a Christian, you need only use the name… so call on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
The Family Connection!
The power of family is something we all experience and it gives us that sense of belonging. Our paternal and maternal links are real, that integral part of who we are as an individual.
We search records to discover our family history, then construct family trees. At the same time, we discover interesting facts about our forebears. At the end of our ancestral discoveries, we come back to the present to rediscover as it were, our own life. A life which is so uniquely now, and individually special… US!
We are not without connection; we are not in some endless orbit through a universe of emptiness. No! We belong, and its family!
Important as a human family is, there is another family…. the Christian family! The Apostle Paul in writing to believers often used the term ‘brothers’ It was not used because they were related to him in human terms, but spiritually.
There is a kinship connection we have as believers. To belong to Jesus Christ means we also belong to all the other souls that also belong to him. There is a spiritual bond that Christians feel with each other, for they are brethren.
Humanely we have siblings… brothers and sisters because we are of the same womb or parentage. Spiritually we have the same birth in Christ Jesus our Saviour; that common experience makes us family…, we are brethren.
But it gets more exciting when we consider ancestral lineage, that ability to trace a direct line back to a specific ancestor. Consider Jesus born in a manger, that special one, the Christ who we remember at Christmas time. His lineage can be traced back through many generations to Abraham. But more than this, his lineage goes still further back… and we discover it goes right back to Adam, the Son of God! (Lineage ref. Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-37. NIV.)
We may well get absorbed in our own personal family tree, and there may be some important ancestors. But our human genealogies pale into obscurity when we consider Jesus Christ, Son of Man, Son of God. Those who believe in Jesus as their Saviour are now connected by spiritual birth to his lineage.
Connection can be such a powerful thing… Jesus our Lord is connected directly to the Father. He is in the Father, and the Father is in him! Then Jesus actually says to us, that we are in him and he is in us… WHAT A CONNECTION!!
Ref. John 14:8-11, 20 & 23. NIV. -
Keep sparkling!
Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com When you think of the word sparkle… what are the first images that come to mind? Maybe a woman’s evening dress with its glistening sequins… so stunning, but more than that, the sparkling glitter affects us! Or consider one of those fireworks sparklers, it ignites, we wave it back and forth and showers of sparks fill the air. We are caught up in the dazzling display as it radiates energy.
Then we find people that seem to have a personal charisma. They always seem to have a bright happy outlook on life. They lift our spirit, affecting our psyche and we feel good. It is a personality sparkle which gives out energy vibes.
Even the Bible has something to say on this subject, (Prov.17:22). A happy, cheerful person gives out good vibes to others, it is like a healing medicine. The person with a crushed spirit has the reverse effect, not only on themselves, but others too. It dries up the bones or saps us of vitality, strength and spark.
A final word… of course there are times when we all experience sadness, but this should not be confused with having an attitude which is cheerful and rises above life’s problems. Jesus talked about this as a joy which is ours to have, and it can actually be our strength. So then… BE HAPPY & KEEP SPARKLING!
Ref. Neh. 8:10, John 15:11. NIV.
-
A Divided Heart
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com One of the most moving passages in the Bible is where Jesus tells us that he stands at the door and knocks. If we respond to that knock and open the door, he then promises to come in at our invitation, to share life together.
It is never God’s intention to discipline us for no reason… his purpose is always to deepen our relationship with him, for God wants our heart above all else! The Bible says we should rend our hearts and not our garments, (Joel 2:13) We shouldn’t punish ourselves because we have failed to give God our full devotion but to open our hearts in full surrender.
It may seem strange, but God does not want our good works however noble and sacrificial they might be. Nor does he want our self-denial or even forms of worship, regardless of how sacred they may appear. Believe it or not, all God wants is our heart, everything flows from that relationship, (Joel 2:12).
All the Lord Jesus wants, is our heart… a heart that places everything else second, to sharing life with him.
It is not God’s will to deprive us, for he wants us to enjoy life to the full!! The personal question we must ask is this… has my desire for personal pleasure and enjoyment become more important than my relationship with him?
As we open the door of our heart it is not just to share our life with Christ, but he also, begins to share his life with us!
Ref. Rev. 3:20 NIV.
-
Progressing in Christ
Photo by Kulbir on Pexels.com 
Photo by Kat Smith on Pexels.com Recently I grew some tulips in a pot… it was a new venture into the world of bulbs. It of course involved selecting a good-sized pot, adding potting mix and placing the bulbs at the right depth. Then, wait for tulips come springtime.
Springtime is that season when flowers seem to appear out of nowhere and seemingly overnight… bulbs burst forth with their colourful displays. So, I waited for my chosen bulbs to emerge. Leaves appeared, then stem and bud… watering then became very important as the bulbs were now producing their flowers.
It was not long before I noticed a tinge of colour appearing in a bud. Ever slowly but surely, a red tulip began to open. Then we enjoyed watching a yellow and another red appear. But wait a minute, I definitely remember putting in four bulbs… I could see another stem, but the bud was small and not growing.
Our Christian lives can be likened to bulbs as our spiritual beginnings are established and develop in Christ but what about that one bulb that didn’t flower? Sure, it was in the pot like the other three, time passed, but its growth stopped. Similarly, we can live life as a Christian but fail to fully develop.
God is in the business of growing us. He wants us to keep developing in Christ and to see us changing… like the tulip, perfected in shape and colour.
Ref. Romans 12:2, 2 Peter3:18 NIV.
-
Dialoguing with God.
There is an expression that has become quite popular in the political sphere and everyday life in general. It can be stated like this, ‘We need to have a conversation’. It implies that a subject or issue needs more discussion with a view to resolving the relevant aspects and determining the way forward.
As Christians we have the privilege of being able to dialogue with God at any time. Of course, we understand it as prayer… making verbal contact with God. But to have a conversation with God implies much more than the repeating of a set prayer, sincere as that may be. Personal prayer is from our heart and also involves our emotions. It is like two friends having a sincere and honest chat.
To this end, we have the Spirit of Christ to help us! The Gift of the Holy Spirit comes to establish a wonderful level of intimacy between us and our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus. As we learn to discuss all of life’s ebb and flow the Holy Spirit will give us those inner promptings, helping us to recognize God’s voice.
The Holy Spirit is of course. our teacher and is available to give us spiritual understanding. But the presence of the Spirit in our lives also reveals and makes us aware of God’s love. The Bible is clear that GOD IS LOVE! This truth is essential for helping us to draw near to our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus in prayer.
So, we come back to that word ‘dialogue” which is having a conversation through words… from the Greek dialogos, from dia ‘through’ + logos ‘word’. If there is a priority in our Christian lives, it is this… to open our hearts and have sincere prayer dialogue. Our words, like spiritual ripples will always reach heaven.
Ref. Romans 5:5, 1 Cor. 2:12, Phil. 4:6. NIV.
-
Don’t be half cooked!
Looking back on our Christian lives there are times we may well like to forget… times when we struggled with our faith, but God brought us through. But what we overlook, is the fact that God was working in our lives, developing our spiritual character.
Better to be cooked than half cooked! Better to be someone that has allowed God to work out His purposes. From time-to-time life can have difficult situations. It is important not to run away or try to escape what God is allowing to happen in our lives.
I like the comparison of baking, where it is so important to make sure that the cake is properly cooked. I recall the time when I used to bake my favourite… sultana cake! I learnt how to make sure the mixture was cooked. If not, back into the oven for a little more heat… the result of course, a fully cooked cake.
There is a similarity here with many of those life experiences we go through. Whatever the situation might be, it is important stay the course and allow God to finish what he is doing. We can take the path of least resistance and opt out or hang in there. Yes… we need patience… but it is God who is completing a work in us.
God is in the business of dealing with our attitudes, actions and activities. It is all part of the kingdom process. God is applying the fire of the Holy Spirit, to bring about holiness in our lives… changing us into the image of Christ.
Ref. Romans 8:29, 2 Cor. 3:17-18, NIV.
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Christian Faith Perspectives 