Christian Faith Perspectives

I recently watched a video of an Andean Condor being released back into the wild. It is one of the world’s largest flying birds with a wingspan of 10.5 feet. They soar majestically, catching thermal air currents high in the Andes Mountains.

As its minders opened the cage it cautiously stretched its massive wings and tentatively moved forward to the edge of a rocky ledge. After some hesitation it ventured out, its wings starting to move and soon it was flying again. Quickly the Condor increased in confidence and was soaring away into the distance.

There is a parallel here to negative attitudes in our lives. Our life potential is often held back, preventing us from succeeding. We need to break free from those feelings of inferiority and discover that we too can fly! The mountains of difficulty will disappear as we step out in faith, trusting God to be with us.

I personally know what it feels like to have failed and think that I didn’t have the ability to accomplish things in life and be a success. You know what, God loves people like that, and He wants to see them… to see you, doing great things!

But at some point, we do have to launch out and have a go. Yes, to give it a try! With God’s help the seemingly impossible will start to happen. With wisdom, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit we can soar and be successful.

Remember Gideon… God used him to defeat the Midianites. Gideon felt he was insignificant and not up to the task. But God saw Gideon’s potential to succeed. God simply said… “I will be with you”. That surely, is encouragement enough. As we take up some new challenge we can step out knowing God is with us!

Ref. Judges 6:16, 1 Cor. 1:26-28. NIV.

One of the most encouraging things about the Christian Church is the fact that it continues to expand. You may belong to a small gathering of believers that meet in a small building, or you may attend a mega church which has hundreds of worshippers. But we all make up and are a part of the worldwide Church.

People may question the existence of so many denominations but miss the point. Despite the differences in worship styles and structure we all make up the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not for us to question the sincerity of people who worship differently to ourselves for God looks on the heart.

So, all believers are part of this exciting ever-expanding body… THE CHURCH! The Lord Jesus said He would build his church, and nothing will be able to stop its expansion. It is built on one premise, that Jesus is the Christ, and that we are saved by our confession and belief that God raised Him from the dead.

Today we see the Christian Church spreading out in every direction. God is challenging each of us to be a part of this world evangelization process.

Ref. Is. 54:3, Matt. 16:18, Rom. 10:9-10. NIV.

Essentially… YES!

However, there is a requirement that one should be generous to others. It is good to remember that you can’t outgive God, so be rich toward others and God will be rich toward you.

There is a principle here of reciprocity where we get back what we give out. It can be negative; it can be positive. We can demonstrate acts of goodness toward others, or we can wish them nothing by our non-actions. There is a well-known Bible verse which says… “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matt.7:12 NIV.

We are not winning God’s favour by our actions, but what we do to others, influences what He does to us. In fact, God will make sure you get back what you give to others… Luke 6:38 NIV.

We can develop a generous heart, but that can be hard because we are not naturally programmed to be generous. We find it hard to let someone love us unconditionally and as a result we find it difficult to do it to others.

I had an incident that happened to me recently; for whatever reason I do not know but it was a sincere expression of love. This lady simply put her arm around me and gave me a hug… simple and sincere! It was an act which touched me ever so powerfully!

The whole premise of experiencing personal prosperity is entwined and dependent on an attitude of love. God is not responding to us as a payback for what we have done to others, but a response to our giving done in love.

Our giving should never be a compulsive requirement to earn points with God. Salvation doesn’t need our help, we are already rich spiritually and God wants to give us material riches too. Out of that abundance let’s be generous givers!

Focus and concentration is so important when aiming at a mark. Whilst we can be all over the shop when aiming at something, there is nothing more satisfying than hitting the mark. We all know the importance of accuracy in sport; goal scoring in soccer comes to mind, or amazing three-pointers in basketball…. the list goes on! The ability to hit the mark, separates the best from the rest.

I recall an incident when we were hosting a couple of very young Australian aboriginal girls. We were having fun throwing stones over a river, and when I suggested we aim at something, they hit the spot with total accuracy. Which reminds me of the Bible where it talks about soldiers using a slingshot. There were chosen marksmen who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

In our Christian lives we can lack that zeal to be the best, it is easy to take the path of least resistance rather than going into spiritual training to be better. Be it the armed services, be it elite sport or academia, intensive training and personal application is necessary to hit the mark of excellence. It is no different for Christians, for we are encouraged in the Bible to strive to be our best.

In life we should not settle for mediocrity, and we should not settle for anything less than our best as Christians. We don’t have to be a perfectionist per se but aim to be the best we can. The Lord Jesus himself encourages us to be perfect, it is that desire to develop spiritually in Him, so… AIM FOR PERFECTION!

Ref. Judges 20:16, Matt. 5:48, 2 Cor.13:11, Phil. 3:12. NIV.