Tag Archives: live by faith

The line

 

One of the ‘Aha!’ moments in my life was when I first understood ‘The Line’ illustration outlined in Dan Stone’s book, The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out.”

 

Draw a horizontal line across the middle of a full sheet of paper, from left to right. Above the line, write the word “ETERNAL.” Below the line write the word “TEMPORAL.” Focus on this image for a moment. You’ve just started to draw a picture of 1 Corinthians 4:18…

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

 

There are two realms or realities in life: what we see and what we can’t see. This truth is basic to living the abundant life that Jesus promises. With our eyes we see the things which don’t last. But it takes eyes of faith to ‘see’ eternal things. the Spirit of Christ living in us reveals these so we can fix our eyes on them. Both realities are of God but we are to focus on the eternal realm.

 

Stone writes, “The distinction between the two realms is vital to us for three reasons:
1. God designed His kingdom to work ‘by faith.’
2. It helps us to understand our true identity ‘in Christ.’
3. God designed us so that we can find our greatest fulfillment only in the unseen eternal realm.

 

Pascal said we were created with a God-shaped vacuum that only He could fill. This is our true identity and how God sees us NOW as followers of Jesus: Spirit-filled, Whole, and Complete, redeemed already by the finished work of His Son on the cross. This is our Changeless, Timeless, Ultimate Reality. The eternal is the Unseen realm where the great “I AM” lives in us. Write these highlighted words above the line. Because our spirit is already aligned with the Holy Spirit, you could say “I am already there in the eternal realm, with the great “I AM” who lives in me. This is my true identity.”

 

But below the line is where we live for the moment. It is Time-Based and always Changing. We see the Appearances of things, not as they really are. We see ourselves not as complete but In Process. We perceive truth as physical Matter. We strive after Needs. Write these highlighted words below the line.

 

The ‘trap’ we face is that we are always trying to become better Christians instead of focusing on who we already are – in Christ. When our spirit is truly surrendered to the Spirit of God, we are fully redeemed and whole. This is hard for us to grasp because we look at ourselves as in process. We’ll never find abundant life by focusing our eyes on the temporary realm. And we can never perceive the eternal realm unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. (2 Corinthians 2:10-14)

 

Even though we know we are saved by grace, we often live like we can be made whole and sanctified by our works. Paul says it is ‘foolish’ to attempt this.

The “rest” of the gospel is in resting from trying to become who you already are in Christ and what He has already accomplished in you. It’s found in believing you are who Jesus says you are. 

 

I hope you’ll hold on to your illustration and reflect on what it says about who you already are in Christ and who He is in you. Fix your eyes on what is unseen. Live by faith.

 

 

Confidence that perseveres

 

By perseverance the snail reached the ark. – Charles Spurgeon

 

Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English channel in both directions.  Just a year after setting the world record, she attempted to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. After about 15 hours a thick fog set in. Florence began to doubt her ability, and she told her mother, who was in one of the boats that flanked her, that she didn’t think she could make it. She swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out, unable to see the coastline due to the fog. As she sat in the boat, she found out she had stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination. (Notable American women: a biographical dictionary completing the twentieth century, 2011)

 

Have you ever completely lost your confidence and given up? Maybe you were quite good at something but were surpassed by someone who was even better. Maybe someone said you will never be “good enough.” Perhaps a betrayal dissolved what confidence you had in others or even God. Maybe your health took away the skills that once bolstered your confidence. Or a grievous loss has devastated all your hope and tempted you to give up your faith.

 

Such times lead us into such a deep darkness we think no light could penetrate our grief. The book of Hebrews speaks to such a time when we are tempted to turn back on our faith and return to the hopeless ways of the world. Every time we forget God’s faithfulness, we need to “REMEMBER when you received the light that allowed you to endure suffering with hope. Don’t throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” (Hebrews 10:32-35)

 

When there is no readily apparently evidence for hope or confidence, we are called to persevere a little longer in God’s will, to reach the prize. Why? Because Christ is coming. Yes, it may seem like forever, but He is coming soon (v 36-37).

 

Two months after her failed California swim, Chadwick tried again. This time was different. The same thick fog set in, but she made it because she said that she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam. She persevered and didn’t shrink back because she kept her mind’s eye on the shore.

That is the message for you and me today. Even in our darkest hours, don’t shrink back.  Live by faith, not by sight.   For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay… “My righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:36-39)

Don’t shrink back. Watching for the light that pierces your darkness helps you to persevere. You are nearer to the heavenly shore than you realize.