Tag Archives: Living faith

How I deny my faith every day

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One of you will betray me. That’s what Jesus said to his closest followers in the upper room. It immediately caused a stir in the hearts of most. “Is it I?” they asked. Peter professed he would never deny Jesus, yet he did three times in one evening. And we do too, you and I. We deny our faith – daily.

 

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul describes how real believers are to live with respect to others. It’s a call for self-examination for each of us. Do we:

Lift up and honor older men and women as our fathers and mothers? Or do we ignore them or mock them?

Treat younger men and women as our sisters, with purity and respect? Or do we look down on them?

Give proper recognition to widows and respond to their real needs? Or do we ignore them?

Practice real “religion” by caring for our families? Or are we so busy helping everyone else we ignore those closest to us?

Not caring for others is “to deny the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (v8)

 

We deny our faith every time we honor and serve ourselves before others. Every time we believe lies about life being all for us and our comfort, we deny our faith. We deny our faith when we lift up sports idols and influential leaders, eager to memorize statistics and fill our minds with all sorts of trivia, yet are reluctant to dwell on God’s Word. We deny our faith when we gossip and slander, when we show favoritism, and when we ignore the needs of those around us because we are too busy to notice. We deny our faith when our allegiance to worldly organizations comes before allegiance to God. We deny our faith when we fail to set up boundaries that keep our thinking and behaviors pure. We deny our faith every time we decide to worry and fret instead of turning to God’s Word and trusting him.

 

If you’re feeling a bit uncomfortable with this, so am I. I fall short every day. The bible is an offensive book. It offends my sense of pride and self-righteousness. But the point of this wonderfully offensive word is not to shame us or condemn us to judgment. The intent is for us to recognize our wayward ways and turn back to God. The point is to open our eyes in the middle of our daily busyness and struggles and look to Jesus. The point is to turn from a life that pays lip service to our faith an hour a week or a few minutes each day and instead to be transformed by the life-changing power of God to live each day fully awake, fully alive, and focused on affirming the faith in what we truly believe and how we act.

 

The opposite of denying faith is to affirm it. Believe it and act as if you believe it. Instead of despair, choose hope. Instead of tearing others down, let your faith build them up. Faith doesn’t give in to worry; it stands firm in God’s promises. Faith isn’t blind; it’s living with eyes wide open to all God is ready to reveal to you today – about himself, about your life, and about how you invest yourself in others to accomplish his plan.

 

We aren’t destined to a faithless life. We aren’t shackled to a half-hearted faith. Today is the day to take a stand, make a commitment to take God at his Word, and to learn what that Word says about everything you think about…everything that fuels your ambitions and everything that causes you to fear.

 

Yes, the bad news is there are many ways we deny our faith. But the really good news is that God’s Spirit in us is always speaking truth and encouraging us to take a stand and affirm our faith in the daily choices we make. Let’s take God at his Word today and let our faith be real.

All about you?

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“It’s all about you!”

 

That’s the message which constantly bombards us. Advertising, politics, and too many false preachers tell us ‘you’re worth it, go for the gusto, get what you want, you deserve to live in comfort.’  If we’re honest with ourselves many of our prayer habits might resemble this. We want it all, right now, just the way we like it, and with little cost.  But this falls in dark contrast to what God’s Word says. Yes, He wants the very best for you. But his best is often so very different from our desires.

 

Consider Hebrews 11, the story of faith giants like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, and other faithful martyrs who were persecuted, flogged, sawed in half, and killed by the sword. So great were the martyrs of the faith that “the world was not worthy of them”. “They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. THESE were commended for their faith, yet NONE OF THEM received what they had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (v 38-40)

 

Wow. Stack that truth up against the name it and claim it prosperity gospels. The truth is, it’s not all about us. It’s not about our worldly desires and ambitions and goals. It’s certainly not about lifelong efforts, however godly they may seem. For the followers of Jesus, it is simply about maintaining the faith that does God’s will. And that we can only do by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

What does this look like? In Hebrews 12 it’s the vigilant and persistent race; a relay race started by the great men and women of faith before us and continued by those who follow us. It’s a race run untangled by worldly passions. Faith runners have their eyes completely fixed on Jesus, their prize, not the spectators. It’s about “enduring hardship as a discipline”, not comfort as a luxury. It’s about living in peace with others, not constantly squabbling over trivial matters. It’s about being holy, the goal of our Christian life. Not some ‘holier than thou’ pious life, but simply and profoundly being set apart for God and nothing else. It is believing we are citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Isn’t that what you desire?

 

In Hebrews 13 it’s persistently loving one another, honoring our marriages, being content with what you have. It is about imitating the faith of faithful leaders, not idolatrous celebrity personalities and sports stars. It’s about fidelity to God’s truth and not being carried away by all sort of false teaching. It’s about experiencing strength in God’s sufficient grace. Instead of fighting to achieve our personal goals, it’s about finding the peace that equips us for doing God’s will.

 

It’s not easy in my daily fight and I’m sure it’s not easy in yours either. But it’s possible. What if we lived today in the truth that it’s not all about us?  What would happen if peace guarded your heart and mind instead of it being filled with fear and despair? How would it impact your family, your church and your community to live in the confidence that God answers His promises when it is best for us – even if that best is after we leave this earth? Would that be enough for you?

 

Let’s aim higher today, beyond ourselves.

 

 

A new name

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Periodically, God gave his people new names. For example he renamed Abram, Abraham. Likewise, he gave the new name of Sarah to Abraham’s wife, Sarai. Jacob became Israel. Jesus renamed Simon to be Peter or Cephas, “the rock.” Why did God change their names? It seems that usually it was accompanied with a new identity for that person. It could be that you were named for a purpose, that your name represents the deeper hopes and aspirations your parents had for you at the time of your birth.

Take a moment to reflect on how you have grown in your relationship with God over the years and to consider the years you have remaining. Do you sense God calling you in a new direction or to the same path with greater devotion? What ‘new name’ do you sense God might bestow upon you to represent your remaining years on this earth, or at least the next chapter of your life? Might it be Faithful One, Steadfast Warrior, or The Man/Woman of Prayer? Might it be simply, yet magnificently, Child of God, The One Who Sees, Patience, or Student of the Word? Perhaps Counselor, Teacher, Peacemaker, Persevering One, or Light of the World. (The truth is Jesus called all his followers to be the light of the world.)

As you reflect on your life accomplishments and the character for which you are known, perhaps it is time to take on a new name. I’m not suggesting you go to the courthouse and fill out new identity papers. But consider the name (the character) that God is calling you to be. It may not be to DO more things, but it likely will have to do much with who you are called to BE. This ‘name’ has great meaning. If it is given to you by God, your new ‘name’ will define who you are called to be in Christ. It may be the new name you are given in heaven.

“…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:20b

Do What Jesus Said: Don’t Judge Others

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“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. ” — Matthew 7:1-5

With Jesus, everything comes back to love. The bible tells us that when we live in alignment with His Spirit we will receive His character, and the first listed is love. Have you noticed how it is pretty easy to be judgmental about people we don’t love and pretty hard to love people and keep that judgmental spirit?

I’m painfully aware of my capacity for criticizing others. But when I remove the “log” from my own eye, the “speck” in my neighbor’s eye takes on a whole new perspective. Being mindful of our own shortcomings should automatically remove us from the position of judging others. Jesus commands us to NOT judge others.

How will the world see the Light of the gospel if we don’t do what Jesus said? Wouldn’t it be better if we just did what Jesus said and clean up our own prideful house before we try to tell others how to clean theirs?

Doing What Jesus Said: Love Your Enemies

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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you….” Matthew 5:43-44

I get it. We all have differences with each other: politics, belief, life, death, taxes. It seems there is nothing that someone doesn’t disagree with. (I’m pretty sure practicing “love God – love others” would whittle down that list.) We hate our enemies but Jesus calls us to love them and pray for them.

And why don’t we do this? I suspect it is part because we don’t really believe in the power of prayer to change people. I wonder also how much our prideful self, and our intensive desire to be right about things, is at the heart of our disbelief and lack of love. Maybe we just don’t care what Jesus says because we love our “causes” more than we love to do what He says!

I do know one thing that is always counterproductive to love, and that is making fun of people, especially our enemies. Jesus NEVER EVER made fun of people, not even His enemies who persecuted Him and had Him on their death list. Disagree. Call them out. But true followers of Christ, at least, have no right making fun of their enemies. Far from it. We are called to love and pray, not ridicule.

Want to change the world? Let’s live out what Jesus says and stop sending emails making fun of people we disagree with. Let’s be adults. Let’s humble ourselves. And let’s pray for those we don’t like, those we disagree with, those who have hurt us. Let’s believe that prayer is powerful to change others, and to change our own prideful heart.

Doing What Jesus Said: Love God – Love Others

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“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
—Matthew 22:34-40

Love God. Love others. Jesus sums up all the law in these two sentences. Pretty easy to memorize, eh? Every time we see the sign of the cross, we are reminded of this. The vertical beam represents our relationship with God (however strong or weak it is). The horizontal beam represents our relationship with others in this world. Every day when we get up and check our to-do list, we have two assignments: love God. love others. Why do we make it so hard to follow Christ and to do what we were created to do?

Talk about bringing light to the dark world. If every day we acted out just this one passage from all the bible we would literally change the world…and ourselves.

But we are quite unable to do this in our own power, especially while we remain so in love with ourselves, our possessions, and our hobbies. The power comes from loving God. And just like any relationship, loving God starts with spending time with Him, learning about Him by reading His Word (gospel of John is a good start), and just talking to Him about what’s on your mind and in your heart. Be honest with Him (He knows everything about you, you know). And He loves you so much.

Our ability to love others is dynamically impacted by our love relationship with God. Loving God allows us to love others. Put something down and spend time with God. Changing the world starts by being changed within by your loving Creator.

Faith and Numbers

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One of the things I have noticed about myself in this walk with Leukemia is how much I pay attention to my daily numbers. (I know, some of you who know how God wired me are saying, “Duh!”) Everyday, at 4:00 a.m., the nurses draw my blood and every morning the doctor stops by to check on me and review how my blood counts are going. These counts determine whether I need more transfusions or not. They indicate how the chemo is doing destroying my blood cells (good and bad), and how my body is doing at producing new (hopefully just good) blood cells. (They also tell me when I get to go home!) There is nothing wrong with being aware of the daily numbers or the statistics about the difficulty of this battle. But the tendency to use these to predict how well I will do, or when I will get better is sometimes strong…even if ultimately of little value. It is a classic case of a personal strength actually at times becoming a weakness. As Steve Rabedeaux keenly reminded me, medical statistics are pretty insignificant compared with the plan of God.

We know that God wants us to trust Him and we should know that His plan is immensely wiser than ours. But as nurse Marci said in a conversation about this, none of us have it all together all the time. We are, she says, a “hot mess.”

Trusting God is not that the same thing as being ignorant, or indulging ourselves and then crying out to God in our time of need. We are urged to “count the costs” before starting a project (Luke 14:28). The story of Joseph cautions us to make preparation and save during good times to prepare for the lean times (Genesis 41). But we are also taught that God is strong in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that our ‘wisdom’ is “foolishness” to God (1 Corinthians 3:19).

In Judges chapter 7, God tells Gideon to reduce his army from 32,000 fighting men to just 300 who are faithful and diligent. And their task was to fight against 120,000 enemy soldiers! Such ridiculous odds were sure to reveal that the battle’s victory would belong entirely to God alone, not men.

There is a distinct difference between knowing about faith and living it. Ultimately, I completely trust God with the outcome of this cancer. But one of the lessons I am continuing to learn is how much I need Jesus to show me the way to live out my faith moment by moment.

Numbers can be related to health, finances, weather forecasts, job security, house cleaning, friendships, and so much more. How do you balance faith and numbers in your life?

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7