Faith

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What Do You See?

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I typically start my day in our den. It’s a type of sanctuary for me in the mornings. As I began to walk into the room this morning, I noticed that the pin in one of the door hinges had begun working its way out of the hinge knuckles. I made a mental note to get a hammer and tamp the pin back into place, which is why I’m writing this account here. Both our Lord and my wife know that I’ll forget all about this bit of maintenance if I don’t write it down!

Wired to Notice

I’m wired to notice things that need maintenance. I nearly always look at the tread on our tires as I walk to get in our cars. I look at our roof when we’re pulling into our driveway. When I log in each morning, I check how much free disk space I have on my laptop’s drive. I see these things because I look for them. But if you ask me how much milk we still have or what we received in our mail, I’ll give you a blank stare. I don’t look for these things, so I don’t “see” them.

These thoughts today led me to what the apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:11 NLT where he quoted from Ps 34:12–16:

“Turn away from evil and do good.
   Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”

Searching Takes Effort

It’s striking that Peter wrote “search” for peace. We are encouraged by the Holy Spirit to search, to notice situations that need peace. Within the context of what Peter was writing about, this peace is with the people around us and with government officials. Peace is not like a door hinge or tire tread; it is more like searching for why your dishwasher is flooding your floor with water and fixing it. Often peace cannot be found without great effort.

God calls every believer to be a peacemaker. Jesus taught us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God1.” We may call ourselves God’s children, but if we want to be called children of God, we need to walk into trouble and use God’s wisdom, faith, and grace to transform trouble into peace. But we will never do this unless we are searching for peace. It’s a matter of sight.

Paraphrasing one of the times when Jesus healed a blind man:

Jesus asked the blind man, “Do you see anything?” The blind man said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly..‘’

Mark 8:22–25 NLT

Seeing Clearly

Searching for Godly peace is way beyond seeking inner peace through some sort of meditation. We are entirely unable to see clearly the situations that need peace. Even then, we cannot bring true peace into those problems without the Prince of Peace2, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, living in us. But…

Good News

The word “but” is marvelously powerful. It tells us that times and circumstances change. But, when the Prince of Peace is alive in us, we receive spiritual gift(s) from God to search for peace with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then the outcome from our searching will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ3.

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[1]: Matthew 5:9 NIV – Blessed are the peacemakers, for they – Bible Gateway
[2]: Isaiah 9:6 NIV – For to us a child is born, to us a son – Bible Gateway
[3]: 1 Peter 4:11 NLT

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Look After Each Other

By / 4 minutes of reading / , ,

One of the first events in the Bible is when God asks Adam’s son Cain the rhetorical question, “Where is Able, your brother? 1” God knew that Cain had murdered Able, but in God’s grace, He was allowing Cain to confess his sin and seek God’s forgiveness. Instead, Cain’s foolish answer was, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

Cain’s question has a clear answer – yes, you are responsible for your brother. Many mothers and grandmothers have asked similar questions to older siblings: “Where is Andy? You know it’s your job to keep an eye on your younger brother.” The term “keeper” in this context means to act as a protector or guardian.

Look After Each Other.

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

Turning back to the Bible, we find in the book of Hebrews the command, “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God2.” God’s grace saves us, and it is through His grace that we are productive citizens of His kingdom.

As believers in Christ Jesus our Lord, each of us carries a personal responsibility to be protectors of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s easy for us to build a wall around the meaning of this verse. If we narrow down this verse’s significance to solely spiritual aspects, we can claim that we have done everything in our power to safeguard our fellow believers from missing out on the grace of God. But how can others tell if we have? 

It may be difficult for believers to know that we failed God’s command, but we know, just as Cain knew his brother was dead. You and I have the responsibility to help fellow believers from falling back into worldliness; that’s not an easy job. 

Real Faith Produces Real Actions.

A 20th-century Chinese Christian and martyr said, “When two Christians happen to meet, their time together should be a time of mutual refreshing.” We should be a blessing to fellow believers, as they should be to us. When we part company, we both should be strengthened in our relationship with Jesus and in our determination to produce good deeds to show our faith in God to ourselves and others.

“What kind of faith is saving faith? James’s question3 is rhetorical; the obvious answer is that faith without works cannot save. Faith that yields no deeds is not saving faith. The New Testament does not teach justification by the profession of faith or the claim to faith; it teaches justification by the possession of true faith.”

R.C. Sproul

What Are Good Deeds?

You may ask, “What good deeds can I do to show true faith in Jesus?” This starts with encouraging fellow believers to stay faithful to their calling. Remind Christians that are going through a rough patch in their lives what Peter wrote: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you4.”

We should be more generous than any unbeliever and love more sincerely than all nonbelievers. In our conversations, we should have the mindset of elevating Jesus instead of ourselves. We need to speak about the mercy and grace that God has made available to humanity through Jesus, the only true Savior. 

Don’t Come Empty Handed.

When our day comes to stand before Jesus and explain what we did with the life He gave us5, we should be ready to tell of things Jesus did through our faith in Him. “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works6.” Therefore, in this life, we give by faith, help by faith, pray by faith, suffer by faith, encourage by faith, defend the Gospel by faith, do the impossible by faith. 

Our Calling

Jesus, God’s Messiah, calls us to do what Cain failed to do. We must be our brothers and sisters’ keepers.

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[1]: Genesis 4:9 ESV
[2]:Hebrews 12:15 NLT
[3]: James 2:14 NLT
[4]: 1 Peter 5:10 ESV
[5]: Romans 14:12
[6]: James 2:26 NLT

See

By / 2 minutes of reading / , , , , ,

Currently, I’m in the midst of a tornado. Not a windstorm, but a manmade one; I’m that man. As a side project, I’m designing some electronics and software for one of my sons. This is a radical departure from my typical, sedate office environment. It’s causing me to learn new things, which is good but rough on this old brain of mine.

A few days ago, my 3D printer arrived, and from the moment I flipped the power on, my world became a tornado; it’s not gone well. After many frustrating hours, I still couldn’t get it to work correctly. (still doesn’t). But I realized I needed to “cool my jets” and watch and see what that beast was doing.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

Often, our lives are human-made tornados as we juggle dozens of urgent demands on our time. We may even allow our tornados to expand into destructive vortexes that carry us to a point where we fail to see what God is showing us. Instead, we watch our lives play out, numbed by demands and needs.

God is a jealous God1. Ten of our top ten priorities belong to God. Yesterday, I became so busy watching that 3D printer that I didn’t respond to a priority of God’s. Today is too late, and that hurts. Jesus said:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

Christ’s command to seek is not a one-and-done action. Seeking God’s kingdom is our way of life as Christians. We can get so busy “doing” that we don’t see God’s answers to our prayers. Our hearts may belong to Jesus, but the cares of this world draw our attention away from Him2. Our hearts become distant from God, not because He has moved from us but because we are not seeing; we are only watching.

I pray that you allow yourself to see, to look through the grey windstorm you’re in, and see God’s extraordinary will at work in your life and rest in God. And I pray that you “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;” (Isaiah 55:6)”.

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1: Exodus 34:14
2: Matt 6:25–26

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Us, Not They

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As I was praying this morning, I noticed I was praying as if I was somehow separate from the people I was praying for. I had built a mental fence between them and me. I was praying “they” when the Holy Spirit wanted me to pray “us.”

My thinking was wrong because I recognized them as generic believers in Christ Jesus. I understood a small part of their struggle, so I carried their need to our Father. And I was confident that the Holy Spirit had led me to pray for them in the name of Jesus. That was proper and good, but I saw their problem incorrectly; my thinking was wrong. Now I understand that “us” is an object pronoun while “they” is a generic third-person pronoun, so why was I praying for generic Christians?

God stopped me and corrected me. He does that for those He loves (Hebrews 12:5–7). Within the Body of Christ, we are all brothers and sisters. We are blood relatives by Jesus’ shed blood. Like our bodies, there are many members in Christ’s Body, and they aren’t all the same. We have many parts: eyes, ears, heart, liver, and so forth.

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

Shaquille O’Neal is 7’ 1″, so his nose is a long way from his toes, yet both are members of the same body. All believers in Christ Jesus are blood relatives; only distance separates us. When we consider Christ’s Body, it’s a long way from Indiana to Hunan Province in China, yet Christ’s Body is in that province and Indiana.

If I talk with someone about a family member, I say “we” or us,“ not ”them“ or ”they.“ If asked if there are other Christians on my dad’s side of the family, my answer would be, ”In my family, we have many believers in Christ. God has blessed us with many who are pastors or missionaries.“ Our hearts and minds need to say ”us,“ not ”they.”

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Faith Is Expressed in Love

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When I was a young Christian, more than once, I’d hear someone in our local church, complain that so-and-so was so heavenly-minded that they were no earthly good. In those early years, I learned to identify people that had ignored the admonition from James,

“Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

James 2:18

Expressed Faith

Something didn’t feel right when I heard those comments. Well, that was because I was ignoring 1 John 4:20-21 NLT, “if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see.”

This leads me to today’s thought, found in Galatians 5:6b NLT, “What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” The answer to thousands of questions about faith is found in those few words.

When asked the question, “What should you be doing with your life?” most people think of occupations, some think of recreation, and a few think of some sort of ministry.” I’ll hazard a guess that only a handful would reply, “I want to allow the faith God has given me to be expressed in my love.” But faith expressed through love is the right answer and the most difficult answer.

Good News

Because we were born in sin, people are wired to harshly judge people and live faithless lives. But we left this way of life behind when, in Christ Jesus, we entered God’s kingdom. I pray that we all remember that if we can’t love someone we see, how can we expect to love God, whom we’ve never seen? And what greater good can come from our faith than to allow our faith to express itself in love? My prayer for all of us is that we are so heavenly-minded that we are of immense earthly good.

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

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Steep Mountain Road

Practical Faith

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In the opening paragraphs of 2nd Corinthians, the Apostle Paul tells us something surprising. Here’s what he wrote:

“8 We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die.” 

2 Corinthians 1:8–9a NLT

Practical Faith

We would have lost much of the New Testament if Paul had died. But God brought them through what appeared to Paul and his companions as certain death. We may be tempted to discount Paul’s statement since he is an Apostle, but we would miss God’s message for us. We find God’s intent in the following verses.

“9 But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again.” 

11 “And you are helping us by praying for us.” 

2 Corinthians 1:9b–11 NLT

Paul found God to be reliable. This is practical faith. It’s easy for us to pray and trust God to help the orphans in Syria, but when it comes to our life-or-death situations, we quickly find out how well we’ve learned to trust God for immediate and practical matters. 

My Telephone Poll Story

Once, when I was a missionary in Eastern Europe, I was in the back seat of a very old Mercedes Benz full of people. The driver had little experience driving, but he decided to drive up a small mountain to get a telephone pole-sized log.

We strapped it to the roof of his car. As I sat down in the backseat, I had a bad feeling about this adventure. The Holy Spirit often prepares me for bad situations. Oh, I forgot to tell you the car had a manual shift (stick shift) transmission. Our driver started the car and immediately began going backward – he put the car in reverse – and he didn’t stop!

As the car sped faster and faster in reverse, we passengers began yelling instructions. Our frantic instructions accomplished one thing; the car stalled. This might have been good, but the driver held down the clutch while trying to start the vehicle.

So, as we free-wheeled down the side of a mountain, backward, with a telephone pole strapped to the roof and passengers screaming in multiple languages, my trust in God didn’t waiver; the driver was another matter!

We had picked up quite a bit of speed as we rapidly approached a jam-packed highway. Oh, the road was on the side of a high mountain. The lane we needed to end up in was the one that would take us down the mountain to a small village at the bottom. 

It was as if we were in a 1930s Laural and Hardy movie. Cars were whizzing down the highway while we bumped and bounced toward it. And just like in the film, a gap opened right when we sprung upon the pavement. Thankfully, the driver steered us, so the front of the car pointed down the mountain.

Praying for Others

Sitting in a dead car on a busy highway is not the time to learn how to pray. It’s time to pray. We made it to the village – that’s another story – and we all lived to tell our versions of what happened.

For me, the most important verse in today’s Scripture is verse eleven: “And you are helping us by praying for us.” Praying is very practical; it is based on practical faith. When we pray for the orphans in Syria, God hears us, and with the measure of faith we have, He measures out His help. You see, God answers our prayers, no matter how small or far away the need is. So when it comes to practical faith, remember this verse:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Philippians 4:6

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Ashes

By / 3 minutes of reading / , , ,

Autumn

Here in the mid-west, we have begun the marvel we call autumn. Fall’s colors delight us with this season’s beauty – indeed, a grace from God. The thrum of cicadas has diminished, leaves are bursting forth in glorious hues, lawns are descending into their golden slumber, and majestic trees reveal their own beauty as they shed their canopies.

With the onset of fall, the folks that live in the country will soon be recreating their annual ritual. Their raking and building of leaf piles culminating in multi-hued leaves of every possible color burned in countless fires that blanket the whole of our country’s mid-west. We may be considered “fly-over” country, but when it comes to autumn, our land is surely the best dressed.

Conception

Thinking about the piles of ashes as a kind of door between summer and winter, I began thinking about the post I wrote titled “Some Lessons Hurt.” I thought that topic was in my writer’s rearview mirror; I think God disagreed. The last sentence in that post read: “Nevertheless, the ashes of our hopes and dreams are the ashes of the door God opens for us; some lessons hurt.” This morning I felt like I needed to swing my hammer one more time on that nail.

Think back to when you first accepted Jesus as your personal Savior. At that moment, it was just Jesus and you. I think it must be like conception; suddenly, there is life in you. God gave you a new beginning. For most of us, we didn’t think it was possible to have a second beginning. We had royally messed up our first beginning, and we carried the reward from each sin we committed. That was a heavy burden. But Jesus gave us a new start with new hopes and dreams.

O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Psalm 40:5 NLT

Ashes

So, you’ve been a Christian for a while. It’s likely that you’ve allowed some of those old hopes and dreams to grow inside you. But what you don’t know is what God planned for you. You don’t know how close you are to what you have prayed for. You may discover that your dream is the door that is blocking your access to God’s vision for you. Only by burning down the door can you enter God’s plan for you. The ashes of your hopes and dreams may be the ashes from the door that God opens for you. In your life, let God be God.

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Only By Faith

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I seem to keep coming back to the topic of faith. I try to span the full spectrum of God’s Word, but God keeps pulling me back to faith.

Emotion, Logic, Faith

Every decision to buy a product or service is made by emotion, justified by logic, and transformed into a purchase by faith. This rule is the way the world works. Let’s use Mr. Clean® as an example.

A commercial interrupts our video. It’s Mr. Clean! He’s burley, and his earring sparkles from his sheer cleanness rather than your glitter from the party you attended the night before. He stirs your emotions; clean is possible! You crave clean; you crave sparkle. – This is the emotion.

Next, you look at your kitchen and conclude that there is no way to make it clean, let alone sparkle; you need help! You have seen Mr. Clean demonstrate that everything he touches becomes clean and sparkly. – This is the logic…sort of.

Finally, you make the transaction; you buy a container of Mr. Clean. By faith, you have purchased something you’ve never tried. – This is faith.

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are…There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

Romans 3:22,30

You Can Hear God Now

Faith in God is the bridge from this world we discern through our five senses to the spirit, to God’s exclusive domain. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)” God always hears everyone, but until Jesus makes our spirit alive, we cannot connect with God.

Yesterday, I talked with a Christian brother who said, “You know, a person can know everything in the Bible and still go to hell. We must believe in Jesus.” That’s the mystery about faith. Faith is a bridge; it is how flesh connects to spirit. Faith is that bridge that crosses the chasm. It is the way we cross over from death to life in Jesus Christ.

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.“

Hebrews 11:6

Faith Enables Us to Know What We Do Not See

God has given every one of us some faith. It’s like cash in our bank account. We can live our entire life and die without ever pulling out our debit card and using our faith to receive salvation. We die having faith available to receive Christ’s salvation but remain God’s condemned criminal. It’s like falling out of an airplane with a parachute but never pulling the ripcord.

Faith enables us to know what we do not see. First, for salvation, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9) Then for life in the kingdom of God. “…encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said.” (Acts 14:22)

Good News

We have been reborn by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, and that same faith remains with us as we pray, do good deeds, and learn how to live in God’s kingdom. We have an unimaginable, eternal future with the King of kings and Lord of lords throughout eternity. And it starts with the simple act of placing the faith God gave us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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Digging for the Truth

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Don’t allow Christianity to hide Jesus. We have nearly an unending list of doctrines, beliefs, proofs, prayers, ideology, philosophy, and all manner of jargon that fills the box of Christianity, but where is Jesus?

The Thief on the Cross

To borrow one point from my pastor’s recent sermon, the thief on the cross, next to Jesus, only knew Jesus. He had no baptism card, no letter of transfer, no catechism, no church affiliation, and no documents or witnesses that attested to his Christianity. The thief knew none of these and confessed that he deserved crucifixion, but right there, while Jesus was in the middle of fulfilling God’s plan, a plan that stretched back before Creation, Jesus took the time to save a person that trusted Him (Luke 23:39–43). That’s who Jesus is, and that’s what salvation is about.

Digging for the Truth

Man’s dogmas or doctrines don’t hamper Jesus. Jesus is looking for people that are looking for Him, even if they don’t know it. Salvation is a very personal event, unique to each person, yet universally the same in its results.

This site’s motto is “Digging for the Truth.” I started this website to dig through the traditions of Christianity, much like the Pharicitical traditions, with the intent of helping us find Jesus. Salvation isn’t complicated (Romans 10:9–10), and neither is living for Jesus (Matthew 11:28–30)). We make the Christian life burdensome; we heap doctrines, decrees, and dogmatic declarations upon individuals, local churches, and denominations.

Just Save My Life

A medical doctor could tell a seriously injured man how each instrument works, how the procedures are performed, and what the protocols are, but the injured man wants the doctor to save his life. How is that different from Christ’s salvation? A person that finds Jesus can be saved without knowing Ephesians 2:8–9. This passage explains how God saves, but a dying man or woman simply needs to ask, as the Philippian jailor asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30)” When you’re dying, the “what must I do” is important; the how can be learned later.

We have the Bible and innumerable commentaries, Bible studies, Christian dictionaries, history books, podcasts, statements of faith, creeds, and videos to help us grow and be transformed. These all have their rightful place. But still, our eternal life depends upon Jesus knowing us and us knowing Him. Jesus said that at the judgment, He will say to people, “Depart from me for I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23)

Our Life is All About Jesus

Cultivating our relationship with Jesus is what our salvation is for. Daily, take time to talk with Jesus Christ our Lord. If we fail to nurture a living relationship with Jesus, then we are lost, and condemnation remains upon us; no amount of Christian academic education can save us.

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epoxy glue

The Epoxy Glue of Salvation

By / 2 minutes of reading / , ,

Have you ever thought of your faith as a rugged trapper living in Alaska? There is a fascinating footnote in the 1599 Geneva Study Bible (yes, there was a study Bible back then). The footnote is about John 5:24. Here’s the footnote:

The Father is not worshipped except by his Son’s word apprehended by faith, which is the only way that leads to eternal life.

1599 Geneva Study Bible

Just a trapper captures his food, so we capture (apprehend) Christ’s Gospel. A better example might be epoxy glue.

Bonding ourselves to God’s eternal life requires two parts. It requires the grace revealed in Christ’s message and our faith in God’s promise of salvation. Anyone can hear the words of Jesus without receiving eternal life. And anyone can say they have faith in God but if that person has no works to verify that faith, then they remain lost. Only when our faith seizes Christ’s words do we acquire eternal life. It’s like epoxy glue; it requires two parts.

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

– John 5:24

Here we read about the two parts. Salvation only comes by listening and believing. We listen to know Jesus’ promise of salvation and we believe (placing our faith in God) do we pass from a condemned person waiting for their eternal incarceration to a person that has passed from death to eternal life in Christ Jesus.

By Taktoa – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, accessed on July 7, 2022

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