Faith, God's greatest gift
Faith sees God. That might sound odd, but, faith, as a gift of God, is out of our control. It controls us, not us it since the Holy Spirit is the giver of faith and He controls us and not us Him.
All we can do to get that gift is to comply with the requirements of a relationship. Then faith happens naturally and automatically. Those requirements are: find someone trustworthy and talk to Him, listen to Him, and go places and do things together with Him. Do that and faith comes and takes over because the Holy Spirit can work in the environment of purposed communication.
Many people have been doing that, to a certain degree—even non-believers! And to the degree that we strive in those four “doables” our faith has budded and blossomed like Aaron’s rod (Num. 17:8). Those four things are “doables” because so many well-meaning Christians and moralists of every persuasion have thought that they should strive to overcome their sins. This doesn’t work, thus is not doable. If you want righteousness and peace and health, you can never find if by stamping out your sins; it comes only with a warm friendship with Jesus. This is suffering and sacrificing in the right way. Its what Jesus meant when He said, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. 9:12,13).
He doesn’t ask us to sacrifice by sweating and wrestling with sin. He’s the only one who can safely handle sin without it infecting Him. Our wrestling with sins only gives us self-gratification and then boasting; or we fail and get frustrated and filled with beleaguring discouragement. And if someone comes along and says we are fighting the wrong battle, we get furious, after all the misery we’ve endured trying to deny our deep love for sin.
How could Jesus be the only one to handle sin without being infected by it? His infinitely close connection with His Father. He lived every moment in the bosom of His Father’s love, and that kept Him fully armored with a Kevlar loyalty to His Father’s Law. Satan’s biggest cruise missiles couldn’t penetrate Christ’s faith and love from His Father. And what Jesus had from His Father, we can have from Jesus. And we must or we’re doomed. God left Satan and his hosts in this world to ensure no lackadaisical effort in His people when it comes to fleeing the destructive effects of sin. Because of Satan, we must fear God and give Him glory through responding to His mercy which will empower us to obedience to His laws.
Faith works.
All we can do to get that gift is to comply with the requirements of a relationship. Then faith happens naturally and automatically. Those requirements are: find someone trustworthy and talk to Him, listen to Him, and go places and do things together with Him. Do that and faith comes and takes over because the Holy Spirit can work in the environment of purposed communication.
Many people have been doing that, to a certain degree—even non-believers! And to the degree that we strive in those four “doables” our faith has budded and blossomed like Aaron’s rod (Num. 17:8). Those four things are “doables” because so many well-meaning Christians and moralists of every persuasion have thought that they should strive to overcome their sins. This doesn’t work, thus is not doable. If you want righteousness and peace and health, you can never find if by stamping out your sins; it comes only with a warm friendship with Jesus. This is suffering and sacrificing in the right way. Its what Jesus meant when He said, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. 9:12,13).
He doesn’t ask us to sacrifice by sweating and wrestling with sin. He’s the only one who can safely handle sin without it infecting Him. Our wrestling with sins only gives us self-gratification and then boasting; or we fail and get frustrated and filled with beleaguring discouragement. And if someone comes along and says we are fighting the wrong battle, we get furious, after all the misery we’ve endured trying to deny our deep love for sin.
How could Jesus be the only one to handle sin without being infected by it? His infinitely close connection with His Father. He lived every moment in the bosom of His Father’s love, and that kept Him fully armored with a Kevlar loyalty to His Father’s Law. Satan’s biggest cruise missiles couldn’t penetrate Christ’s faith and love from His Father. And what Jesus had from His Father, we can have from Jesus. And we must or we’re doomed. God left Satan and his hosts in this world to ensure no lackadaisical effort in His people when it comes to fleeing the destructive effects of sin. Because of Satan, we must fear God and give Him glory through responding to His mercy which will empower us to obedience to His laws.
Faith works.
posted by David | 6:42 AM
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