Thursday 29 November 2012

Overcoming Faith


"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Joh 16:33

Jesus had overcoming faith and He calls us to overcoming faith too.  Like a boxer in the ring, the game is not over until one of the opponents doesn't get up anymore.  Jesus understood that trials and tribulations, that left hook, would come as we do have an opponent (adversary)( 1 Pet 5:8) who wants to defeat us, discourage us or disappoint us.  Jesus, Himself, had some bouts with the enemy in the ring but remained always the Victor.  We may take a blow, but we need to get up again and again.

Luke 4 tells us Jesus was "full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit".  This is one key for us to have overcoming faith as scripture admonishes us to be continually filled.  (Eph 5:18)  We need to walk in the Spirit so we won't fulfil the lusts of the flesh, leaning on the Holy Spirit's power within us. (Gal 5:16)  Lust is very destructive and totally opposed to the desires of the Holy Spirit.  Lust is idolatry, desiring something so much we place it in front of God, forsaking His desire for us.  The devil tempted Jesus with the lust of the eyes by showing Him, in a moment of time, all the Kingdoms of the earth.  "Come on Jesus, look at all this magnificent beauty you can rule over, all of it yours, if you bow down before me."  If, that's the operative word! The "if" promises much but delivers nothing. Just once, do it just once.  Fleeting pleasures, the stolen moment! It satisfies temporarily but then brings pain and broken relationship, guilt and shame.  How many illicit love affairs have opened up a wave of untold misery and widespread hurt?  It shakes the very core of a family unit and its destruction is long-lived unless healing comes through the mercy of God's Hand.

The Amplified version of Luke 4 says that Jesus was tried, tested exceedingly. For forty days He ate nothing and was hungry.  satan challenged Jesus "if you are the Son of  God command this stone to turn into bread."  satan challenged Christ's identity.  He knew who Jesus was, but at a time of great physical discomfort and need questioned Him in an effort to force evidence, proof of who He was.  I believe that this is another key to overcoming faith, our identity, who we are in Christ.  If we know we are children of God, we are more likely to act like children of God.  Knowing the price God and Jesus paid for us to be adopted into the Kingdom as children keeps us in love with the Saviour and humble.  Being rooted and grounded in His Love compels us to want to please Him and love others.  Meditating on His Love helps us respond to Him more and more.  But as Jesus said, "Man cannot live on bread alone but by every word of God."(Luke 4:4)  The key to finding our identity is in the Word of God, which is another one of the keys to overcoming faith.  We must study God's word to know how to overcome.  Even as Jesus brought the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit" against satan's accusations and demands, so must we.  "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." (1 Jn 5:4) 

Faith is built on the promises of God's Word and the knowledge of His character.  This is how God reveals Himself to us, through His Word.  It is no wonder that satan attacks the Word with everything he can.  No wonder over the course of history, the bible has been banned, burnt and attacked and branded as only a bunch of stories.  Jesus used the Word against all the wiles of the devil.  The Word is our offensive weapon against the kingdom of darkness and it is the revealer of the wickedness that rules in our flesh.  The Bible shows us what in our hearts – gets to the very core of our motives.  When we see ourselves in the "mirror" of the Word we will repent.  When we understand how God sees us "pre-conversion", evil, wicked, sons of the devil, sinners and yet still in this state, He came to die for us, we can understand the depth of His Mercy and unconditional Love for us.  That He desired relationship with us is phenomenal.  That God gave His only begotten Son for us, has to be the greatest love story of all time.  Jesus said that "those who mourn will be comforted."  When we understand the truth and repent, He comforts us with restoration, forgiveness, mercy and puts us in the right relationship with Himself.  WOW!  That is life changing Truth.  The devil has no defence against the truth, so he, being the father of lies, deceives us into believing the opposite of what God has said.  We are defeated when we choose to believe a lie over the Truth.  This also affects our worship, which is another key to overcoming faith.

satan wanted Christ's worship.  God deserves our worship but will not force any to worship Him. satan wants worship because he wants to be God.  This is the pride that led to his eviction from heaven, wanting to be exulted over God.  satan promises fame, fortune and power to those who will give him worship but he delivers a death sting instead.  Reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar who demanded Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to worship his statute or be thrown into the fiery furnace.   Forced worship never works.

God is the One and Only God and there is none like Him.  God desires our voluntary worship in response to His Love and to who He is and what He has done for us.  Those who worship Him become more like Him.  This is the principle laid out in Ps 135:6 that those who worship false idols become like their idols.

Yes, we can have overcoming faith even amidst the trials and tribulations that come our way.  As one translation of the opening scripture says, cheer up! Cheer up!  Just found another key.  Cheer up!

 

Monday 12 November 2012

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin


Recently I have been very challenged about my love walk.  God is Love and Jesus showed us the most amazing picture of what love is and what love does.  We are told that love:-

·         Covers a multitude of sins (James 5:20)

·         love sacrifices and gives (Jn 3:16)

·         love is not selfish, Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; (1 Cor 13:4)

·         love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (1 Cor 13:4)

·         does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (1 Cor 13:5)

·         does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (1 Cor 13:6)

·         bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor 13:7)

·         Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8)

I’m already in trouble! We so easily and so quickly stereotype people and in our presuppositions judge and cast them off.  Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7).  This is very challenging to me.

I looked with fresh eyes at the woman caught in “the very act” of adultery in John 8.  She was thrown by the Pharisees in front of Jesus as a trap to catch him out.  The Law of Moses was very clear.  Adultery was a punishable crime – death by stoning.  The smug Pharisees, well and truly aware of Christ’s compassion, were standing there demanding a verdict on this woman, or at least give his position on this sin.  Jesus stoops to write, not saying anything, so they keep on demanding.  He writes some more and then says the most profound thing – “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  (Jn 8:7)  The Law comes up headlong against grace.  The letter of the Law had no mercy, no compassion but Jesus was love, grace and truth.  His love covered her sin in that moment and His love in action was so stark and striking against the accusation of the sinners who wanted to uphold that Law.  They quietly left, one after another, being convicted that they too were sinners.  Their knowledge of the scripture didn’t help their self-righteous spirit, or they conveniently forgot King David’s lament, “But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!”( Psa 14:3)  Their pride-filled hypocrisy only saw what she was and what she had done.  Jesus, the sinless one, saw beyond that, recognising the brokenness within her heart and His love and compassion met her amidst the accusations of the “righteous”.  His love extended mercy but his love didn’t excuse the behaviour either.  His love freed her but His love commanded that she go and sin no more.  Even still His love allowed her the freedom to make a choice but His Love would also grieve deeply if she returned to her adulterous lifestyle.  For His Love would want to lift her out of that miry clay to a better life free of guilt and condemnation and as a child of grace reconciled to her Creator.

For me the challenge is in knowing where the balance is.  We are to uphold righteousness and not allow the ancient boundaries to be moved as there is a dreadful and terrible consequence to living a sinful life.  When we speak the truth, even when we do so in love, we will offend.  When we say we cannot accept certain life-styles we offend and are called bigots, narrow-minded and judgemental.  Yet love desires something better which is why Jesus died for us even while we were still sinners (Roms 5:8) to lift us up, from sinners to saints.

We are called to love people.   All people!  Not those we choose who fit our comfortable little box.  The unlovely, the sinful!  We once were sinners too but we have been saved by grace and are in the life-long process of being made holy.  God saved us and is cleaning us up.  It was the touch of His Love that brought me to repentance.  Maybe it will be the touch of His love flowing through me that will help bring others to repentance too.  Hmmm! Thought-provoking!

Oh Father, may your perfect Love flow through me.  Help me see others through your eyes and believe the best for them.  Help me see beyond their physical appearance and beyond their sinful lifestyle to the man, woman or child created in your image, marred by hurts and brokenness, but able to be fully restored into your love and life in Jesus name.