Faith Training

Weight lifting develops our strength. We sweat, endure pain, and push towards exhaustion. Each time we exceed our former limit, we build greater endurance and strength. When we achieve our goal, the memory of the pain only becomes a badge that we hurdled our obstacles. We admire our better defined abs in the mirror, glad that our discipline has grown strength and a healthier body.

Developing stronger faith muscles is not too different ... except we don't usually sign up for the stress and pain. Oh, we pray for God to develop our faith, but when the opportunity comes for resistance training, our instinct is to question or complain.

Hebrews 12:11 reminds us that discipline is painful, not pleasant. But the pain we endure as Christ followers  produces endurance, character, and a sure hope in Jesus Christ. Suffering, like weight lifting, eventually produces greater joy! As we search for God's help in those times, we discover His love and the Holy Spirit's help. Our hope becomes more sure precisely because of the weight of life's demands (see Romans 5: 3-5).

We do well to remind ourselves that God is at work in every circumstance (see Romans 8: 18-39).  If we continue training with Christ, the weights won't merely display our impotence, they will be the very opportunities that God uses in our faith training.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Are you in a situation in which you can recognize God using "weights" to develop your faith?

What new angle of trusting God are you learning? Will you focus on a scripture promise or principle that could further strengthen your faith?

We Won't Fear, Then

Fear can grow in us like cancer.

News about Iran, the UN, our own economy, national and local politics, our bank accounts, children, accidents, cancer, business closures, home foreclosures... I could go on... all feed our fear.

Dislodging us from familiar ruts, upheaval can leave us shaken and fearful.

Psalm 46 reminds us that God is bigger than whatever earthquakes we experience.

"God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea" (verses 1-2, NIV).

It's only natural to be scared when our stability is shaken. That's why it's good to remember that God is stronger ... and is with us in the earthquake. Even though we walk in the midst of trouble, He revives us.

Despite where we find ourselves, God can bring good out of chaos. But we have to hush ourselves in the holy place (see verses 4-6) and, in the Almighty’s presence, we can quietly listen for the Lord’s voice and look for His works (verse 8).

It takes supernatural power to deal with fear. But we access that through the gift of Jesus Christ who is with us. (See verses 10 -11).

So then, even if the mountains get shaken, we won't fear.

For Your Consideration
(See also Psalm 23; Psalm 138:7-8; Romans 8:28-39.)

What helps you remember that God is with you?

Have you told the Lord of Heaven's Armies about your earthquake?

How do you keep fueling your faith and keep from slipping back into fear?

Blessed, Broken, and Multiplied

If you want a fresh jolt, then a careful reading about Jesus feeding crowds of 4000 and 5000 will get you there. Since familiarity is numbing, ask for the influence of the Holy Spirit as you read.

When I recently read and imagined Mark's account (chapter 8), I tried to hear the dialogue and watch expressions on people's faces.

Did their mouths fall open when they watched a few loaves multiply to feed thousands including them? Did they listen more intently after they were satisfied? Or did they scarf up the food, oblivious that the One who quieted their growling stomachs also came to quiet their hearts?

Did Jesus' eyes sparkle as He watched His disciples execute the improbable feat of feeding so many with virtually nothing? Was He thrilled that His Father was pleased to meet the needs of people who were willing to give Him everything? As they trusted Him for the impossible, and they experienced His miraculous intervention, did He applaud the Father with unmasked joy?

When I prayed using the components of the scripture as best I could, God not only fed but nourished me.

Maybe you could try praying that scripture. I suspect the Spirit of God, who can transform your limitations, will bless, break, and multiply what you bring Him.

I pray so.

Prayer:

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for what You have given me. I give................ back for Your blessing, breaking and multiplication.

Like your disciples, I don't understand it all, but please don't give up on me. I want to keep following You carefully and learn all I can from You. Help me obey what you reveal, trusting that You know more than I.

You are kind, strategic, and powerful. Getting to know You fills me with joy, and I worship You!

Save Me!

"Save me, I pray, from ...,
for I am afraid ....
But you have said..."
(Genesis 32:11-12, NIV)

Adrenaline was running through his veins as he progressed toward his disenfranchised brother, Esau, and his four hundred men. While he prepared to make a quick exit if needed, Jacob called out to God.

His fear and distress were palpable. He divided his sheep, servants and family into two groups so at least one could escape if they were attacked.

And he cried out to God to save them.

He admitted that he was afraid Esau would come and attack him, his wives and children. He wasn't hiding that. How could he? So many lives were at stake as he faced eating the fruit of his old deception.

So in the face of possible death, Jacob reminded God of His promise. "But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted" (Genesis 32:12).

Later that night Jacob wrestled with the Angel of God by the Jabbock River. He had to acknowledge his strength was no match for God's, and after he did, he walked toward Esau with confidence, despite a new limp.

"I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." (Genesis 32:30)

Jacob's fear of losing his life at Esau's hand brought him to a different type of power encounter. There he regained his life.

For Your Consideration:
I invite you to meditate on the components of Jacob's prayer and make them your own.

1. "Save me."
In what arena of your life do you need God's intervention?

2. "For I am afraid."
Can you name an emotion that might be fuelling your desperation? And will you name the source of that emotion, laying it out before God? (Compare 2 Kings 19:14-19).

3. "But you have said."
As you recall scriptures the Spirit of God has impressed upon you, which promise can impact your situation in life changing ways?

Artwork by Ira Thomas, http://www.catholicworldart.com/Jacob.html

To Do Hard

"God has asked us to do hard. This is what our family has been called to." Mary Beth Chapman spoke those words to her family after her five year old daughter Maria's death.

I heard her story this September first when Family Life interviewed her and her Grammy award winning singer/songwriter husband Steve. She shared how their family life had been full of wonderful events and transitions just before it was severely jarred by grief.

Despite occasional quivers in her voice and sniffles while the host spoke, she demonstrated a firm trust in God's strength and goodness. The grief had torn her like a killer in pursuit of her own life. She knew the enemy had come to steal, kill and destroy her family, but she held her children close and declared "He will not destroy our family over this."

Though devastated and shaken, she demonstrated her sure footing on the unshakable Rock. She chose, not felt, to keep trusting the God she had come to know over years of walking intimately with Him.

Her book, Choosing to SEE, will be an enlightening read. Especially if God has called you to 'do hard.'

http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.3843443/k.809C/FamilyLife_Today.htm

For Your Consideration

Have you, or someone you love, been called to do hard?

What scriptures or other resources can you pull on for comfort? Instruction?

I also recommend Elizabeth A. Mitchell's book, Journey for the Heart written about their faith as they journeyed with her son James who died at thirteen with a worn out transplanted heart.
http://blog.journeyfortheheart.com/

Faith to Overcome

I keep asking God to increase my faith.

When people or things I love are thrown to the ground, I sometimes feel like the man who asked Jesus to heal his mute, epileptic son. Jesus' disciples had not been able to cast out the spirit, and the man wasn't so sure now that Jesus could do it either. "Have mercy on us and help us, if you can" (Mark 9:22, NLT)

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes” (verse 23).

He looked into Jesus' eyes, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (verse 24).

I expect Jesus' question penetrated this father's best hopes and fears. He believed, but he had his doubts.

Unbelief shrinks God to what we've seen and heard. When the limitations of our mind stop us short of the goal and when trusted experts hit the wall of their own expertise, hope get thrown to the ground like the young man. Our senses and experience lie that we are undone and tempt faith to step back from trusting God.

Those are the best times to turn to our Helper. Those are opportunities to let Jesus help us overcome blocks to belief -- to have overcoming faith. They are occasions for God's Holy Spirit to remind us of His presence and greater power at work in us. (See Philippians 2: 12-13; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.)

Paul says that hearing comes by faith through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17), and John writes, "The Spirit of truth ... will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13).

Regular hearing, reading and applying God's word, then, is critical for opening us to the Word and the Spirit. They train us to jump unbelief's hurdles.

As we make ourselves available to Christ's transforming word, God's grace helps us hear Jesus asking, 'Do you believe I can do this?'

Yes, Lord. Help me believe.

For Your Consideration

When you become aware of doubt, look for your underlying belief:

Do you assume God doesn't love you? That God is surprised or disappointed by you? Or do you think God is either powerless or disinterested? Are you blaming God for consequences of your own behavior? Or are you projecting onto God? -- How do the scriptures speak specifically to the issue you have identified?

What will you do about your discoveries?

Unbelief

I struggle with unbelief at times.

I don't like to admit it, but the temptation to disbelieve God lurks in the background waiting to sabotage my best efforts at faith.

I was appalled when I first discovered this enemy living in my home. I denied its presence, incredulous that I was providing shelter for this saboteur of God's work.

"Moi?" I thought innocently. Unbelief had so subtly veiled my sight I could not even see clearly.

At risk of oversimplification, I will share some steps I take to overpower this enemy.

First, I have to acknowledge its presence.

"If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus, [God's] Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:6-7, NIV).

When the Spirit of Christ is revealing a new nugget, I ask for discernment whether I need more information or whether there might be underlying unbelief holding me back from assimilating and agreeing with God's truth.

Pretending I always have faith with a only little doubt sprinkled on top is not enough to face unbelief in the eye. While my intellect is God-given for His worship and my joy, I have to agree that God, not my intellect, deserves the last word. When the enemy tries to deflect my trust in God's goodness, I must stand my ground... or rather, God's ground...in exorcising this monster.

"Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God... You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. " (1 John 4:3,4, NIV).

Secondly, when God's Spirit sensitizes me to this attitude that hurts us both, I ask forgiveness for my part in playing hostess and then appropriate Christ's deliverance.

When God first revealed this awful house guest, I chose to believe the overcoming presence of Christ was greater than the lies that had snuck into my living space because of hurt, false teaching, disobedience or ignorance. Since Jesus shares His authority with His own, I opened the exit door and commanded unbelief, by name, to get out.

It's Jesus' accomplishment on the cross that gives us the power to overcome unbelief. We continue to learn what is available to us as Christ followers as we read and study God's word -- not merely listen to others who do.

My unbelief had been dressed reputably, but I had to agree with God's word that its clothes covered tentacles of pride and fear which curled around my heart and mind cutting off life flow. Instead, God wanted to enlarge my heart to hold more of the Almighty's presence and my spirit to discern the unseen.

I truly want what God wants. So, when unbelief comes to my door hiding death under garments of apparent enlightenment, I count on my Lord for the power to overcome.

For Your Consideration

Have you encountered unbelief masquerading in your life?

How might the power of Jesus Christ practically impact your struggle?

Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57, NIV)