Growing Faith

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5)

Faith is an ever increasing foundational part of our walk with God.  Truthfully, faith grows as we recognize His faithfulness.  A person says to us, "just trust me."  We can say that we do but until that faith statement is tested we aren't really proving our trust.  In essence there is a trustworthiness required to having trust.  A person has to prove themselves to us by their performance of trustworthiness.  There is "the Faith" and then there is daily faith.  The Faith, is the foundation of all Christendom.  It is a confidence in what Jesus did, His performance, on the cross to complete the redemption of all who believe.  Thereby are we saved.  Then there is the topic of daily faith.  There is a point to be made that daily faith is no stronger than our "The Faith".  Yet, experientially we know that our faith has grown as we look back over our lives of walking with Jesus.  Our relationship with Him has changed and hopefully matured.  

A part of the Lord's guiding of our steps is leading us a way of growing faith.  Our faith grows as we walk beside still waters until the day comes when we can walk successfully by troubled waters. The late Ken Sumrall used to say, "today's faith won't conquer tomorrow's mountain.  We need a new faith for a new mountain."  Yet, it is God who "increases our faith" as we walk hand in hand with Him.  It is true that "faith comes by hearing" but hearing comes in close proximity to the Lord.  As we simply live in Him our faith grows.  Like a tender plant placed in warm fertile soil, the plant grows.  So is our faith growing.  When we go through seasons of difficulty we may struggle in faith.  Don't despair.  This may only prove to be an exercise leading to a great victory ahead!

'When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with a difficulty. If it is going to be something very wonderful, He begins with an impossibility." - Rev. Charles Inwood

Truth and Mercy

Psa. 8510"Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed."What a beautiful picture of the results of receiving Christ personally and experiencing His full provision of redemption.  Mercy, or God's grace has joined with truth.  Jesus is the embodiment of this verse.  He is fully truth and cannot be polluted or diluted. Yet, he is fully grace and mercy.  As the redeemed of the Lord, it is difficult for us to maintain that balance.  It is very hard for us to keep the scales in that delicate equilibrium.  We either come down too heavy in grace or too heavy in truth.  It is one of the most challenging aspects of living as Jesus wants us to live.  We see and hear the mushy, gushy folks who always say, "just forgive, live and let live."  Truth cries out, "but what about sin?"  We hear the black and white prophetically inclined say, "they must pay for their sin."  Mercy cries back, "Yes, but we must forgive!"  It is our humanity that takes us out of balance.  So which is right?  Neither and both!  Both are essential to life.  In God they are perfectly adjusted in just the right chemistry.  

Again, Jesus is the perfect incarnation of mercy and truth.  John 1:14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

17For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Moses brought the law, the strong one sided picture of truth without grace.  A part of the purpose of the law was to prove to humanity that the law could not be kept by man.  It pointed to the Savior.  When He came he brought with that truth of the law, the mercy of grace.   We have choices.  As free moral agents of God's creation we are allowed to weigh the evidence and make a judgment for ourselves.  When we hear Truth and embrace it then great grace and mercy follows us.  If we choose to reject God's Truth, His Word, we reject mercy as well and then the law becomes a cruel taskmaster and circumstances our disciplinarian.  Jesus came to remove the curse of the law for all who will choose and believe.  God's nature is not one of harsh truth.  His nature is truth and mercy in union producing the fruit of righteousness and peace in all who have accepted Jesus, who is full of grace and truth.  Psa. 1005For the Lord is good;His mercy is everlasting,And His truth endures to all generations.

Too Good To Be True?

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

False teachers have the ability to turn believers away from the truth and convince people to believe fables or myths.  The teachers are guilty before God but they are not alone in their complicity.  The believers to whom they are teaching lies actually seek out and surround themselves with not one, but teachers, plural.  Why?  Because the lie of the myth sounds better than the Truth of God's word.  Will we actually see this in our lifetime?  We already are.  There has always been a measure of such teaching and following.  Yet today our society and churches seem primed for it.  Why?  Because we live in the "Me" generation.  Everything is about self awareness, self fulfillment and self expression.  When there is such a self centered culture, servanthood and self sacrifice become a thing of the past.  

Teaching that only emphasizes the loving, forgiving nature of God without the painful discipline of God is heresy.  Old and New Testament Scripture teaches us of the loving and grace filled aspect of God and his plan for our lives that include the discipline that leads to maturity and fruit.  Any ministry that is only teaching the side of God that does not use the circumstances of life to deal with our weaknesses is robbing the people of God and greatly misrepresenting God.  What causes such lies to be taught?  I can not say for certain in each case.  Most false prophets lead the people astray for money.  False teachers can do the same.  Many however are simply deceived by other false teachers themselves.  Some novice preacher/teachers are simply parroting what they have heard, seen and read.  They like what they hear.  It sounds like a good God and they start pointing at teaching of truth that includes forms of suffering or affliction as Paul mentions above, and label it as outdated religion and bondage.

Don't be deceived.  Let the Bible be your guide.  God in His grace is loving, forgiving, merciful and one who takes us from glory to glory.  And like any good father, disciplines us in areas of weakness  and iniquity that have the potential to destroy us.   Follow the Scripture and not men and remember, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is!

Leadership Fortitude

Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of England from 1938-1940.  It was a terrible time to be PM of England but not as difficult as it would be for Winston Churchill after 1940 through World War II.  Chamberlain is known mostly for his appeasement foreign policy in allowing Hitler an open door to much of Europe.  He knew Hitler was a madman with tyrannical beliefs.  He knew he was wrong but he yielded to his enemy hoping the enemy would leave him and his Country alone.  He opened the door for what almost became world domination by Hitler.  It was Churchill who stood the ground with his "never surrender" policy, even when the U.S. who wouldn't join him.  He kept saying we will never surrender even if England has to go it alone!  The point that I want to make in all this history is that Chamberlain's problem was not one of leadership ignorance, it was one of a lack of leadership fortitude. 

Most of the time when there is a costly mistake in leadership made, it is not a matter of not knowing the right thing to do, but a matter of not having the strength of character to do the right thing, regardless of the cost.  Moses kept reminding Joshua that he must be courageous in his leadership mission.  Paul reminded Timothy to act like a leader and resist timidity.  Many battles have been lost because of timidity of action.  Lincoln looked far and wide for a General that would fight until he found Grant.  The same is true in WWII until Patton was found.  Churchill was the man of the hour and probably the man of the century because he had leadership fortitude.  Surround yourself with Godly leaders as counselors.  There is safety in that.  Then act when the time comes to act.