To sum up what we have talked about so far, we have discovered this about the word “faith”. Faith is rooted in the very character of God. God does what He does – loves us while we are still sinners, saves us to everlasting life, and blesses our lives with abundance – because of who He is. We cry out to God on the basis of His expressed character toward us. To put it another way – those in the world who see God primarily through the eyes of justice and judgment cry out to Him each day based upon that limited view. The world is on fire in a bad way because of such views of God. We believe, however, God’s own witness of His nature when He says that He is full of loving-kindness and doesn’t desire that any person should perish.
Second, we discovered that faith works through love. It makes sense. Love is the delivery system for the expectant prayers that faith makes toward a loving God. If our hearts are filled with bitterness and envy and hate and revenge – our faith is clogged up – it cannot operate because our character is not matched up and in sync with God’s character. To receive gifts from a loving God, we must willingly position our hearts to be transformed into loving hearts – toward God and people, and even ourselves - and hence, free of bitterness, unforgiveness, fear, etc.
So, what else can we say about faith? Well, here is something you may not have thought about before but I’ll just come out with it: The operation of faith is not dependent upon our perfection, our knowledge, or our experiences. The awareness of each of these three areas in our lives can at times play a hindering role in our belief that God can use our prayers to enact the miraculous.
Let’s talk first about perfection. A lot of people forget all about grace when it comes to praying, so they just give up and sort of wander aimlessly through life like the proverbial steel ball in a pinball game. Their life is not proactive but rather reactive. They believe that a life of faith is one that learns to roll with the punches, to make the best of a bad situation and so on. Why? Because they do not feel good enough about their spiritual life to offer up a prayer. Having a backstage view of themselves, they cannot enter into the presence of God because of a nagging sense of inadequacy. “Better call the Pastor on this one…” is their modus operandi because they believe that the Pastor is somehow closer to God than they themselves. This type of thinking betrays a misguided loyalty to some sort of merit system in heaven where God says: “Well, here comes a prayer from a pastor – be sure and answer that call.” And, “Oh, here comes a call from average Joe – let the answering machine pick that one up.” The problem with this type of thinking is that it is not Biblical. Even on your worse day – spiritually speaking – when you come to God, the blood of Jesus Christ continues to make you clean and perfect before Him. (I John 1:7) All you have to do is ask. And, the very place that God can do a work within you is in His presence. You see, some of us have enough faith to believe that God will get us to heaven, but not enough faith that He will supply us on the way to heaven.
Perfectionism is remedied by two simple truths. First of all, God uses deeply flawed people to accomplish His purposes. He has to. Who else is there? Read chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, considered the Hall of Fame, the who’s who, in regard to faith and then trace their stories back to the Old Testament. You will find people who wouldn’t even qualify to be members of most churches. There are prostitutes, liars, adulterers, wimps, people who lived in caves and one man who committed suicide. Why do these people make it to the hall of fame in regard to faith? Because God knows that we are intimately acquainted with someone just like them – namely, that mug that stares back at us each morning as we brush our teeth. God is showing us that it is not a matter of our righteousness that moves heaven – it is a matter of our availability – just as we are – that releases His purposes. If you have Jesus – you are made righteous before God. That is a settled fact. The second truth is this: One of the enemy’s greatest tactics in hindering our faith is to get us distracted and discouraged by our many faults. Revelation teaches that Satan stands before God day and night making accusation against the saints. He is the eternal tattle-tale. If a Christian blows it – Satan busts him or her like the National Enquirer. What is declared as accusation against us in the spiritual realm, we feel as guilt and shame and unworthiness in the natural realm – a tightening of the chest, a downcast eye and such – you know the drill. The remedy? The verse in Revelation goes on to say this: “They overcame him by blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Picture this scene in heaven: Satan comes along with a laundry list of accusations against us and Jesus says simply: “The person you are looking for is dead. I own all of those accusations you are talking about. They belong to me. You have to deal with me.” Believe it. Rejoice in it. And…step out in faith in the strong assurance of your acceptance to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Second, many people do not experience an active release of faith because they do not feel they are knowledgeable enough. Unfortunately, the Christian world has all too readily reinforced this notion through its breathless and shameless promotion of a knowledge-based Christianity. Before I proceed, let me just say how much I appreciate good, clear, and concise and humble scholarship. It has blessed me greatly over the years to read the “greats” and I revel in a turn of phrase and the penetrating insights some have. But you know what? I am weary over the sense of insecurity so many believers feel about God not being able to do anything in their lives because they do not know everything there is to know about philosophy, evolution, ancient languages, sociology, etc., from a “Christian” point of view. How many believers have we lost in the battle because of the insinuation that being equipped meant somehow knowing everything? Actually, do you not find know-it-alls more than a little disagreeable? And, what connection is there between knowing a lot of stuff and simple acts of obedience that thrill Jesus’ heart, such as serving a cup of cold water or visiting a prisoner? There is very little. Jesus’ commands are not hard to understand – a child can master them. However, Jesus’ commands are sometimes hard to do. It is the doing that creates interest in heaven. “Unlearned and ignorant men” was the insult directed at the life of Peter and John. It wasn’t Peter’s and John’s scholarship that set the world on fire and caused such unrest among the academic elite of that day. What rocked their world were the simple acts of power, done in obedience to the one Name – Jesus. Jesus said this, “When the Spirit of truth comes – He will teach you all things.” The early church believed that and acted upon it. And, they did it without the internet, Christian book stores – and for that matter, even Bibles. Imagine that? So, are you smart enough to live a life of active faith? Absolutely. Why? - Because the God who created all things, who knows all things - lives in you.
Third, many Christians feel poverty in the area of experiences and thus live a life of sub-par faith. They don’t have years of successful stories to relate in regard to how God used them and thus have felt sidelined by their meager spiritual biography. The response to this one is so obvious that it hurts. The only way to get experience is to take the first job that comes your way and do it. If you were seeking a job that you really wanted, and the help wanted ad said, “Experience required”, what would be the most obvious thing to do? To go out and get some experience. The only way to experience the release of faith in your life is to become comfortable with the word “risk.” Risk might just be another word for faith. Risk means that you are stepping out and trying something you have never tried before in absolute dependence upon God. If you choose not to step out – you will never know what God could have done. And, you will never have the experience – the testimony - upon which to build.
As an aside, I have noticed over the years that God often begins our faith training by teaching us about generosity. What that means in real life is that God teaches me to pry my hands off anything that I declare is “mine.” People who are stingy or materialistic never advance in the kingdom – NEVER. Never, never, never. You got that? Never. People who are rich in faith experiences are always generous people – with their time, treasure, and talents - ALWAYS. Always, always, always. You got that? Always.
It is the seed of faith principle spoken of so often in Scripture. Give away that which you want to get in return. When heaven sees you giving something away – whether time, treasure, or talent – it plants seeds for your harvest in those areas. And, as you begin to harvest the fruit of those seeds – you will become rich in experience.
So – in this post we have dealt with three areas of hindrance to our faith: Perfectionism, knowledge, and experience. In the next post, we will explore something that is not often spoken about and which I have come to new revelation on rather recently – I call it: “Deals with the devil.” You have made them and so have I. In the next post we will hopefully move beyond a cowering, “leave me alone” victim to a wild-eyed warrior in the kingdom. Can’t wait to write the next one!
Second, we discovered that faith works through love. It makes sense. Love is the delivery system for the expectant prayers that faith makes toward a loving God. If our hearts are filled with bitterness and envy and hate and revenge – our faith is clogged up – it cannot operate because our character is not matched up and in sync with God’s character. To receive gifts from a loving God, we must willingly position our hearts to be transformed into loving hearts – toward God and people, and even ourselves - and hence, free of bitterness, unforgiveness, fear, etc.
So, what else can we say about faith? Well, here is something you may not have thought about before but I’ll just come out with it: The operation of faith is not dependent upon our perfection, our knowledge, or our experiences. The awareness of each of these three areas in our lives can at times play a hindering role in our belief that God can use our prayers to enact the miraculous.
Let’s talk first about perfection. A lot of people forget all about grace when it comes to praying, so they just give up and sort of wander aimlessly through life like the proverbial steel ball in a pinball game. Their life is not proactive but rather reactive. They believe that a life of faith is one that learns to roll with the punches, to make the best of a bad situation and so on. Why? Because they do not feel good enough about their spiritual life to offer up a prayer. Having a backstage view of themselves, they cannot enter into the presence of God because of a nagging sense of inadequacy. “Better call the Pastor on this one…” is their modus operandi because they believe that the Pastor is somehow closer to God than they themselves. This type of thinking betrays a misguided loyalty to some sort of merit system in heaven where God says: “Well, here comes a prayer from a pastor – be sure and answer that call.” And, “Oh, here comes a call from average Joe – let the answering machine pick that one up.” The problem with this type of thinking is that it is not Biblical. Even on your worse day – spiritually speaking – when you come to God, the blood of Jesus Christ continues to make you clean and perfect before Him. (I John 1:7) All you have to do is ask. And, the very place that God can do a work within you is in His presence. You see, some of us have enough faith to believe that God will get us to heaven, but not enough faith that He will supply us on the way to heaven.
Perfectionism is remedied by two simple truths. First of all, God uses deeply flawed people to accomplish His purposes. He has to. Who else is there? Read chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, considered the Hall of Fame, the who’s who, in regard to faith and then trace their stories back to the Old Testament. You will find people who wouldn’t even qualify to be members of most churches. There are prostitutes, liars, adulterers, wimps, people who lived in caves and one man who committed suicide. Why do these people make it to the hall of fame in regard to faith? Because God knows that we are intimately acquainted with someone just like them – namely, that mug that stares back at us each morning as we brush our teeth. God is showing us that it is not a matter of our righteousness that moves heaven – it is a matter of our availability – just as we are – that releases His purposes. If you have Jesus – you are made righteous before God. That is a settled fact. The second truth is this: One of the enemy’s greatest tactics in hindering our faith is to get us distracted and discouraged by our many faults. Revelation teaches that Satan stands before God day and night making accusation against the saints. He is the eternal tattle-tale. If a Christian blows it – Satan busts him or her like the National Enquirer. What is declared as accusation against us in the spiritual realm, we feel as guilt and shame and unworthiness in the natural realm – a tightening of the chest, a downcast eye and such – you know the drill. The remedy? The verse in Revelation goes on to say this: “They overcame him by blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Picture this scene in heaven: Satan comes along with a laundry list of accusations against us and Jesus says simply: “The person you are looking for is dead. I own all of those accusations you are talking about. They belong to me. You have to deal with me.” Believe it. Rejoice in it. And…step out in faith in the strong assurance of your acceptance to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Second, many people do not experience an active release of faith because they do not feel they are knowledgeable enough. Unfortunately, the Christian world has all too readily reinforced this notion through its breathless and shameless promotion of a knowledge-based Christianity. Before I proceed, let me just say how much I appreciate good, clear, and concise and humble scholarship. It has blessed me greatly over the years to read the “greats” and I revel in a turn of phrase and the penetrating insights some have. But you know what? I am weary over the sense of insecurity so many believers feel about God not being able to do anything in their lives because they do not know everything there is to know about philosophy, evolution, ancient languages, sociology, etc., from a “Christian” point of view. How many believers have we lost in the battle because of the insinuation that being equipped meant somehow knowing everything? Actually, do you not find know-it-alls more than a little disagreeable? And, what connection is there between knowing a lot of stuff and simple acts of obedience that thrill Jesus’ heart, such as serving a cup of cold water or visiting a prisoner? There is very little. Jesus’ commands are not hard to understand – a child can master them. However, Jesus’ commands are sometimes hard to do. It is the doing that creates interest in heaven. “Unlearned and ignorant men” was the insult directed at the life of Peter and John. It wasn’t Peter’s and John’s scholarship that set the world on fire and caused such unrest among the academic elite of that day. What rocked their world were the simple acts of power, done in obedience to the one Name – Jesus. Jesus said this, “When the Spirit of truth comes – He will teach you all things.” The early church believed that and acted upon it. And, they did it without the internet, Christian book stores – and for that matter, even Bibles. Imagine that? So, are you smart enough to live a life of active faith? Absolutely. Why? - Because the God who created all things, who knows all things - lives in you.
Third, many Christians feel poverty in the area of experiences and thus live a life of sub-par faith. They don’t have years of successful stories to relate in regard to how God used them and thus have felt sidelined by their meager spiritual biography. The response to this one is so obvious that it hurts. The only way to get experience is to take the first job that comes your way and do it. If you were seeking a job that you really wanted, and the help wanted ad said, “Experience required”, what would be the most obvious thing to do? To go out and get some experience. The only way to experience the release of faith in your life is to become comfortable with the word “risk.” Risk might just be another word for faith. Risk means that you are stepping out and trying something you have never tried before in absolute dependence upon God. If you choose not to step out – you will never know what God could have done. And, you will never have the experience – the testimony - upon which to build.
As an aside, I have noticed over the years that God often begins our faith training by teaching us about generosity. What that means in real life is that God teaches me to pry my hands off anything that I declare is “mine.” People who are stingy or materialistic never advance in the kingdom – NEVER. Never, never, never. You got that? Never. People who are rich in faith experiences are always generous people – with their time, treasure, and talents - ALWAYS. Always, always, always. You got that? Always.
It is the seed of faith principle spoken of so often in Scripture. Give away that which you want to get in return. When heaven sees you giving something away – whether time, treasure, or talent – it plants seeds for your harvest in those areas. And, as you begin to harvest the fruit of those seeds – you will become rich in experience.
So – in this post we have dealt with three areas of hindrance to our faith: Perfectionism, knowledge, and experience. In the next post, we will explore something that is not often spoken about and which I have come to new revelation on rather recently – I call it: “Deals with the devil.” You have made them and so have I. In the next post we will hopefully move beyond a cowering, “leave me alone” victim to a wild-eyed warrior in the kingdom. Can’t wait to write the next one!
Be blessed,
Pastor C.J.
