Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Faith Not Fear



"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid."
- John 14:27, NIV


Nothing is scary if we trust in the Lord and his promises.

Fear is natural emotion we all experience. We might feel it in response to the unknown, being out of control or potential loss or harm.

But fear is also an indicator of a lack of faith in God. The Bible tells us not to fear:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
- Isaiah 41:10, NIV


When fears arise, we need to go to God and work them out. Ask him to help us understand the source and perceive what is true. There is always a lie or misbelief beneath a fear. Once we see the truth, we exercise the faith to trust the Lord and stand on the truth.

Fear in the Parable of the Talents

Fear is probably Satan's greatest tool for enslaving people and holding them back from truth and righteousness. 

In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, read the conversation between the master and the slave who hid his talent instead of using it to earn a return:

"And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. AND I WAS AFRAID, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.' But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." - Matthew 25:24-28, NASB

The slave said he was AFRAID. Afraid of what? He thought the master was harsh and unfair, so he did nothing with his talent. As a result, it was taken from him and he was sent into the outer darkness.

Do you see the lie the slave believed? The master in this parable represents God. The slave did not believe God is good and generous. Therefore he did nothing with his talent. It was FEAR that motivated him instead of FAITH.

Except for a healthy fear of God, let us cast fear aside. As fears arise, we can take them to the Lord, work them out and get to a point of faith and truth. Then we will be unencumbered and free to earn a return for the Master, who is coming back quickly!
 
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
 - Hebrews 11:6, NIV


Thursday, May 14, 2015

Trust Your True Heart and Spirit


Many times I have heard religious people say, in effect, "You can't trust your heart! Don't listen to your feelings. Just submit and follow these rules." And so begins the breaking of your spirit and shackling of your soul by the spirit of religion.

The spirit of religion is NOT the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit of the Pharisees. Run from it!

While the Scriptures say "the heart is deceitful above all things," they are talking about a heart that is not regenerated or reborn. What happens when you believe in Christ?

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
 - 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Apostle Paul says we are transformed into an entirely new being. The old things are gone and the new things have come!

This passage in Ezekiel describes the same internal renewal:

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
 - Ezekiel 36:25-27

The Lord cleanses our souls and renews our hearts and spirits. God puts his Spirit in us and causes us to walk in his ways.

Yes, we still live in corrupted bodies, so there is an internal battle between the spirit and the flesh. As Jesus said, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." But if you are reborn in Christ, your spirit is made alive to God and is the good guy in this battle. You can trust your true heart, thanks to the heavenly renewal made available by the blood of Christ. 

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Live by the Spirit, Listen to Your Heart

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Ezekiel 36:26-27


"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
Romans 8:16


The center and power of the Chrisitian experience is the Presence of God in our hearts, known as the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). Christians have different ideas about the Spirit of God. Some think of the him in an abstract way as the third person of the Trinity. We believe God exists as three persons functioning in unity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some might imagine a gentle dove fluttering down from the heaven and landing on Jesus as mentioned in the Gospels. Others associate the Spirit with an intense emotional experience or perhaps bizarre behavior like rolling around on the floor or blurting out words no one understands. For the moment, try to set aside your preconceived notions and start with idea that the Holy Spirit is simply the Presence of God within us, dwelling in our hearts, the deepest part of our beings.

Now imagine a light emanating from within that illuminates your whole being and shines into the world. This light is God's Spirit, and he is there in every Christian. Moreover, he has a voice and speaks to us. If we are to have the fullness of life that Jesus promised, we must learn to trust and respond to his voice. Another way of saying this is that we must listen to our true hearts, as this is where the Spirit dwells.

However, many Christians today are like guests sitting at a table expecting a meal. On each plate are a few peanuts. They quickly gobble them up but the hunger remains. So the people tell each other the peanuts ought to be enough to satisfy, though the longing on their faces betray their true hunger pangs. Some people sit there and tough it out, repeatedly telling themselves this should be enough. Some give up and leave the table. But no one is truly content with the paltry meal.

In the middle of the table is an enormous bowl of colorful, ripe fruit. The bowl is piled high with every fruit imaginable - pears, apples, grapes, mangoes, pomegranites, pineapples, plums, bananas, watermelons, oranges. The fruit appears absolutely delicious. "Oh, this is just decoration," the people say. "We don't actually eat it. Isn't it pretty though?"

My friends, the bowl of fruit is the meal! It is not just pretty; it is sustenance and life. The Christian meal is to trust in God's Spirit and live by faith from the heart. This truth is plainly taught in the Bible, right in front of everyone, though many are fearful to accept it. The idea of trusting an intangible Spirit who is so powerful and moves like the wind (John 3:8) is scary. They would rather settle on a tame religion with a concrete set of rules, habits and expectations. They prefer stability and status quo over the wildness and infinite love of the Almighty. So they choose not to partake of the fruit, but wonder why their stomachs are still hungry, why the Christian life seems to lack the power and abundance that Jesus promised.

If you want to partake of the fruit, you have to trust that:

(1) The Spirit of God lives in your heart,
(2) The Spirit speaks to you and gives you power and
(3) You are able to discern his voice.

First, the Spirit of God lives in the heart of all Christians. When a person believes in Jesus, the Spirit enters in. This is what it means to be "born again," as Jesus talked about in John 3. The Spirit's presence is the defining mark of a Christian, as the Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 1:13-14 and Romans 8:9. He renews our heart (though entanglements of darkness still remain) and provides direct, intimate access to the Presence of God. We do not need a priest or mediator. He is there!

How do we know the Spirit is there? Some say they know because their lives changed for the better - they became more loving, gracious and generous people. This is certainly positive evidence! However, on the most fundamental level, the Apostle Paul says that God's Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are his children (Romans 8:15-16). In other words, the Spirit speaks to our heart and reassures us that we belong to him.

This begs the question, how do we hear his voice? This might sound like circular reasoning, but you first have to believe you can hear his voice. As Jesus said (John 10:27-28):

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

Jesus is the Good Shepherd is his sheep know his voice. We inherently know when he is speaking. On a practical level, God is a God of peace, mercy, joy, power and righteousness. If the voice we hear is peaceful, forgiving, encouraging, joyful, empowering and/or corrects us in living a better life, we can trust it is the Spirit's voice. (Yes, as his sometimes wayward children, we will receive plenty of correction to help us mature.) If the voice you hear is guilt-ridden, fearful, hateful or doubtful, it is not his voice. This is the voice of darkness and we should learn to ignore it.

The form of God's voice can be anything he chooses. In my experience it is usually an impression on the heart - a quiet, intuitive sense he is moving me in a certain way. This sense can be general or involve specific words. God can also speak more dramatically through dreams, visions and object lessons. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush, to Gideon through dew on a wool fleece and to King Belshazzar through a hand writing on the wall. He is Lord Almighty and may speak however he chooses.

Only trust that the Spirit is present and you can hear his voice, even if you do not understand how it all works. The essence of faith is a heart that says, "I trust you, Lord, even though I don't understand." No doubt you will grow in learning to hear his voice, however imperfect and humble the beginningss. The Spirit will lead us into all truth and empower us to love one another.

So let us live by faith from the heart. Let us listen and respond to God's Presence within.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Too Much Faith in Reason

Our modern era with its greater emphasis on human reason and self-determination has influenced Christianity in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side, it has encouraged people to take matters of faith into their own hands (and hearts), instead of relying solely on religious and civil authorities to dispense an unquestionable version of truth. This is good because all institutions are comprised of human beings and all human beings are fallible. History, the Bible and personal experience all concur that people and institutions, even religious ones, have erred and will err. This does not mean that they are not good, do not contain truth or that we should not be a part of them. Not at all! But essential matters of faith – who God is, how we know and serve him, how to live a good life and how to go to heaven – are too important to entrust completely and unthinkingly to others. Faith is ultimately a matter of the heart, and God will hold people to account as individuals. Therefore it is good that we assume responsibility for faith as individuals.
The downside of our modern era is that it has encouraged Christians to place inordinate faith in human reason. We have slipstreamed into the prevailing currents of our time and come to believe that the diligent application of reason and logic will bring us straightaway to the throne of the Almighty. We venerate theologians and scholars, as if they best understand God. What about the person who is humble and full of faith? We hire pastors with Masters of Divinity and read religious books from people with PhDs, thinking that higher education surely means they have more to teach us about God. What about the person who has learned to love others and be intimate with God? We spend significant time deciphering intricate theologies, such as how events are to play out in the end times, as if "being right" about obscure and complicated subjects adds considerably to our godliness. We look to hermeneutics (i.e. rules of interpretation) and study the Bible's original languages of Greek and Hebrew to lay open the mysteries of truth in Scripture. Please do not misunderstand – there is value in education and better understanding. But it is a mistake to emphasize human reason more than faith and love from the heart.
We forget or minimize that it is the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (John 16:13). First and foremost, we should learn to hear and trust His voice. Since it is the pure in heart who see God (not the well educated or exceptionally smart), we should tune the attitudes of our heart to the good and right in order to gain spiritual insight (Matthew 5:8). Jesus advocated faith like a child. The Apostle Paul said that without love, nothing else matters, even all the knowledge in the world (I Corinthians 13:2).
If one uncovers enough layers and digs deep enough, the root of the problem is human pride. “And you will be like God, knowing good and evil,” the serpent hissed to Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5). You will understand. You will be in control. You will not be dependent on God. You will be your own man. That is the deception that led to the original sin. We still fall for it by thinking that if we can just understand everything through reason – if we can noodle it out – then we can control the events of life and contain our religion. We can stand at the helm and shape our own destinies. There is a grain of truth here, because the application of wisdom and understanding do tend toward better outcomes. This is the basis of the scientific method, and it is a primary theme in the Book of Proverbs. However, we must not forget there are far greater forces at work in the universe to which are subject. One greater than us directing the course of history. While we play a role and our actions make a difference, we do not ultimately shape destinies. We are not in control to such a degree. Only God is. The Old Testament philosopher put it so well: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
The unfortunate result of elevating human reason above faith is a religion that lacks vibrancy, passion and power. It becomes like a plain bowl of oatmeal or an endless, tedious crossword puzzle. By attempting to decipher and contain Christianity, we turn it into a simplistic set of doctrines and rules. In effect, we put God in a tidy, little box, as if the Infinite Almighty would fit in one! People attend church and participate in religious programs, but the abundant life Jesus promised is missing. Little happens. The Spirit is quenched. People wonder why they do not feel close to God, so they read more how-to books – to better figure it out! But the reason why Jesus did not perform many miracles in his hometown was not because they did not have everything figured out. It was because they lacked faith (Matthew 13:58)!
The better choice is to revel in the mystery and immensity of God. When God called Abraham thousands of years ago, he told him to leave his country, his people, and “go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1) He promised to bless Abraham, bless others through him, and make him into a great nation. So Abraham started on this journey, even though he did not know where he was going or how everything would play out. He only knew generally that God would show him and do wonderful things through the process. There was no daily agenda or detailed itinerary, nor did God promise Abraham the journey would be easy and trouble-free. Abraham had his share of difficulties, some by circumstance and some by his own doing. However, Abraham trusted that God was with him and believed he would somehow make good on his promises. Abraham stepped out in faith, even though he did not fully understand. The most pure faith does not demand understanding; it is grounded in trust.

Intellectualism

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
“We live by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7
We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This simple phrase describe the essence of walking with God. It is by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a heart that says, “I trust you, Lord, even if I don’t understand.” A person with faith steps forward at God’s behest, believing that he is good, just, and worthy. On the other hand, sight represents the physical faculties of human perception. They are what we use to get around and live each day. Sight includes seeing with the eye as well as hearing, taste, smell, and touch – the five senses. But that is not all. Sight also implies thought, or the intellectual ability to reason and analyze. Thus the verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Therefore, faith is a responsiveness to God that ultimately is based on a direct connection to him. We do not see him. Human reasoning concludes either that God is, is not, or might be, depending on who you ask. Nevertheless, God’s children hear his voice in their hearts and respond. This is faith. The problem is that mainstream Christianity leans far too much on human reason and intellectual analysis. In other words, it too often lives by sight.

Faith Hall of Fame

Read the celebrated faith hall of fame in Hebrews (Hebrews 11:1-40). It gives the accounts of Old Testament figures who demonstrated great faith in God as examples for Christians to follow. Among them is Abraham, who is listed for his willingness to kill his son Isaac at God’s request. It is an incredible and almost unbelievable story that shatters normal religious conventions. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, so he traveled to a mountaintop with Isaac to carry it out. At the last minute, with knife in hand and Isaac tied up, God stopped Abraham and provided a ram for the offering instead. It was a test of allegiance, whether Abraham valued his beloved son more than his loyalty to God. He passed. What an awful decision to have to make, and what amazing faith! (By the way, Abraham thought that God would raise Isaac from the dead because he had promised Isaac would be his heir.) Now, consider this story in the light of any moral framework you wish – Old Testaments laws, New Testament moral teachings, civil codes or one’s conscience. If sacrificing one’s own child does not violate every rule imaginable, I do not know what does. Yet God asked him to do it, and the Bible upholds Abraham as a model of faith for his willingness. Is that not confounding? It seems that the ultimate factor of faith is a person’s direct trust and responsiveness to God above and beyond anything else.
Read further in the same chapter about the example of Rahab, a prostitute who harbored Israelite spies. She lived in the city of Jericho as Israel was planning to conquer it as part its campaign to inhabit the Promised Land. Rahab heard about how God had parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and enabled them to conquer other local kings. She believed God was with them and decided to side with the Almighty. (Always a good call!) Therefore, she hid the spies in her house when they came to survey Jericho. The civil authorities came to question her, and she lied and said the Israelites had already left, sending them on a wild goose chase. However, the spies were still in her house, and then she helped them escape from the city in the middle of the night. In return, the spies agreed not to harm her household when Israel conquered the city. This is a story of great faith. Rahab risked everything because she believed God was with the Israelites. On another level, it is as confounding as the story of Abraham because Rahab was a prostitute who lied to the authorities and betrayed her own people. Yet it is listed as an example of faith for Christians to follow.
The Bible showcases people who apparently broke all the rules except one, acting upon an ultimate trust in God. If you think that the Christian faith is primarily about keeping a set of rules, whatever you have come to believe those are, then this message is troubling. It should be upsetting, shocking, even scandalous. These examples of faith are not reconcilable with a rules-based viewpoint. Some may try to explain them away with elaborate philosophy and reasoning, perhaps saying they took place in a different era and somehow do not apply to us today. But they are right there in the New Testament! As is Jesus’ statement that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. As is the Apostle Paul’s repeated claim that Christians live by the Spirit, not law. The Bible speaks plainly here. It is right there in full view.
The point is that faith is not merely following a set of religious rules. It is more than that and sometimes even in spite of that. Faith is a positive response to God from the heart – an act of trust, love, and service. This is living by the Spirit.

Cracks in the Foundation

There are cracks in the foundation. If Jesus is the bedrock beneath mainstream Christianity, then the foundation is the day-to-day religious life and experience that believers build upon him. (Mainstream here refers to Christians who have put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. It includes Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox faiths.) This foundation captures how people relate to God, to fellow Christians, and to the world. It encompasses their beliefs and what they do at church, in Bible studies, prayer groups, ministry programs, outreach events, and personal devotions. Much of this foundation is solid. For instance, what Christian could argue with embracing a sincere faith in God’s Son and endeavoring to live a moral life. But cracks are nevertheless common in this foundation. Water and mud seep in and damage the structure. These leaks hurt some believers, harden others, and diminish the experience of God and church.
The way to fix a leak is to find the source and plug it, like the Dutch boy who puts his finger in a hole in the dike to save the town. This seems like a straightforward gesture, but finding the source in this case is not trivial. The leak is not where many think it is. It is buried beneath layers of commonly accepted and culturally normal ways of thinking and behaving. Problems arise only after building on this foundation and realizing something is amiss. The building stands but is cockeyed, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
So, one must trace the problems to their source. After spending years in this process as part of my own personal journey, I believe the cracks in the mainstream Christian foundation are legalism and intellectualism. These ism’s, so to speak, represent a tedious fixation on moral rules and an overemphasis on human reason and intellectual analysis, at the expense of trust in God’s Spirit. The result is a faith out of balance, where legitimate articles are elevated above their appropriate place. They become idols that keep us from God rather than instruments for drawing near to him. We need to make repairs to the foundation. By recognizing how and why faith has become out of balance, we have the opportunity to correct it and become whole and stronger in hope, faith, and love.

Does This Story Sound Like Your Own?

The day came when you believed, and your heart awoke to the presence of God. It was as if a burden fell away – the guilt, fear, despair, hollowness, and confusion. In its place landed a sense of relief, comfort, hope, and happiness. A new and richer life on earth suddenly lay before you. Beyond that, your place in heaven awaited. As the Apostle Paul said, the old has gone and the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Some would say you were born again. Others call it accepting Jesus or putting your faith in him for salvation. Those are mere words to describe what happens when the heart of a man or woman moves from darkness into light, to finding his home in the Lord.

This awakening propelled you through a time of eager spiritual growth that lasted months or years. Like a honeymoon, it was fresh and exciting. You went to church, made friends with Christians, read the Bible, and learned to pray. Perhaps you made tough moral decisions, such as forgiving someone who hurt you deeply, cleaning up your sex life, or spending more time with family and less on personal ambitions. Perhaps you became involved in ministry activities, such as helping the needy, teaching Sunday school, or evangelism. The presence of God felt real and active. Life was meaningful.
But at some point, spiritual problems began to arise. They were deep and personal in nature, and not at all trivial. The problems may have included:
  • An exacting focus on keeping moral rules often left you feeling guilty and fearful of doing wrong. Christian preachers and mentors taught you to glean moral rules from the Bible and follow them “religiously”. This way to follow God turned into a burden. Combing the Bible for these rules was tedious, and each one added to the load. It seemed like you were never doing enough or always violating something, even if minor, like going five miles per hour over the speed limit or not spending enough time in prayer. It became paralyzing, psychologically and spiritually. It sapped energy and shrouded your true personality beneath a blanket of anxiety. You felt like you were more fun to be around before you became a Christian!
  • You could never quite conquer a particular bad habit, which caused a sense of shame and failure. It was difficult to deal with openly because of the subtle but steady pressure to put on a happy face and keep up appearances of a good Christian at church. If you did open up to people, they became uncomfortable or offered trite advice, which made you feel more alone.
  • Certain church beliefs and ways of interpreting the Bible began to make you more, not less, confused. If you were honest with yourself, the Bible was not as clear-cut on many issues as the church suggested. Some explanations and reasoning did not add up in your mind or resonate in your soul. There were paradoxes, verses that seemed to conflict, or beliefs that did not match real-life experience. However, questioning or challenging these issues beyond a point was not welcome, even if done respectfully. It was considered disturbing the peace. Uncertainty and doubt crept in as a result.

  • The passion and warmth you originally felt toward God waned. Despite following the spiritual disciplines and activities that the church encouraged – prayer, worship, Bible study, speaking in tongues, reading religious books, participating in ministry – the sense of intimacy diminished. Trying harder did not work. You felt confused and depressed.
  • Contradictions developed between your conscience (internal sense of God’s direction) and the rules of the church or expectations of the Christian community. If you ignored this internal compass and abided by peer expectations, you felt hollow and dissatisfied inside. If you had the courage to follow your heart, you suffered rejection or pressure and manipulation by Christian brothers to change.
The problems took a toll. Emptiness, confusion, guilt, and despair materialized, though in a different form than in the pre-salvation days. It centered on your spiritual life, your vital connection to God, rather than the lack of it. Eventually you fell into a trough of disillusionment – a rut – that was never fully resolved. It was as if the Christian life was not fully working for you. But where else to turn? You sincerely believed the answers to life’s deepest questions lie in God. Was there something wrong with you? Were you failing spiritually? Something was amiss but it was difficult to pinpoint.
The weight of this matter eventually caused a coping mechanism, which took one of several forms. You may have disengaged from spiritual life. You began sitting in the last pew, so to speak. Putting it out of your mind and focusing on other aspects of life, such as friends, recreation, or career, helped minimize the pain. You may have disengaged and rebelled. After all, if following the rules did not lead to spiritual happiness, why not flout them and gratify yourself a little bit? Or, if you were particularly disciplined and skilled at compartmentalization, you may have ignored the problems and forged on with church and spiritual life, as best as possible. It felt like limping after an injury, and the problems still haunted you. Like the Whack-a-Mole game in the arcade, they continually popped up in your mind and in various situations.
Does this story sound like your own? If so, you are not alone. Many others, including myself, have gone down this road. It feels dark and lonely, so it is comforting to know that one is not alone. However, a far greater comfort would be to find a way out. After all, no one wants to stay in this trough of disillusionment. And here is the good news: I believe there is a way out. Your struggles may lie in faulty beliefs and practices common in mainstream Christian churches today. The system itself may be the root of the problems you are experiencing, not something inherent in you. What a relief that would be! These problems are also identifiable and fixable, so you can move forward and grow again in faith.
I am not promising a panacea or claiming these faulty beliefs and practices are necessarily behind your personal struggle. That ultimately is a matter between you and the Lord. However, I do believe they are the root of the problem or at least a significant contributor for many people, which is the impetus behind this writing.
This blog is a message of hope. While it points out weaknesses, it does not stop there, as if criticism alone were sufficient. Its purpose is to offer solutions and encourage Christians toward greater faith, freedom and joy in their relationship with God. I write as one who is in the same boat, who has prayed, studied, and struggled for many years to live the faith more fully. The lessons written here are firstly personal because they are the output of that struggle. I pray they may be helpful to you as they are for me.