Tag: faith

Categories
Christian Living

Waiting on the Lord can be Scary. You need the Faith of Moses.

Yes, waiting on the Lord to come through can be a time of anxiety and fear. But do not worry – He always answers. (Though His answer and timing will not always be just what we were expecting.)a photo of an old clock reminding us of waiting

In Exodus, we find that Moses led the people out of Egypt. But Pharaoh determined that He would not allow his slave labor to slip out of his hands so easily. So he gathered up his army and pursued the people.

It is not clear whether God had shared with Moses how He would rescue the people, but even before it occurred, Moses trusted that God would keep His word.

Here is part of the story from Exodus 14:

The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army—chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea.

The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Even though the people had recently seen ten amazing miracles of God’s remarkable power, they are now unwilling to trust that God could keep His promise of rescue. They had hoped that God would come through, but they are now doubting that He will.photo of lifesaving float that is used for rescuing those in trouble

Moses spoke up showing his faith, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you….”

And in the next moments, God parts the Red Sea, lets the Israelites escape, and destroys Pharaoh and his army.

But that’s how God took care of the Israelites more than 3000 years ago. What about my waiting on God today? Can I trust Him to come through for me with my problems and worries?

God has promised that He is with me. And therefore He tells me that I do not have to fear. So why is it that I still doubt? Why am I so similar to the fearful Israelites, when God has been faithful to take care of me through so many difficult situations in the past?

A Prayer for us today: “God, forgive me when I worry. Give me the faith of Moses, so that even before You show Your might and power, that I trust in You and in Your amazing ability to take care of my every need. Help me to be faithful, even while I am waiting on Your answer. Amen.”

What has helped you maintain faith (and eliminate worry) while you were waiting on God’s answer to come?

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Categories
Christian Living

Miracles of God – Where Are They Today?

What happened to all those miracles? If only Jesus was still doing miracles.
Then more people would believe.
Then more people would live for God.
Maybe, like my own family today, you are praying for a miracle, and are thinking that if only it would occur, then you would put more of your trust in God.
It sounds reasonable, but is it true?

I think this statement from Philip Yancey does a great job of explaining the relationship between miracles and faith:

“Yes, Jesus performed miracles —around three dozen, depending on how you count them— but the Gospels actually downplay them. Often Jesus asked those who had seen a miracle not to tell anyone else. Some miracles, such as the Transfiguration or the raising of a twelve-year-old dead girl, he let only his closest disciples watch, with strict orders to keep things quiet. Though he never denied someone who asked for physical healing, he always turned down requests for a demonstration to amaze the crowds and impress important people. Jesus recognized early on that the excitement generated by miracles did not readily convert into life-changing faith.”

stained glass window depicting Jesus performing miracles
When we see a supernatural miracle we either have to say, “That didn’t actually happen. It was a trick…an illusion.” Or we have to say, “That really happened!”
And if it really happened, then we have to credit it to someone. How did this happen? Who made it happen? And so, after many of Jesus’ miracles, we find that some people did believe. They saw a man who was born blind healed and able to see. They knew it really happened, and so they attributed it to God.

But we have others who saw the exact same healing, investigated it, knew that it really occurred, knew it happened in connection with Jesus, but would not put their trust in Jesus. Their only option was to call him demon-possessed and attribute the work to Satan. They were basically saying “Jesus, You are doing undisputable miracles of healing people and helping people and even raising people from the dead, but we refuse to believe you are from God, so we have no other option but to call it the work of the devil.”

And so even today, if a miracle occurred right in front of us, it doesn’t mean that it would definitely lead you or others to more faith in Jesus. Because, let’s be honest, miracles actually do still happen today, but perhaps they are not always in the form that you are wanting or requesting at that precise moment. We might be praying for a miracle of physical healing for a family member, but God is crafting miracles of another kind around us, or even within us, through the situation we are facing.

It is tragic when someone sees a God-honoring miracle and they refuse to attribute it to God. What miracles can we still see today? The most common one is that we see people’s lives changed by the power of God. We see the hateful become loving, we see the greedy become generous, we see the immoral become pure, we see the liar become honest, we see the downcast become joyful. We see the power of God changing people and we can either attribute it to Him or we can explain it some other way.

And the most important miracle that is still taking place regularly – is the power of resurrection – taking someone who was dead inside and making them alive.

An Example

Beth was one of my students, and she was one of the most positive students in my entire ministry. She came to know Jesus as a young teenager and was on fire for God. He brought a tremendous joy into her heart. She had some rough situations she had to endure in her life, she had to “grow up fast” and carry a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, but in the midst of it all, she remained positive, kind, and full of joy.

One of Beth’s friends asked her one day (…and Beth, if you read this, please forgive me if I don’t get the quotes exactly right, but I’m doing my best from memory of this conversation that occurred more than 10 years ago!) He asked her one day – Beth, why is it that you are always so positive? Even when things aren’t going your way, you are always so kind to everyone else and you always have a smile on your face. How is that possible? And don’t tell me “Jesus.”
     Beth answered, “Ok.” And she began to walk off.
     He called to her, “Beth, wait. I asked you a question.”
     She said, “I know. But you told me not to tell you my one and only answer – because my answer is Jesus.”

When we encounter these miracles – even the miracle of Beth having the joy of the Lord in the face of difficulty – we have to make a decision. Her friend had to make a decision – do I believe Beth’s answer? Or do I have to say that she is either a liar or confused about the real answer. He had already predetermined that Jesus couldn’t be the answer, so when that was her answer, he refused to accept it.

After each miracle or sign of Jesus, people had to make a decision. The miracle you are requesting might not occur. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t at work around you. You may just need to open your eyes to how God is crafting a miracle within you through your situation right now.

Categories
God

Your God Is Too Small

“Your God is Too Small”
  by brian rushing

After Hurricane Katrina, when I was rebuilding my library through the gifts of people donating books to me, one of the books that was sent to me was titled: “Your God is Too Small.” When I saw the book, I immediately thought: What a great title!
a tiny snail symbolizing how we sometimes feel about God - too small, too slow, too powerless to help us
Too often that seems to be the truth for us…
Our God is too small… That is, the God we have in mind is too small.
It was the reason that Moses questioned God’s ability to provide meat to all the Israelites when they were wandering toward the Promised Land. “God, ummm… I know you said you’d provide us with meat, but maybe while you are sitting up there in heaven you forgot to look down here and count us… there are a lot of us to feed. I’m not sure you are able to fulfill your promise.”

To which God replied: Is My arm too short? Do you think that my power is limited? Wait and see whether I can fulfill my promises.

And He did fulfill His promise.
He sent them so much meat, they got sick of eating it.

I am so very much like Moses and the Israelites. Too often, My God is too small. I don’t believe that He has the power to fulfill His promises. That is why I worry. When I worry, what I am actually saying is: “God, I’m not so sure that you are going to be able to come through for me this time.” But the truth is that God is never small. Just my faith and belief in Him are. Instead, God is too big for me to even comprehend.

The word majesty, when applied to God, is always a declaration of his greatness and an invitation to worship. The same is true when the Bible speaks of God as being on high and in heaven; the thought here is not that God is far distant from us in space, but that he is far above us in greatness, and therefore is to be adored.
”Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise” (Ps 48:1).
“The LORD is the great God, the great King. . . . Come, let us bow down in worship” (Ps 95:3, 6).
The Christian’s instincts of trust and worship are stimulated very powerfully by knowledge of the greatness of God. But this is knowledge which Christians today largely lack: and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby. We are modern people, and modern people, though they cherish great thoughts of themselves, have as a rule small thoughts of God. When the person in the church, let alone the person in the street, uses the word God, the thought is rarely of divine majesty.

A well—known book is called Your God Is Too Small; it is a timely title. We are poles apart from our evangelical forefathers at this point, even when we confess our faith in their words. When you start reading Luther, or Edwards, or Whitefield, though your doctrine may be theirs, you soon find yourself wondering whether you have any acquaintance at all with the mighty God whom they knew so intimately.

I sometimes feel that way when I read books by godly men.
I sometimes feel that way when I sit in Sunday School class and hear other people speak about their relationship with God.
I sometimes feel that way when I hear other people pray to their Heavenly Daddy.

Do you ever feel that way?

My prayer today is that of the father who came to Jesus with a demon-possessed son and said:
“…if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
To which Jesus said: “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
And immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

God, I do believe You are big enough to meet my every need and fulfill my every desire; help my unbelief!”

What are you facing today? Do you trust that God is big enough to handle it? Do you need to pray that He will help you get past your unbelief?


        (Quotes in today’s post are from Knowing God by J. I. Packer)


Categories
Jesus

What’s All The Fuss About Jesus – Part 2

Wipe that silly grin off yer face!
smiley faces to symbolize the joy and hope found in Jesus
You Christians are not realistic. You keep on smiling and being happy even though this world is getting worse and worse every day. How can you maintain such irrational hope against the facts of what we see on the news each day?

The Answer: It is all about hope in something bigger than us –

“…Christians can hope because faith always reaches beyond earthly circumstances. Its confidence is in a person. And no other person in recorded history has influenced more people in as many conditions over so long a time as Jesus Christ. The shades and tones of his image seem to shift with the needs of men: the Jewish Messiah of the believing remnant, the Wisdom of the Greek apologist, the Cosmic King of the Imperial Church, the Heavenly Logos of the orthodox councils, the World Ruler of the papal courts, the monastic Model of apostolic poverty, the personal Savior of evangelical revivalists.

“Truly, he is a man for all time. In a day when many regard him as irrelevant, a relic of a quickly discarded past, church history provides a quiet testimony that Jesus Christ will not disappear from the scene. His title may change but his truth endures for all generations” (Bruce Shelley).

Put your Hope in Jesus!

Categories
Christian Living

Astonished

What astonishes you?

For example –
Paige is astonished by how quickly I can fall asleep (and begin snoring)!
My dogs seem to be astonished that they are going to be fed again today, even though we feed them every day.
My church is astonished at how quickly I can put my foot in my mouth from the pulpit.

And me – One of the things that astonishes me is that Jesus could be astonished.

The idea that the Creator has made us in such a way that He can still be astonished by us is a remarkable thing.

In two instances Jesus is said to be astonished about faith (or the lack thereof).

When Jesus encounters a man who easily believes that Jesus can heal by just the power of His spoken word, Jesus is astonished at the faith of the man. I don’t know that I have that type of faith. I want to! But if my child were sick, I would want to make sure that Jesus came to the house. In fact, I would be dragging Him by the hand, and then bring Him to my child’s bed and have Him heal my child by laying His hands on Him. That way, if it didn’t work (see, I’m already doubting), Jesus could do it again. This guy was willing to tell Jesus – “You don’t need to bother with coming all the way to my house. Just say the word and I know that my child will be healed because of Your great power.” Wow.

But when Jesus went to His own hometown, even though they had certainly heard the reports of Him healing people in other areas, they just couldn’t believe in Him or His abilities. And it says that Jesus was astonished by their lack of faith & their unbelief.

That’s more like me. Maybe you too? We find it so easy to slip into worry and doubt. When life throws us a curveball, when difficult circumstances appear on the horizon, we lack the faith to trust God during the storm.

What would Jesus say about my faith? Or about yours?

Is your trust in Him so complete that you never worry nor are anxious due to your complete surrender to His authority & plan for your life? When we make it to that place of faith, then even when the security & peace we desire are shattered, we are OK and keep trusting without worry, because we know that God will walk with us through whatever we are facing.

Do you cause Him to marvel because you trust Him completely?
Or instead, does He marvel at your lack of faith in His plans and ability?

We need to be like the child on the edge of the swimming pool that fully believes Dad when he says “Jump to me! I’ll catch you!”

How do you keep a childlike faith and trust in God?