“Fight the good fight of faith” (I Timothy 6:12).   If you could hear Jesus say that one thing in your life was “great,” what would you want that to be? Would it be that you have a great faith? Would the Lord of the universe ever compliment your faith as “great”? For faith to work, we must expect God to move, even in a moment when we least expect him to move. We must believe that He can change our life’s game in 15 seconds. That’s how great faith looks at life. A great faith in God is key to experiencing His miraculous power, being great in his eyes, and moving from superficiality to significance. Familiarity can and does breed contempt. When Jesus visited Nazareth, his hometown, the Bible tells us he couldn’t perform many miracles at all. Jesus marveled at their unbelief. That is not what we want our Creator to marvel at, for we want Him to marvel at our great faith. Does your faith trust the Sovereign God of the universe no matter what? The Lord Jesus wants us to trust Him no matter what, even when bad things happen. Sometimes when we find ourselves wondering at the strong winds that have been allowed to blow our way, it really becomes the testing ground to see how “great” our faith really is.

A New Start

“For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Paul went through much of living in a culture that was antagonistic toward Christ. So many problems came and went against him, trouble on every side of him, problems that pressed hard against him, and yet he learned the secret of contentment.

Look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you see? I see in the mirror a man who is aging and breaking down externally. But, again,  take a look in the mirror of the Word. What do you see? Do you see the eternal springing up within you, the everlasting joy that comes from looking away from the obvious to the real?

Paul did not faint because he kept his eyes on the eternal and the internal. His daily focus was disciplined upon Christ and His Word. He learned that the outward things were temporal and could be discouraging. The things not seen were eternal and were an eternal weight of glory. What is discouragement? It is a temporary loss of perspective.

Focus on that which is unseen, the truths you know in your heart, for it is that truth that is a reality. We need to focus on the inner man. Life is passing us by. We have the opportunity to focus on the eternal and internal daily for the next 364 days of the year.

“If, then, I do what I will not do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Romans 7:16-17).

When you’re saved, God doesn’t fix you to where you can’t sin anymore but where you can’t sin and enjoy it. Romans 7:14 says, “…I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:18 says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” Romans 7:21 again, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me…” Then in Romans 7:24 says, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

We are free from the penalty of sin but we are not free from the presence of sin that causes temptation. We are free from the power of sin but we are not free from the possibility of sin which can cause failure.

We, who have been born of the Spirit of God, born from above, still have that principle of indwelling sin. The more mature we become in the Lord the more we see that we are sinners before God. Sin is no longer your Sovereign but sin still produces a stain upon the soul and it is your adversary. We do not become better, for in Christ we are positioned righteous, but we do run to Christ, turn to Christ, depend upon Christ, knowing our sinfulness but knowing His Saving Power over sin.

Spiritual Development:   Is it a Blessing? Or a Burden?   “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). Most fathers are absent when it comes to leading their children to faith/life issues. Most mothers are misguided as well when it comes to patiently loving their children to Christ. There are very few lives where Bible and devotions are in the home. Today’s generation of youth know little of the Faith once delivered. They know little of the reason for the Bible and to why they believe what they do. Dawson McAllister states that ninety percent, “of kids active in high school church youth groups do not go to church by the time they are sophomores in college.” Rigorous teaching and training in the faith of children as taught in Scripture must be practiced, or the church will lose multitudes more to the god of this age. What a great time to invest in the lives of our youth. It is a good time to always reach out to children and youth, to lead them and to guide them to Christ. Evangelism and discipleship is never easy. We seem to want everything to fall into our laps. It is not the way of the Master. For discipleship works when we work as we are led by the Spirit of God. There will be trials, tears, and at times a desire to throw it all to the side–but it is not what God would have for us or for the youth of this day. Paul travailed in prayer, in practice, and in perseverance till Christ was formed in the church of Galatia. Should we expect anything differently?

 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction”

(Proverbs 1:7).

We can tell if we truly fear the Lord. How?

1. We joyfully delight in the Word of God.

Psalm 112:1 tells us, “Praise you the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in his commandments.”

2. We passionately apply God’s Word to our everyday lives.

Psalm 128:1 proclaims, “Blessed is every one that fears the Lord, that walks in His Ways.”

3. We place confidence in the promises of God.

Psalm 147:11 has said to each of us, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in his mercy.”

We need to get back to God’s Word! Anything that takes the place of God’s Word leads to idolatry.

 

 

“So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded to do, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty” (Luke 17:10). God’s people are called to be together and to serve together. One of the most respectable sins that is taking place today is the sin of individuality – the pride of an independent spirit. This spirit of independency is killing our country and our communities. The church is not strong. Why? Because the church is the one organism God has brought together. When one part of the organism begins to withdraw from the body of believers as a whole then cancer begins to show up. And it will metastasize to the point of corrupting other parts of the body. When the human spirit expresses itself apart from the body of Christ, then we can be sure that it will cause harm to the family of God and to the person’s family. The spirit of independency expresses itself in two areas: a resistance to authority, especially spiritual authority, and an unteachable attitude. When we are young, we tend to think we know it all. When we are old, we tend to think we are not needed. God has given the family so that we will learn to submit to one another in love. God has given the church so that we will learn to obey God’s headship and to do it with joy and not with joblessness.