Tag: #FaithfilledFriday

On Rebuilding: Starting from the Ground Up

Posted on by VoiceShepherd 
 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations (Isa. 61:4).

If we look at the world around us today, we will see so many people in the midst of pain, brokenness, and darkness. Their lives are coming to an end, it seems. The statistics that report the number of people currently on medication for anxiety, depression, and other such problems are frightening. Those statistics are not limited to “the world,” though. The church is beginning to finally come to terms with the numbers of truly hurting people that sit in our pews every Sunday. We are all, in some ways, in a season (a lifetime) of rebuilding–and that includes the author of this post. A group of Jews experienced the same stresses and anxieties when it came to rebuilding their existence over 2,000 years ago.

Lives Ripped Apart

If you recall some history, the nation of Israel had been split in two after Solomon’s rule. The Northern Kingdom (Israel) continued her downhill spiral, and was finally sent into exile in 722 B.C. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) fared somewhat better. Judah did have some leaders who feared the Lord and sought Him. In the end, though, Judah also turned from the Lord and was finally sent into exile in 586 B.C. The Temple was destroyed, the ark was lost, and many of the treasures of the Temple were taken. It seemed that Israel’s history was over–a shining star for a few hundred years, then to fade to black.

The exile, however, would not be permanent. The Lord revealed that the exile would last 70 years, and then He would bring the people back, and they would worship Him. And that’s exactly what happened, as we read in Ezra. Notice the reference to the word of the Lord:

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1-4).

Notice that Cyrus gives credit to the God of Heaven, and then names Him (Yahweh). God used this pagan king–even to the extent that the king recognized the true God–to accomplish His purposes. So, the rebuilding began.

Rebuilding Begins with Turning to God

After gathering all the materials needed, what was the first thing the people did? Rebuild the wall of the city for protection? No. Rebuild the structure of the Temple? No. the first thing that was done was this:

Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God (Ezra 3:2).

The first thing the people did was rebuild the altar of the Lord. Why? In the Old Testament context, “returning to the Lord” meant to get rid of any altars to any other god and offer offerings to the Lord on His altar. It was an act of both repentance and faith (see the post on Toward Christ: Ingredients for Change). The next verse tells us why felt it was important to build the altar first:

They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening (v. 3).

They were afraid of the people in the land. Can you imagine? That was their land, given by God to them. Yet, now they were in foreign territory, it seemed to them–almost like they had been thrown back in time to the period of the Judges. The people in the land were not Jews. They were inhabitants from other places. The Babylonians, Medes, and Persians would often do that. They would take conquered people and disperse them throughout their empire to erase a sense of national identity. Yet the Jews had not forgotten theirs, and God preserved them.

They knew that if they were to accomplish God’s will in the midst of enemies.they must first turn to Him and seek His face. So, they rebuilt the altar and offered the sacrifices of the Lord.

What does this mean for us today? As we mentioned above, we are all in some stage of the rebuilding process. As with the Jews of old, so it is with us. All rebuilding of our lives must start with the Lord. We must turn to Him and “rebuild the altar” first.

What does that mean? We don’t have a physical altar. Instead our altar resides in our heart. Remember that the heart, in biblical thinking, is the center of the being, and the attitudes of the heart direct our behavior. When we are faced with a life that has been ripped apart, we must first see to our altar. Is my heart turned toward the Lord? Do I still believe He is good? Once we have rebuilt our altar–looking to God–then we can begin the task of allowing Him to rebuild and restore our lives. In the end, it is the Lord who does the rebuilding anyway.

The journey of rebuilding can be long, difficult, and painful. And it won’t be complete until the Day that we see Christ face-to-face. But make no mistake: It will happen. If you feel like you are sitting in the midst of ruins today, know that there is hope and healing before the throne of grace.

Next in the Series: Adversaries Among Us

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When Our Faith is Shaken (On Faith: Part 3)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

What happens when our faith is shaken? Those around us seem to be enjoying the blessings of God, yet He seems deathly silent to us. We struggle with questions about why He isn’t answering our prayers, healing our bodies or hearts, or just not speaking to us. We feel like we have been given the “cold shoulder.”

Are we in trouble? Have we done something wrong to offend Him? You know the questions that are often so prevalent and yet just as often hidden from public view. Some, like Job’s friends, would say that yes, we have sin in our life, or we don’t have enough faith, or we just need to keep reading and praying harder and more. Others give in and think, “Hey, we’re just a bunch of worthless slugs here anyhow. We have no reason to expect anything from Him.”

The Bible is clear that God is sovereign. He is over all, bound neither by time or space, nor by human freedom. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:9). We must not, however, use that train of thought as an excuse to give in to despair. While God is sovereign, He is also good, loving and gracious. One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is God’s self-introduction to Moses:

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation (Ex. 34:6-8).

In a some very early posts, we looked at this passage in detail (see The God of Gospel:  Part 1 and Part 2). Here, I simply want to point out that the very first phrases God uses to describe Himself include:

  • merciful and gracious
  • slow to anger
  • abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness

What does this have to do with our faith? Everything. While we cannot understand His ways, we can trust His character. When it seems He is silent or distant, healthy self-examination is a good thing. After such a time, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we conclude that we are walking as best we know how, then what’s left? We’re still missing something. What could it be? It could very well be that the Lord is using this time to draw us closer to Himself—to a place where we want nothing but Him.

If you are still laying in bed bound in sickness, am I still good? Am I still Lord?

If I am all you have, will I be enough?

There are those who dispute this kind of thinking, and say we just need more faith. But that view turns faith into a weapon instead of a shield (Eph. 6:16). Faith was never intended to be a weapon. It was designed to keep us connected to the Lord and His promises. Perhaps we need to look again at what Jesus taught on faith.

Jesus often taught that “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . .” In context, Jesus was saying “either you have faith, or you don’t.” Faith is not like a liquid, where we pour more into our cup. It’s rather like a muscle that we exercise and build up. But Jesus said if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we could say to this mountain “be removed and cast into the sea” (Matt. 17:20). Now, if we truly have faith and we say to that mountain “move,” and it does not move, where does that leave us?

Jesus often spoke in terms of perfection or completeness. In the ideal world, unstained with sin, our faith would be perfect. We could ask for anything and receive it. Our problem is not that we don’t have faith. Part of the problem is that we don’t yet live in that ideal world! The teaching of the reformers was spot on when they taught that every part of us was contaminated by sin. (They called it ‘total depravity,’ not meaning that we are as bad as we can be, but that all of us—every part—has been corrupted by sin.) That must include our faith also. If it were not so, then our faith could be perfect, and, by extension, we could live sinless lives here on earth.

When Our Faith is Shaken

Notice that this post started with the question about when(not if) our faith is shaken. Our faith will be shaken. It will happen. Is that being fatalistic? Not at all. It’s simply being realistic. What are we to do when that happens?

First, I suggest that we prepare in advance. We know we will face difficult times. We can prepare for those times by growing in our knowledge of God, His character and His Word. It’s much easier to prepare during times when our faith seems strong than it is to try and learn those things in the midst of the struggle.

Second, in the times of struggle, cling to God’s Word. One of the most encouraging parts of Scripture is actually in the Old Testament—the Psalms. It is a book of anger, despair, fear—and salvation. David and the other psalmists were transparent in their writings. You’ll find over and over again things like “my soul is afflicted within me.” But then you’ll see the writer turn toward God and say, “I will yet hope in You.” How could they do that? Because they knew God. They had remembered the goodness He showed them. They trusted His character when they couldn’t understand anything else.

Third, continue to seek and pray. Ask Him to transform you into His image and to show you His works. Ask for wisdom. He gives it generously. Jesus taught that we should continue to ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7:7-11). The Father is good, and He will give us the best things—even if those things are not what we anticipated.

Above all, what He wants for you and each of us is to trust Him. When the storms come, when we are trapped in the dark night of the soul that seems to stretch for months or years, He wants us to come to the place where we trust His enough to say, “All I want, all I need is You.” When we are at that place, there is no better place to be.

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The Realm of Faith (On Faith: Part 2)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

Last week’s post (On Faith: Part 1) drew a broad outline of what faith means. This week we are going to begin looking at biblical faith. What does the Bible say about faith? In our discussions in this and other posts, we want to be careful not to go beyond what is written. Defining true faith is sometimes like trying to catch the wind. Sometimes we think we have a handle on what faith is, and then something happens to turn those thoughts upside-down.

Nevertheless, the Bible does teach us what faith is like. Sometimes our ‘misunderstandings’ of it are simply due to the fact that we want faith to work the way we think it should! 

The Realm of Faith

Not only is faith something that we have (an intangible concept that we hold onto), but faith is also a realm. What do I mean by this? We often speak of “the realm of politics,” “the realm of science,” “the realm of religion,” etc. Faith in itself is a realm in which we are called to walk. Every area of life has rules or principles that govern that realm. Faith is no different. There are principles and boundaries that we adhere to in order to walk in this realm. What are they?

Biblical faith always has the God of the Bible as its object.

As we mentioned last time, many people just want to “have faith,” without expressing an object of faith. Faith, however requires an object. The realm of biblical faith, then, has the God of the Bible (Yahweh) as the object. The one walking in this realm fixes his or her eyes on God, believing His Word to them. It’s possible for faith to be misplaced. What I mean by that is that we can place faith in a person or thing and then find that our belief or trust was wrong—the chair we sat in breaks, a friend we trusted with a confidence betrays us.

God, however, is the one constant. Our faith in Him will never be misplaced. One of the many words that the Bible uses to describe His character is faithfulness. He keeps His Word. He does what He says. Even when everything or every other person fails us, He will never let us down.

Biblical faith is rooted in the character of God.

When God told Abraham to offer Isaac as a burn offering (Gen. 22), why did Abraham choose to believe and obey? Simply because God is God? While it is generally a good idea to obey the Person who holds your life in His hands, there is more to it in this case. God had previously given Abraham a promise: “You’ll have a son, and your son’s descendants will inherit all this land I give to you. They will be more numerous than the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky.”

Abraham judged God to be faithful. God keeps His promises. Thus, Abraham’s faith was rooted not just in the promises of God, but in His character. Biblical faith is grounded in God’s character. That brings up a very important point. In order to have real biblical faith in God, we must know His character. We must know Him. Faith that is not properly grounded in God’s nature and character is little more than wishful thinking.

Biblical faith is submitted to the will of God.

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, the first thing He taught them to do before making requests was to submit. He said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Modern teaching on this prayer misinterprets these statements. While they are statements of worship, they are also statements of submission. “Not my kingdom come, but Your kingdom come. Not my will, but Your will be done.” We place ourselves under His authority—and thus our faith under His authority as well.

What does this mean for praying in faith? Are we to pray, “Lord please do this if it’s Your will?” I don’t think that is the intent. When James and others tell us to pray, we are not told to qualify it like that. We are told to pray in faith. We are to pray in faith according to our standing as redeemed sons and daughters of God. But—and this is an important ‘but’—our attitude must always remain in submission. If we pray in faith and our request is not granted, there is a reason. His ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. I believe we are to keep asking, seeking, and knocking until we receive an answer. But again, our faith (and thus ourselves) must remain submitted to His will. We are to desire that His will be accomplished, not ours.

Biblical faith cannot be increased, but it can be strengthened.

Biblical faith should not be thought of a huge container of liquid to be filled up, drained, and then filled again. Rather, faith is more like a muscle that needs exercise. That’s why we see passages regarding strengthening your faith (Acts 16:5; 2 Cor. 10:15; Jude 1:20), but we see Jesus correcting the disciples’ when they asked Him to increase their faith (Luke 17:5-6). Faith even as small as a mustard seed is counted as true faith.

How does one exercise and build up his faith? It’s similar to weight training. You start with a little weight at first, then begin to slowly push yourself to lift more and more. It causes pain at first, but as your muscles strengthen, the pain goes away, and your strength increases. So it is with faith. We exercise our faith in small things, and then as it grows we exercise it more toward bigger things (mountains). What is the resistance to faith that causes it to grow? Doubt. When we have doubt, we are to push through it, and hold onto God and His promises. Without doubt, faith would become just another easy thing, and would not have the opportunity to grow.

Walking in the Realm and Having Faith

It’s possible to exercise our faith from time to time and not truly be walking in the realm of faith. When we walk in the realm of faith, our eyes are constantly fixed on God, our lives submitted to His will, and we view everything we do and say as an act of faith. While we may start out in single acts of faith, we are called to grow and begin consistently walking in the realm of faith.

As we exercise our faith, let’s remember that faith is not arrogant, but is humble in confidence toward God and His love for us. He calls us to exercise great faith for the sake of His Kingdom. We are to trust Him, no matter the outcome, for He is good, and His love endures forever.

(Go to “On Faith Part 3”)

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On Faith: Part 1

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

There is a lot of talk about faith these days, both inside and outside the church. We speak of, “having faith,” “having enough faith,” “faith-based [instruction, care, etc.],” and others. It seems that much of the general population believes that faith is an okay word to talk about. It also seems that working definition of faith would including having faith in faith.

As believers, we are called to live in the truth. That certainly includes a right understanding of faith. What exactly is faith? Is it some mystical force? Is it something we can measure? What can it do in our lives? In this post, we’ll begin to look at some of the answers to these questions.

Defining Our Terms

I’m always a proponent of defining terms, so that everyone knows what I am talking about. The same is true when discussing an idea such as faith. The dictionary defines faith as: Complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Synonyms of faith thus include trust, belief, confidence, conviction, credence, reliance, dependence; optimism, hopefulness, hope, expectation. Do any of those words sound familiar? They should. Many of them are found in the Bible when speaking of faith.

Let’s look at this definition a little closer. Faith means that we have trust in someone or something. Faith always has an object. We place our faith in someone or something. Those who say, “You just have to have faith,” without identifying the object are not teaching true faith. They are trying have faith in faith itself, and to quote a series of popular commercials a few years back, “That’s not how this works!”

The other part of the definition says complete trust in someone or something. Ideally faith is perfect, without doubt. In our world, however, that is rarely the case. Such is the nature of a fallen world. But, incomplete (or “weak”) faith is still faith.

Faith is Real

From this definition, we can conclude that faith is not some mystical, impersonal force that’s just “out there.” Faith is real and objective. In fact, faith can be measured. How do we know that we (or someone else) has faith? Let’s look at a couple examples, first an everyday example, and second an example from the Bible.

Example 1: My chair

This is an often overused, but just as much overlooked and dismissed, example of faith.  When I go to sit in my chair, I have faith that the chair will support me without breaking. I have some evidence that it will (past experience, maybe the weight limit of the chair shown on a label or in the instruction sheet, etc.). But in truth, that’s not 100% proof that the chair will hold me. It’s a very reasonable basis on which to believe the chair will hold me, however. How am I to know for certain that it will? I must sit in the chair.

Now, I have two choices. I can choose to sit in the chair, or not sit. If I choose to not sit in the chair, then I don’t trust the evidence (and thus, at the very least my faith is not strong enough). On the other hand, If I believe the evidence, I will have faith, and thus I will sit in the chair. Now, if I choose to sit in the chair, two outcomes are possible: the chair either will or will not support me. Is it possible that the chair fails to support me even though I have evidence to believe it will support me? While it’s unlikely to happen, it’s entirely possible. Faith is not, as we have said, 100% proof, but a reasonable basis for my belief (we’ll come back to the implications of this in a bit).

Example 2: Peter and the lake

Our second example comes from the life of Peter, the well-known time when he walked on the water (at least for a short period). This is often held up to people as an example of a lack of faith on Peter’s part. However, it’s in fact a perfect example to use in understanding faith.

To refresh our memory of the story, we are told that after feeding 5,000 men (plus women and children), Jesus had the disciples get into a boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while He dismissed the people and went to pray by Himself. While the disciples were rowing the boat to the other side, night fell, and along with it came a storm. Suddenly, the disciples spotted something on the surface of the water. They thought at first it was a spirit, but Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, it is I.” (Matt. 14:22-27). Matthew picks up the rest of the story:

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (vv. 28-33).

Let’s break this down a little bit. Peter decides to test the “It is I” statement of Jesus. If it’s Jesus, Peter must have thought, then He can call to me and I can in faith walk on the water to Him. Imagine such a thought! He had seen the evidence of Jesus feeding the 5,000 earlier—and the other things that Jesus had done previously. He had a reasonable basis to believe that Jesus could grant His request (I’d say more than reasonable, actually). I daresay few others would have tried such a thing, even in light of the evidence (and as we know, Peter was the only one to attempt it).

Peter exercises His faith when the Lord called out, “Come.” He begins to walk on the water toward Jesus. I often wonder what that must have felt like for Peter. After a bit, though, Peter looks around and sees all the wind and the waves. He begins to sink! Of course, we know that he cried out to Jesus and Jesus grabbed him up and brought him to the boat, with just a question: O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

So, what happened to Peter there? Did his faith fail him? Not at all. His faith was strong in the beginning, as we see. How do we know he had faith? Because he acted. He put out a test: If it’s Jesus, then He will call to me and I will walk on the water to meet Him. Jesus did in fact call to him, and thus Peter had a choice: Get out of the boat or stay. We know he had faith because he got out of the boat! What happened to his faith? Was it misplaced? His faith was not misplaced. He simply began to believe the other evidence—the evidence of the wind and the waves that said, “You can’t do this! You’ll drown!” Like in the first example, if I didn’t believe the evidence that the chair would hold me, I wouldn’t sit. In Peter’s case, he believed at first, but then he doubted.

Lessons of Faith

What do we learn about faith from these examples? Our faith can be weak or strong. As we exercise our faith and it is confirmed, our faith grows. (That is to say, the more I sit in the chair and the more it supports me, my faith in the chair’s ability to hold me grows.) Peter had faith because of the evidence he saw. Yet, his faith wasn’t quite strong enough to counter the other evidence.

But….but…. he got out of the boat! He exercised his faith. Even though he doubted and began to sink, keep this in mind. In order to sink, he first had to get to the water. And his faith DID grow, based on that and other evidence, culminating in the resurrection. His faith grew so much that he walked up to a lame man in the temple and said, “What I have I give you. In the Name of Jesus, rise up and walk,” and the man jumped up and started walking! And…and…. His faith grew even more. We are told that as Peter walked around, people “even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them” (Acts 5:15). That’s faith!

Do we have misplaced faith? When we place faith in anything or anyone but God and His Word, our faith can be shaken. People and things of this world will let us down. The chair breaks, the friend hurts us. God, however, will never reject us. His Word is a solid foundation on which to place our faith.

Next week, we’ll continue talking about faith, as we examine what biblical faith is and how it works. (On Faith Part 2)

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From Slave to Prime Minister: Lessons from Joseph

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

If you’ve been in church or read the Bible for any length of time, you’re probably acquainted with the story of Joseph, the boy with the coat of many colors (Gen. 37, 39-50). As children, that’s sometimes the only thing we remember about him. But as we read more of the story, we find that there is a lot to learn from his life, this boy who went from slavery to Prime Minister of all Egypt.

Be cautious when sharing God-given dreams.

Joseph was already the favorite of Israel (a bad start to his life, though he may not have thought so at the time). And then God gave him some dreams. In the first, his brothers bowed down before him. In the second, not only his brothers but also his mother and father bowed down before him. Now, let’s be real: If your younger brother had told you something like that, how would you have reacted?

Joseph’s brothers didn’t take it kindly. They already hated him, so then they decided to get rid of him. Thankfully, that was not the end of the road for him. God had other plans. But, we must ask the question: Was it really a wise thing to tell that to his brothers? Some of the things God gives us are meant to be kept in our heart to hang onto. Like Mary, we should keep them in our heart. There’s no suggestion that she ever told anyone the things Gabriel told her.

There’s a popular saying today that suggests you have to “speak your dreams into existence.” That’s a fairytale, and that’s not how God works. If He gave you the dream or vision, then it’s His responsibility to bring it to fruition. Your responsibility is hold onto it and act in faith.

God honors acts of faithful obedience—in His time.

So, Joseph was sold into slavery to a man named Potiphar in Egypt. The Lord was with Joseph, and He caused all Joseph did to prosper. Potiphar’s thinking, “I’m glad I found this guy! He’s taking care of everything and everything is running smoothly!” We’re told that Potiphar had no worries while Joseph was there. But then came the test. Potiphar’s wife decided she liked Joseph (yes liked, in “that” way). There’s no reason to believe she was anything less than beautiful. She kept urging Him until one day she grabbed the sleeve of his garment—and he left it in her hand. He ran out of the house. Why? He gave a great answer:

Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God (Gen. 39:8-9)

Joseph realized that Potiphar had given him a position of not only power but trust. He would not take advantage of that trust. And he recognized that he was bound to the God of his fathers, when he acknowledged that breaking that trust would be a sin against God. So, Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife. He kept his integrity—but ended up in prison. She made up a story that Joseph tried to force himself on her. It seems that Potiphar might not have entirely believed her. He could have executed Joseph, yet he only sent Joseph to prison—and again God took over. It was at least 2-3 years, but God not only brought Joseph out of prison but set him over all Egypt. Joseph had proven himself faithful in smaller things (of his character), and thus God gave him responsibility over larger things (the whole nation).

God is the Redeemer of your past.

In societies that condoned slavery (virtually all societies at that time), a slave was on the lowest rung of the ladder, no better than property—in fact slaves were property. That’s why Potiphar could have executed Joseph at will and not faced any sanctions. So, Joseph may have had a colored coat, but his past was checkered. Yet, God, in His timing used that very past—the life of a slave—to fulfill His plan to not only save lives but also to bring Israel into Egypt, just as he foretold to Abraham. It was through Joseph that God fulfilled His purposes, slavery and all.

That’s not just true of Joseph, by the way. Look at his brothers. They sold their brother into slavery. They lived with the guilt of their actions for years, even after Joseph forgave them and even after Israel died. (One can just imagine what they were thinking, “Now that our father is dead…. what will Joseph do to us?” And they reminded Joseph, “Dad said to be nice to us.”)  Their sins were forgiven, though, and they became the great nation of Israel, so much so that in just a few generations, the land was literally teeming with Hebrews!

No matter what you have done in the past—or what was done to you—God is not finished with you and will not be finished until He accomplishes His purpose in you.

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Lessons from Abraham (Pt 2)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

This week, we continue looking at the life of Abraham, the man of faith, to see what we can learn for our own journey of faith.

God is able to redeem our past (Gen. 16:1-16; 21:8-21).

The Lord gave a promise to Abram, that he would have a son. The only problem? Abram and Sarai were childless—and Sarai was getting well past childbearing years. Abram decided to take Sarai’s counsel and try to conceive through Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid. It worked. Now, legally, Abram had a son. But that wasn’t the way God wanted it done.

After Hagar conceived, the Bible says she “looked with contempt” toward Sarai. She probably became prideful, not remembering her current station in life. The Hebrew reads that Sarai “was dishonorable [or despised] in her eyes.” She now looked down upon her mistress with haughtiness. Sarai, in turn, treated her harshly. We don’t know what happened or how “harsh” the treatment was, but it caused Hagar to flee. But then “the angel of the Lord” found her. Many believe that is a reference to the pre-incarnate Christ. He told her to return to Sarai and promised that her offspring would be multiplied and be great. So, she returned to Sarai and bore the son, Ishmael.

Finally, the time came for the son of Promise, Isaac, to be born. On a day of feasting, celebrating Isaac’s growth, Ishmael “was laughing” Sarah then commanded that they be “cast out.” Though this displeased Abraham, he did so, at God’s command, for the Lord had promised to bless Ishmael also, since he was indeed a son of Abraham.

When we feel chained and held back by our past, whether it include things we have done, or things done to us, we can take courage and strength that the Lord can redeem our past and even use it for His glory.

God is pleased when we stand in the gap for others (Gen. 18:22-33).

The Lord revealed to Abraham that He was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great sin. Abraham interceded for the cities on behalf of the righteous. He appealed to God’s justice. “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” The Lord accepted Abraham’s words and said, “If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom I will spare the city.” For most people that would have been enough! But not Abraham. He said, “What about 45? What about 40? What about 30? 20? 10?” He did not badger the Lord but pled on behalf of others. And because of Abraham’s great faith, the Lord listened to him.

In the end, we know that the Lord did not find ten righteous people in Sodom, and it was indeed destroyed. There are many lessons that we can learn from this account, but on that stands out here is how the Lord is pleased to listen to the petitions of His people on behalf of others. He calls us to stand in the gap—I may be the only person praying for that one. He is pleased when we take that call seriously, even if it seems we are being a “pest” to Him. Notice that Abraham always appealed to the character of God, never his own righteousness or desires. As with Sodom, we are not guaranteed that the answer will be what we ask. But we are guaranteed that the Lord will stop and take notice of such great faith.

God keeps His promises, no matter how long it takes (Gen. 21:1-7).

The time had come. For many years, the Lord had promised a son to Abraham. They had maintained their faith, though they had stumbled once (and now the world beheld Ishmael). Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born. Thirteen more years passed. God promised to Abraham, “I will visit Sarah this time next year and she will have a son.” Abraham stumbled: “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child” (Gen. 17:17). Then it seemed he gave up: “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” I wonder if he was afraid to believe, to dream that it really could happen.

The Lord answered, “No [meaning that Ishmael was not to be the son of promise]. Sarah will have a son, and you shall call his name Isaac [‘he will laugh’]. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.”  So, Abraham would be a father at 100 years of age, and Sarah a mother at 90. Impossible? Improbable? Not with God. There’s no better way to tell the story than Scripture itself:

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age” (Gen. 21:1-7).

The Lord did it. He kept His promise, even in the midst of Abraham’s wavering and unfaithfulness. The Lord was faithful to His promise. No matter how long it took. We see that again in the birth of Jesus, Abraham’s descendant and the true fulfillment of God’s promise. God’s promise to the world had been kept—despite disobedience, backsliding, and attempts to wipe out the Chosen People. Nothing has changed. He still speaks to us today. He still gives us promises. And the promise He gives, He keeps.

Often our promises and dreams have to die before they come to fruition (Gen. 22:1-19).

Abraham had his son, the Son of Promise. God’s covenant would continue, and Abraham’s line would be blessed and would inherit the Promised Land. All seemed to be right in Abraham’s world.  Then one day, the Lord spoke to Abraham again. I can almost imagine the conversation:

Abraham!

Yes, Lord, here I am.

Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.

My son…my only son…whom I love…and …would You mind repeating that, Lord?

Despite whatever was going through his mind and heart, Abraham obeyed the Lord. We know the story. They went to the place. Abraham tied up Isaac and lifted the knife up to kill his son. How? How could he do that? Hebrews gives us the answer: “He considered that God was able even to raise [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:17). In his mind, Abraham had already given Isaac to God. He did not belong to Abraham. In a sense, Isaac was dead to him. Many times, the Lord brings us to a place where it seems the promises He made to us and the dreams from them die. They grow cold, and often we bury them. But then, like Isaac, they are raised up. They are raised up, however, not as our dreams, but as His. When they are His dreams and promises then, He gets the glory, and He provides the power. We don’t have to do it, we simply have to obey.

When the promises He made to you seem to be dead, go ahead and bury them, but remember Isaac, and the God who is faithful.

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Lessons from Abraham (Pt. 1)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

The Bible is full of examples of faithful men and women who heeded God’s call on their lives. In today’s post (the first of a two-part series), we’ll look at what we  can learn from the life of Abraham, the father of faith.

Obedience brings us one step closer to His purpose (Gen. 12:1-9).
Abram and all his family were on the way to Canaan. Gen. 15:7 tells us that God led Haran to leave Ur and head for Canaan. For some reason, however, they stopped (Gen. 11:31-32). It was a journey interrupted. They settled in Haran. One day, the Lord spoke to Abram and told him: “Leave this place and go to a land I will show you.” The Lord then promised to produce a great nation from Abram, make Abram a blessing to all people. All Abram had to do was believe God. The journey could continue.

So, Abram believed God. He obeyed. Without knowing where he was headed, he set out with his family—and the Lord. Turns out they were headed to Canaan (12:5). When Abram got there, the Lord told Him something else: “To your offspring I will give this land” (v. 6). Now, if you know anything of Abram/Abraham’s life, you know of this promise to give what would be come the land of Israel to Abram’s descendants. But did you catch that? God didn’t promise the land to Abram until Abram took the first step of obedience. Each step of obedience on the journey of faith brings us one step closer to fulfilling His purpose in us.

When we try to help God, bad things happen (Gen. 12:10-20).
Because of a famine in the land of Canaan, Abram and his family traveled to Egypt. Abram was afraid. He had Sarai, woman very beautiful, and he was afraid that others would kill him to take her for their own. So, he decided to tell a lie. “Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me” (v. 13). The lie he told perhaps had an additional motive behind it. If he were killed, as he feared, what would happen to God’s promises to him? I have to do my part in this….right? That’s what his mind might have been saying.

We know what happened. He wasn’t killed, but Sarai was taken away from him—after all, according to both of their testimonies, she was his sister not his wife. And things went well for Abram—he gained wealth and possibly fame from that lie (v. 16). But that lie cost others. Pharaoh’s house suffered plagues because of Sarai. (The Egyptians just couldn’t get away from those plagues. Seems the Pharaoh of Moses’ time should have remembered those…. but I digress.)

The Bible doesn’t tell us how they knew, but the Egyptians knew that it was because of Sarai. And Pharaoh suspected correctly that Abram lied to him. You can hear the anger in his voice: “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go” (vv. 18-19). The text says they “sent him away,” meaning they kicked him out of the land. He was fortunate that his fear wasn’t confirmed then—he lived to tell the tale. Bad things often happen when we try to “help God out.” He knows what He is doing.

God is able to provide, no matter where we are (Gen. 13:1-18).
So, after being deported from Egypt, Abram and his folks returned to the land of Canaan. Abram was traveling with Lot  also. Both of them, the text tells us, had a lot of stuff, and a lot of people (13:2, 5-6). The land was crowded, and strife developed between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. They realized that they would have to part ways.

Abram gave the choice to Lot. Lot decided on the Jordan Valley, a place that was “well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt” (v. 10). Lot chose the better place for himself. The texts hints that perhaps he compared it to Egypt, perhaps his missed the lifestyle there (the Israelites in the wilderness could have learned a lesson from this). Abram, however, did not worry. He was in the place God had called him. And the Lord assured him: “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you” (vv. 14-17). He knew that God was faithful, and would provide whatever he needed, wherever God called him.

God is big enough to handle honest questions (Gen. 15:1-21).
Now we have Abram and his family (minus Lot) dwelling the land of promise. Everything seemed to be going fine. Then the Lord appeared to Abram in a vision and said THOSE two words: “Fear not.” Usually when the Lord says those words, He’s getting ready to lay something on you that you’ll say, “Uh….what?” The Lord continued: “I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (15:1). So, Abram, thinking back to the earlier promises, decides to get real with God. A modern paraphrase in our culture might go something like this:

Look Lord, you brought me to the is land and said you’d give it to me and that I’d have more descendants than could be counted. There’s just one teeny problem with that. I DON’T HAVE A CHILD! So, um, Lord, I’m gonna have to leave all my stuff to some servant who’’s not even a relative and he will get all this land (v. 2, paraphrased).

The Lord, however, was not perturbed in the slightest. He assured Abram: “This man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir” (v. 4). Abram’s wheels must have been turning big-time then. Wait. I’m gonna have a son? Me and Sarai, we’re getting along in years. God’s gonna have to work overtime on this one. So, old and childless, Abram would have a son. And that son would go on to have descendants more numerous than the stars in heaven and sand on the seashore. The Lord did lay something big on Abram.

But, even with the questioning, “Abram believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteousness” (v. 6). His mind, however, still had trouble wrapping around the thoughts. So he had to ask the question, “Lord, how will I know for certain that I will possess it” (v. 8). At this point, we might have said, “How many times do I have to tell this guy?” Not the Lord, though. He is big enough for the honest and hard questions.

At the Lord’s command, Abram brought some animals, typically used in sacrifice. He cut them in half and laid the halves facing each other, creating a corridor of sorts. This was a common custom, called cutting covenant. Two parties making the covenant would walk between the pieces reciting the terms and the curses of the covenant. The idea was, “As has been done to these animals, may the same be done to me if I fail to keep covenant.”

But notice something here. We are told in verse 17 that God alone walked between the pieces. Abram was not part of the covenant. God alone made the covenant. It was not a covenant between God and Abram. He alone was responsible for keeping the covenant. The promise was established. Not only did God handle Abram’s doubts and questioning, but He went so far as to swear by Himself that what He said was true.

The next time we are tempted to doubt God’s promises, we should ask Him. He is big enough to handle our questions.

We’ll continue our look at Abram’s life in Part 2 –>

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Legalism, License, or Liberty?

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

Today, we are going to look at an oft-asked question by Christians: What can/can’t I do as a believer? It’s an important question, especially in the ‘post-modern’ time in which we live. Everything is relative, we are told. Situational ethics is not only condoned but encouraged. The Bible, however, takes a far different few from that. Nevertheless, there remain honest disagreements between believers about what is acceptable and what not. We won’t claim to give the final answer in this post, but simply try to look at the whole counsel of the Word.

The Believer is called to Liberty.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. . . . You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Gal. 5:1, 13).

The first thing we need to remember is that believers are free. The meaning of this word “freedom” has been much debated. Some say it means “I can do whatever I want.” Some say it means, “I can do whatever I should.” The biblical understanding of this, however, is different. Freedom for Paul meant freedom of conscience. As believers, we no longer have to struggle under the law, trying to follow external rules by which we obtain or maintain our righteousness. Since the Law can only condemn, those under the Law constantly struggle with condemnation, with “not being good enough.” The believer is free from that condemnation (Rom. 8:1). [See the blog post Bondage No More, for a detailed look at this passage in Galatians.]

Paul goes on to warn, however, that we should not use our freedom recklessly. Here’s an example of what he means in context. The Jewish Law prohibited eating certain animals. The believer, however, is free to eat any animal, as the Lord confirmed to Peter in the vision of Acts 10:9-16, and his explanation in verses 34-48. Jesus Himself had said food does not make a person unclean (Mark 7:14-19). Yet, if a believer were to eat such foods in front of a Jew, the latter would be highly offended, and thus the believer might lose an opportunity to be a witness because of his “freedom” (which, in Paul’s thinking, the believer has turned to license). Having said all that, we must also recognize that there are Scriptural limits on our freedom. We’ll look at these as a series of questions.

Is it prohibited in the New Testament?

This should be rather obvious. Jesus and the New Testament writers did name things that are incompatible with living as a follower of Christ. The lists in Rom. 1:28-32; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 6:9-11 are good places to start. Remember that these lists deal with both outward actions and inward attitudes.

Is it prohibited to all in the Old Testament?

There are also things that are prohibited in the Old Testament, either by express command (given to all people) or because of theological principles. For example, God gave this command to Noah after the flood: “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Gen. 9:4). Whatever this means—and there are varying interpretations, it was given to the only remaining people on earth, and thus it is applicable to all humanity. Murder is another example (Gen. 9:5-6).

One example that many misunderstand is that of the Sabbath. In Gen. 2:2-3, we are told that God rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy. Many people see this, in connection with Exodus 20:8-11, as a prohibition to all against working on the seventh day. However, in the Genesis 2 passage, God merely gave us an example. He rested, so we should rest. In fact, that rest is a gift to us, not a burden. The command not to work was given specifically to Israel. In fact, Jesus quoted nine of the ten commandments during His ministry. The one He didn’t quote was the Sabbath. Finally, Paul specifically tells the Colossian believers that they will not be condemned for not keeping the Sabbath (2:16).

Is it beneficial, helpful, or profitable?

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful (1 Cor. 6:12a). Here Paul is giving a guideline that is helpful in judging actions. Just because something can be done does not mean it should. The word translated helpful here literally means “to bring together.” It refers to “gaining an advantage.” When the disciples wondered about Christ’s teaching on marriage in Matthew 19, they said, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry [i.e., “there is no advantage in marriage]” (v. 10). The “advantage” spoken by Paul is not simply an advantage over someone else, but is more about being advantageous to us in our service to God. If it an act will hinder (bring no advantage or actually be a disadvantage), it should be avoided.

Is it an activity that controls me?

“All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything (1 Cor. 6:12b). Here is the second part of Paul’s guideline. This is often misunderstood or misquoted as teaching that we should avoid anything that might control us. That can’t logically be the case because any activity can reach a point where it controls and dominates us. In context, Paul is using this standard to warn against giving into lust and sexual immorality—which, by its strong desires, often do control people. But the general principle applies to any such activity—alcohol, gambling, TV-watching (don’t look at me like that). Anything that dominates my life besides the Holy Spirit should be stopped. The other side of that is if an activity used to control us, it is better to avoid it rather than allow it to do so again. “Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

Will it cause a stumbling block in another’s life?

This is another often misunderstood principle. Paul teaches on this principle both in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-10. It is often taught that we must not engage in an activity that will offend another. But what Paul is actually teaching is placing a stumbling block before another—particularly one with a weaker conscience. An example in context might look like this: A mature believer believes it is perfectly okay to eat meat that’s previously been sacrificed to an idol, knowing that ‘idols’ are no gods at all. He goes to a dinner party, and at that party a weaker (less mature believer) is present, who believes those idols are real and powerful. If the host of that party should make it plain that the meat was sacrificed to an idol, the mature believer should refuse it. Not for his own sake of course, but for the sake of the weaker brother. If the weaker brother saw the other eating that meat, he might doubt his own conscience and choose to eat—which is a sin to him because “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).

Here’s a modern example: A believer has a strong conviction that use of alcohol is a sin. If another (who believe that alcohol use is fine [avoiding excess or drunkenness of course]) drinks around the weaker brother and causes that brother to doubt his own conscience and drink, the ‘stronger’ brother has placed a stumbling block. In matters of indifference, the ‘stronger’ Christian (more mature) should give up his ‘rights’ in favor of supporting the weaker.

In the end, neither should judge the other on such matters—matters of indifference.

Does it match the characteristics we should be thinking about?

Paul gave us a lot of lists to help us know what is good and what is not. One of the ones we often overlook has to do with what we think about (and as we know, actions spring from thoughts and the heart).  He wrote: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). If it does not match those traits, then we should question whether it is a good thing.

Is it in accordance with biblical wisdom? Is it wise?

Finally, we must ask, “Is what I am contemplating a wise thing?” We are taught over and over in the Bible to seek biblical wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge, and we gain wisdom by studying the Scriptures, and seeking revelation from God. There is actually much practical wisdom in the Bible—in the so-called wisdom books (Proverbs being the most mentioned, though Psalms and Ecclesiastes also have much wisdom). Keep in mind that many of the principles here are just that—principles. They are rarely hard and fast commands.James promises that if we seek wisdom from the Father, He will give it to us liberally and without finding fault (James 1:5).

In the end, we must be led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. While we are free in Christ, our freedom is given to us so that we may encourage and build up others, instead of ourselves only. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov. 9:10). The guidelines above are simply starting points in thinking through our behaviors and panting a picture of what a follower of Christ looks like to the world.

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