A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Faith is..."

The couple knelt beside their young son praying for God to heal him. Soon the young lad raised his head up from the altar and proclaimed, "God has healed me!" They rejoiced together. They believed that God had healed their son of his diabetes. They went home and threw his medications away. Soon after the boy became ill. It was obvious that he had not been healed. Nevertheless, they continued to withhold his insulin. "God is testing our faith", they said. The boy eventually feel into a diabetic coma. When confronted by authorities, the parents insisted that God would awaken their son, for they had faith. When the boy died, the parents continued to proclaim their faith telling people that, "God will raise our son from the dead." Both father and mother are now in prison serving a life sentence for murder. They tell the story in the book "We Let Our Son Die," and there they confess their abuse of faith.

Most, if not all, have one time or another misused faith. We probably have not suffered the heart breaking results this couple did. Nonetheless, we like they, often wave our faith in God's face thinking that it is the means by which we get God to give us what we want. We go to God reminding Him of Jesus' words, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move," Of course He will give us what we ask. Jesus said that if we pray in His Name that God would "give us the desires of our hearts." We treat faith as a "spiritual magic wand." We wave it and God does what we want.

The problem is in our understanding of faith. We know that faith is essential to the Christian life. One cannot be a Christian without it. We are "save by grace through faith." "Without faith it is impossible to please God." The righteous live by faith. But, faith is not the means to get what we want from God. It is not a spiritual token which we put into the heavenly vending machine so we can make our selection. It is crucial for us to have a proper understanding of faith.

The writer of Hebrews defines faith as, "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) This definition does not clear things up real well for many of us, so the writer put faith on display giving us examples of faith revealing what it is and how it is to be used. Ponder with me about this essential element to Christian living and gracious gift of God.

As we read through Hebrews 11, we quickly realize that in each recorded incident, faith was a response to God. It was not telling or getting God to act. Rather, God spoke, revealed, told and in faith the person respond. "By faith Noah, when warned..." "By faith Abraham, when called..." In every case faith was response. God initiates and faith answers by obediently acting upon God direction. Paul, in Romans 10, speaks to this as well. Here, dealing with saving faith, he states: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?" Before we flex our faith, let us be sure we have heard from God. And when He has spoken, let us wholeheartedly respond - "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."


"Faith is Communal"

The gentleman walked into the church with his family and was greeted by an usher. After being welcomed the man bluntly ask, "Tell me, why should I come to this church? What do you have to offer me?" The "me" of this man's question was emphatic. He is not alone in his narrow view of the church's purpose and of one's faith. God's people have been greatly influenced by the "meism" of our society. Honest evaluation reveals that a majority of our worship is not "Theo-centric" (God-centered), but "ego-centric" (me-centered), as is much of our faith. As personal as our faith is, it is never private. It is never isolated from the community. Hebrews chapter eleven reveals the unselfish communal nature of faith. It reveals that one's faith yokes him/her with the faith community.

Note this important fact about the faith of the people mentioned in this Faith Hall of Fame. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised , they only welcomed them from a distance." (11:13) "These were commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." (11:39-40)

God's people must break free from the self-centered narrow mindedness of the world. We need to understand that our faith in God connects us with something far greater than "me." We are not isolated individuals. When we exercise our faith it effects the whole, including the yet to be. The "ancients were commended for their faith" which was securely fixed upon God's promises. They were sure of what they hoped for and certain of what the did not see. They died with living faith, not fully realizing the promise, because by faith they knew God's purposes encompassed far more than themselves and their own present situations. We enjoy "something better" in the New Covenant because their faith was communal in nature, rather than ego-centric.

The is no disputing the mystery here. There is also no debating the facts. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Because our faith is in Christ it coalesces us with the saints of ole, who lived by faith for our sakes; it yokes us with present saints, for we are the body of Christ; it links us with the saints yet to be, for they depend on our living faith to lead them in a life of faith.

This one is going to keep me pondering... by faith...
 


"Faith Sees..."

At Sunday night testimony time the person most often first to rise was brother Duke (as he was affectionately called). This saint of God could not wait to proclaim his love for Jesus. It seemed like he began his testimony the same way every time. "The Lord Jesus is more real to me tonight than this pew I am sitting on", he asserted with clarity and conviction. I would watch the faces of others as brother Duke testified. I was curious about their reaction to his testimony. I wished that for a moment I could read their minds. What were they thinking about his declaration?

Some revealed a cynicism as they glared into space. You could almost hear them say, "get real man!" Others revealed a longing for such an assurance as his. Others grinned with that "maybe someday" look upon their face. They probably thought that this blessed assurance comes only after you have walked with Jesus for as long as brother Duke had. Yes, and their were those who smiled with quiet agreement, beaming with blessed contentment in Christ Jesus. But it seemed to me that the majority of listeners had the inquisitive look upon their face. The question in their eyes could not be missed; How does he see Jesus so real?

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." This is how the powerful eleventh chapter of Hebrews begins, and this is how brother Duke saw Jesus so real - Eyes of Faith! As you read through the rest of Hebrews eleven you cannot help but realize that faith sees what the naked eye cannot. Faith sees beyond the harsh materialistic world that so many call "real." Note verse 13, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. The did not receive the things promised; they only saw them from a distance." Faith has an eternal perspective. Faith is certain of what it is not seen by the human eye, yet is visible, through faith's eyes.

People of faith we have such eyes. They are not only for the seasoned saints. When God gave us this precious gift of faith, it included the ability to have an eternal perspective. Granted too many Christians have allowed this ability to atrophy from lack of use. They say to that we have to deal with the real world. Don't you see? That is exactly what faith does! It allows us to see the eternal rather than the temporary; the real rather than the fleeting. This is why Paul admonishes us to " fix our eyes not on what is seem, but what is unseen. For what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Basketball coaches constantly warn players about the danger of "tunnel vision." They instruct players to develop and expand their peripheral vision. Peripheral vision allows a player to see all of his fellow players and be aware of everything that is happening around him. Just like the basketball player must develop his peripheral vision, so God's people need to exercise and develop their faith vision. In Christ they have it, but it must be exercised and used constantly. Only as it is exercised does it develop, mature and become more acute.

Beloved, join me in fixing our eyes not on what is seen, but what is eternal.

Keep Close To Jesus

Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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