The assurance of faith…

 

These days it seems much easier to see the evil and hardness of heart in the world than it is to see the grand things that God is doing. The focus on bad news fits with media’s mantra of “It bleeds, it leads” while the good news often has Jesus Christ stamped all over it and is filed away.

For example, we watched a narrowly won football game and in the interview of a winning team member, that player gives glory to the Lord for his ability to play well. Then the program abruptly switches to a commercial.

Months ago, a group of missionaries were abducted by criminals. When they returned home, the news reported their rescue, but the mission board website told of a miraculous escape with a locked door left open and they simply walked out and went home. No rescue involved, but the media does not like mysterious events that point to ‘only God’ so the story became tainted.
This builds a distrust in the media, and it goes two ways. I’m not sure anyone would believe it if they did report the God-events that happen.

The Bible says there will be events that are currently unimaginable, even for those who know and love God, except that God has a way of cluing us in:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9–10)

Revelations from God are difficult to describe for they are not based on presumption, or some inner, strong ‘I want’ but on the power of God to communicate by faith without visible evidence. It is a sense of knowing. Some will say, “God told me” but this has been used by those who presume, or are listening to a strong inner desire, so it is has become a suspect reason to dismiss those statements.

One NT definition of faith uses creation, along with understanding God’s acceptance of His people, as an example:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1–3)

I just know that God created all things. I’ve read the evolution arguments and heard what is said, but in my heart, I just know the biblical account is true. I also know that God accepts me because of Christ and what He has done for me. Neither are visible in the sense of having a sensory proof, but faith just knows.

Without faith, all this seems ridiculous. No matter. The Bible also says:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

At times, my mind will get distracted by media, contrary reports, blah, blah, blah, but the mind of Christ is powerful. He keeps telling me to not listen to any feeble human attempts to describe the world, but pay attention to the powerful thoughts He gives, thoughts of faith that cover not only the personal problems that I struggle with, but the events in the world that seem so godless and filled with evil intent. Faith tells me that God remains sovereign, that He has a plan that will work out just as He desires. The news may report that ‘many have died’ but the language of the Lord says ‘much more are being saved’ whether I can see the evidence or not.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

PRAY: Faith in You has visible results, the main one being Your peace in my heart. I don’t know what You are doing in the world, nor my family, nor even in my own life at times. But I do know You are who You are — and You can be trusted. Your wisdom and knowledge are complete, total, and correspond to Your holiness, love, and plan for this world, and for my life. Unsearchable and inscrutable are big words, yet the little word ‘faith’ overcomes their power — because of You.

 

Union with Christ

 
It is an amazing thing that God should unite Himself to those who believe in Him. It is a difficult and life-long process to learn that this is not only true but how to put it into practice — by living in His power instead of my own.

My friend LS said last week that our problem is discernment. Knowing the difference between ‘my will’ and His voice. For both of us, being a Christian most of our lives means that we have many good thoughts and ideas, yet we realize not all of them come from Jesus. Sometimes our ideas are just our ideas, not something the Lord is saying to us. Discernment between what is flesh and what is Spirit becomes more difficult as we age. He weeded out the obvious but that sinful self combined with the enemies lies seems to become more subtle.

That said, the Scriptures are so necessary. My old self will even try to twist them if I don’t keep  checking my ‘good ideas’ out before acting on them. On the other hand, there are some occasions when the difference is obvious. The will of God is so impressive and I know that I could never have thought the amazing ideas that He puts in my mind.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

Learning the difference — that is discernment, but having the mind of Christ and the Word of God makes the difference.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

God did not leave me to figure this out with my own resources. Otherwise, clueless me would never know what is from Him and what I dream up. In my union with Christ, I can draw on His mind to help me discern what is what. Not only that, He already knows. I cannot hide anything from Him. I simply need to let Him and His Word do their job.

If this sounds like something only for mature believers, today’s reading points out that the following passages were spoken to new believers who were still very fleshy…

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

This indwelling God is the possession of even the weakest and most immature believer in Christ. It is for babes in Christ as well as those who have been Christians for decades. Every believer is a “temple of the Holy Spirit” and all of us have access to the mind of Christ and to the Word of God to help us understand His will.

I’m thinking, the problem is not in having the ‘tools’ but not having the desire. That old sinful nature is dead, separated from God, yet it still tries to run my life and be glorified instead of yielding to God. Sin wants to be comfortable not disciplined, and do its own thing rather than the will of God. This is why we say our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil.

PRAY: God, I can resist the world, and I can realize the devil’s schemes, but my old flesh is somethings more subtle. Thank You that You gave me Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Your Word to help me discern the flesh and also say NO to it.

Faith is a gift . . .

 

Where does faith come from? Why do I believe that if I plug in my hair dryer and turn on the switch it will run? Why do I believe the sun will come up in the morning? Or that the news will be on at 6 p.m. every night? This kind of faith is based on experience and confidence in the reliability of electricity, the sun, and the television station. At least two of them could fail and then my faith would be shattered.

Biblical faith is not quite the same. For one thing, it is a gift from God — He grants the ability to believe what He says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

I can look at evidence in creation and believe God exists. I can realize that there is something or someone far beyond my experience, but unless I go for affirmation about who that is by the way He revealed it, I could come up with all sorts of ideas about who or what God is:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature . . .  (Hebrews 1:1–3)

The faith that is given by God is not the faith that can be conjured up by human reasoning, or experience, or logic, or supposition. It is a gift from God and this gift includes revelations about Him that we cannot otherwise know. For instance: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)

I recall how I believed in evolution when Jesus saved me, even argued with my mother about it. However, faith wins . . . for in a short time I realized that creation by God was true. I cannot see that or prove it by scientific experiment, but I just know that it is true — because God said so.

This is how biblical faith works; it reveals as God speaks and gives insights that unbelievers can’t know, such as how the physical universe began, where it is heading, and how it will end. I know Who governs the universe and how I fit into the total scheme of things. I know why I exist and how to invest my life in matters of eternal consequence. This is all because of Christ and the marvelous gift of faith that comes with Him:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

MacArthur says that most people refuse God’s counsel. They believe the enemy’s lie that God does not exist, or that He does not want the best for us, or that His book is out of date and cannot reveal unseen matters to us. However, such things aren’t beyond the realm of knowing—if a person is willing to be taught by God’s Word.

The Bible clearly states that God spoke the physical universe into existence, creating visible matter from what was non-physical or invisible. He “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (Romans 4:17) These are not observable but understood by this gift of faith in which God opens our heart to His realm, to His realities. The most brilliant human minds cannot see such things but those who have this faith can say with the psalmist, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.” (Psalm 119:99–100)

PRAY: Again, I know that faith is not my own doing. Jesus, it is Your gift to me, a gift that comes by grace — Your goodness and sacrificial love. All praise to You, the God who reveals Himself to sinners such as I.

PONDER: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world . . . .” (Psalm 19:1–4) The gift begins with what can be seen in creation yet it culminates in Jesus Christ. I want Him to always enable me to proclaim Him in every possible way every time that He reveals Himself!

 

 

Know spiritual truth?

1 Corinthians 2

My devotional book does not have an entry for Leap Year so today I selected an article floating around social media that sounds good. The title is “One minute after a believer dies” and it is followed by six points and Scripture references.

When I read it, I thought the points sounded true, but the references are shaky, taken out of context and most of them do not say what the points claim they say. One response called this article “fake news” and others warned Christians to be careful of what they were reading.

Yet why do these points sound true? Biblically, some knowledge comes by ‘experience’ such as when the disciples witnessed the life of Christ and knew He was a real person. However, some of what Jesus said was a mystery. They needed to understand, but their knowledge came by only ‘revelation’ — which is much more difficult to define. On this topic, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:6–13, italics mine)

Sometimes I have what is called ‘senior moments’ when the name of a person or a word drops out of my mind. No matter how hard I try, it will not come to me. That is what it is like to be in the dark about spiritual matters. A person might realize there is something to know, or have a vague idea, but the reality of it seems to be blocked. Revelation is something like that ah-ha moment when I remember the name!

Regarding spiritual matters, those realities do not come to mind the same way. The problem is not that they are blocked as much as the ‘receptor’ isn’t working. The human spirit without Christ is what the Bible calls ‘dead’ — not cold and inert dead but separated from the things of God and we cannot ‘get’ our heads around them. We might be aware something is there but at best can only guess what it is. Sin does this. Sin is that determination to do life my way — but that approach messes with understanding or even seeing God’s way. I needed God to reveal it to me.

Paul explains further:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

This explains why revelation is needed and how it happens. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I was a sinner in need of salvation and gave me His gift of faith and eternal life. This happened because Jesus Christ entered my life — an entrance so powerful that He gave me His mind as well as His life to energize my dead spirit and make it alive.

The result? The ability to think God’s thoughts, which is utterly amazing. Sinful me might try to figure out what the Bible says and means without relying on God to show me. It might lead to stuff like this list of what happens when we die. The Spirit may be revealing that some of this is true, but the sinful flesh tries to find proof-texts rather than simply believing what God has revealed by faith.

I KNOW that I will be with Jesus the moment I die. How do I know? I cannot explain it; I just know. These verses might miss the mark in proving it, but the entire biblical message used by the Spirit assures all God’s people of things that experience cannot reveal, and human knowledge cannot grasp. For that, I need Jesus and the gift of faith.