THE CONFIDENCE OF LIVING BY FAITH

Blessings!  I will be summarizing the Bible Study we had on 3-1-11 in this post.

We studied a couple of passages that reminded us of the blessing of living as a righteous person does, which is by faith!  We started off by visiting a familiar passage for many...Jeremiah 29:11.  When I preach, I don't like to preach too much about humans or humanity; I like to spend as much time as I can focusing on God and glorifying Him alone.  This Bible Study the Word reminded us about how special we are to God.  He has special plans for you and me if we only get on the same page with Him.  Every single day that we live God has personally designed and prepared for us as Psalm 118:24 clearly says that TODAY is the day the Lord has made, we will REJOICE and be glad in it!  Every day that we are living we have to be on guard in prayer and reading the Word and being in communion with Him all the day long.  If you woke up today and have life, you can rest assured that God has a purpose and a plan for you to follow TODAY!  I love the word TODAY...present tense.  TODAY kind of forces us to take a decision every day that goes by.  TODAY does not allow you to dwell on the past (be it good or be it bad), TODAY does not allow you to live in the tomorrow (the future) which is never promised or guaranteed.  TODAY forces us to take a stance and define where we are and who we are!  TODAY I have the choice to live by faith and BELIEVE God has a plan and purpose for me to be alive and LIVE like it....or I can choose to be passive, lazy, unbelieving and apathetic.  What will you choose TODAY?  When attempting to do things to edify your life that you've never done before...do not think about your past failure, do not think about how you will not be able to follow through tomorrow!  Think about TODAY!  TODAY if you hear His voice DO NOT harden your hearts!  The Bible relates a story in 1 Samuel 17 about two nations that were going to battle....the beloved nation of Israel and the Philistines.  The only peculiar detail about this battle was that it was not going to be fought the way wars are traditionally fought.  The Philistines had a champion among them who was literally a HUGE GIANT!  The Philistines said that each nation should choose a champion and that only the champions would fight and whoever won, won the entire battle.  The Philistines no problem had their Giant champion picked out, but the Israelites weren't so lucky.  For many days the giant would breathe out threats against Israel and threats against their God (Our God).  For many days also, the Israelite army would get in battle array and decide to go attack the giant (Goliath), but when they would get close to him they would retreat.  And they repeated this scenario over and over for a long time...in other words... they were in FEAR procrastinating.  The people of Israel procrastinated many days for their lack of confidence and faith in God.  They were not living in the TODAY faith that we as believers should be living in.  Many Christians today are living like these Israelites...in fear and in doubt....with giants in their lives and they are procrastinating and avoiding the day that they have to confront them.  These giants can be problems, tests, habitual sins, temptations, etc.....Now, let me briefly revisit the story, in this story a hero steps on the scene....a person who was living confidently and by faith...someone who was full of the Spirit of God...David!  When David realizes what is going on, he immediately gets involved without hesitation, fear, doubt, or worry.  He just literally says.....I'll take him out...the Lord will deliver him into my hands!  He tells the giant, you come to me with spear and javelin, BUT i come to you in the name of the Lord!  David goes against this giant in the midst of all the mocking and threats and takes him out with one little stone!  When we give God the little that we have and live by faith, He takes that to the next level and uses it for something great!  See, sometimes the problem is that we actually believe the lies of the devil when he tells us that whatever we have or could possibly give to God is too small and insignificant to make any real impact.  That is the biggest lie.  God always takes our little and small and when it is a righteous person...He backs it with His supernatural power and makes a big difference.  We are looking for something huge to happen from God, but if we only knew that it is the little, small, everyday things that we can change and give TODAY, that could be the key to victory over giants in our lives!!  It's time to stop procrastinating and avoiding the giants in our lives, in our families, in our cities!!!  Let’s take them out without hesitation in the Name of the Lord!!!  Without Fear!!!!  When we give 100% of our everything to God and live our lives with fear of God....When we live with purpose by faith EVERYDAY...We are AUTOMATICALLY, BY DEFAULT BLESSED!!! 

I think I've gotten a little carried away with this post, so I will stop here and leave you some homework!  Read Psalm 112, which is a description of a person that is blessed!  When you are blessed, you can live out for Christ with CONFIDENCE!  Blessings!

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

The topic we covered at the Bible Study on 2-22-11 was about faith and obedience.  We looked at the relationship between faith and obedience and how they go hand in hand.  I am going to write one statement that will briefly summarize and describe the focus of this Bible Study topic.  Before I mention that statement, I have to warn you to please read it with careful attention to detail and please don't misunderstand the point.  In the dangerous times that we are living today, there are certain words that have become taboo in the Christian circle and frankly I think it's a shame because we are missing out on important aspects of the Christian faith because of our ignorance.  Words like...OBEDIENCE, DISCIPLINE, WORKS, FAITHFULNESS, TRAINING, TEACHING..etc.  If one tries to mention these words in churches today you will most definitely not be tolerated.  You will be viewed as religious, over-zealous, works-focused, pharisee and being stuck in an old mentality.  I think it's sad.  I understand that it is possible to go to an extreme in any type of belief, but it is not always the case.  I pray we would use wisdom when reading the Word and when hearing it.  Anyways, this is the statement.  We OBEY because we have FAITH.  You can not apply it backwards, it will become untrue.  We do not have FAITH because we OBEY, BUT rather we OBEY because we have FAITH.  The whole reason why anyone even remotely tries to obey the Word and live for Christ is because they BELIEVE and have FAITH in that Word and most importantly they have FAITH in the One who spoke that Word.  If someone told you that there was a fire in the building you were in and you believed what they were telling you, you would automatically have a response and get out of the building as quickly as you could.  On the other hand if you thought they were joking or pranking you, and you consequently did not believe their word, you would respond with apathy and do nothing about it.  The statement I made a few sentences ago was logical and even spiritual.  Obedience is a natural response to believing God!  The ONLY way that we know that Abraham BELIEVED God and that it was credited to him as righteousness is that he actually took Isaac up to the mountain and made every intention to sacrifice him as God had asked him to.  Enough about this though, let me get to the portion of scripture that we studied.  We studied Matthew 24:45-51.  We see the story of two servants.  A wise one and a wicked one.  The Lord made both of them ruler of His household and to give them food in due season.  The Bible says that the servant will be blessed if the Master comes back and finds him doing what he asked him to do.  In other words....obedience.  If the Lord comes back and finds us obeying what He asked us to do we will be blessed.  The Lord says, that if the wicked servant says in his heart that the master is delaying his coming, and begins to get drunk and beat on his fellow servants the Lord will come back at an hour he doesn't expect him.  The main problem/downfall that I see of this servant is his lack of faith, because in his heart he did not believe that the master would come soon, he decided rather to believe that his master was taking forever to come back.  Many people today have lost faith in God the exact same way as this servant.  Sometimes live gets tricky, sometimes the journey of our lives becomes difficult or hectic and we begin to become weary (spiritually speaking).  That is why it is so important to read the Bible and pray and fast and apply the Word on a DAILY basis.  We have to stay plugged in with a body of believers who can share our burdens.  It is vital to us staying strong spiritually through every test, trial, temptation, etc.  No matter how many people are against us or have forsaken us, we must remain encouraged and keep our faith!  If we lose faith it will affect our obedience towards God!  That is why the devil attacks our faith so hard and he wants to destroy it. 
We also read Hebrews 3:12-15 about how the scripture warns of an unbelieving heart being found in one of us.  It warns against unbelief.  Unbelief leads to rebellion and in departing from the living God.  If we hear God speak to our hearts we must obey and NOT harden our hearts.  It also mentions how we should exhort each other DAILY so that we will not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  It says that we will be partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our CONFIDENCE steadfast to the end.  FAITH is our complete and utter confidence in God.  It is that very confidence in Him that will pull us through the entire journey of this life to the very end STILL believing 100% in our awesome God! 
To not make this post eternally long, I will end it here encouraging everyone to remain steadfast, keep your confidence in God to the last second.  If He said he is coming soon, then we have to believe Him 100% and LIVE like we believe.  Everyday that goes by, we have to trust that we are one day closer to SEEING GOD HIMSELF.  He who promised is faithful!  Let us be FAITHFUL and WISE SERVANTS!  Blessings!

2 Timothy 4

This was the last chapter we studied during Bible Study last Tuesday.  I am not going to explain everything in detail on this post, but I will highlight some key points.

Verses 1-5:

In this last chapter of this book Paul is giving his last instructions to Timothy.  The book of 2 Timothy by the way is known to be one of Paul’s last writings before he died a martyr’s death.  He stresses the importance of preaching the Word and to be ready in season and out of season.  This means, be ready to preach when things are going well and when they’re not going so well.  Be ready to preach when it’s most convenient to you and when it’s least convenient to you.  Preach the Word with all you’ve got when there’s electricity and when there’s no electricity.  When there is an audience of one and when there is a stadium full of people listening to the Word.  The point is BE READY.  In order for us to BE READY, we have to maintain a good relationship with God and be reading and studying His Word daily.  We are also reminded in verse 2 that we can use the Word of God to CONVINCE, REBUKE, and EXHORT.  Convince- to make someone agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something; to persuade.  Despite what other people make think or believe, we CAN use the Word to persuade or CONVINCE people to serve Him or give their life to Him!  Rebuke- to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.  This, I know will not sit well with a lot of people living in this generation, BUT the Word of God CAN be used to disapprove of something or to reprimand someone or a particular behavior or way of living.  Exhort- to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently.  Many people today and even Christians think they are living perfect lives and have no room for improvement because they already know it all, BUT the Word CAN be used to advise someone or to caution someone.  No one, Christian is okay fighting the battle alone.  God created us to depend on Him and to be united with other believers in MUTUAL, HUMBLE, submission.  Another thing Paul mentioned was that this preaching, convincing, rebuking, exhorting was to be done with all longsuffering and teaching.  When we preach the Word of God we have to be patient with the hearers and with those who are learning and growing.  We have to suffer long with them through their growth and we have to TEACH.  TEACHING is something that is seldom being done in churches and Bible Study groups today.  It’s more of a social gathering and an honoring of traditions, rituals, and men.  When we gather together it MUST be for EDIFICATION.  We have to PREACH and TEACH.  If we don’t teach how are people going to know their God and serve Him?  I think this is why we have so many people serving God out of feeling and emotion, and worst of all opinion.  In today’s church everyone serves God how they see fit, instead of how God commands. 

In verse 3 Paul is predicting a time when people would no longer endure sound doctrine.  I think we are now living the time Paul was predicting.  Sound doctrine is core, principal truths that are immovable, infallible, concrete and uncompromisable.  Sound doctrine is sometimes hard to understand for the natural, human mind.  It just doesn’t make sense because it his hardcore spiritual.  True sound doctrine has to be ENDURED.  I’ll give a couple of brief examples.  One doctrinal truth is that hell DOES exist and that anyone who does not come to trust in Christ for salvation will definitely go there.  This is not easy to digest.  Hell is a very ugly topic.  No one wants to go to sleep thinking about hell.  I don’t think anyone enjoys talking about hell, BUT it is a reality and a doctrinal truth.  Some people would choose rather to not believe in a hell and in doing so, not endure the sound doctrine.  Instead they form their own beliefs out of their own rationalization and say there is no hell and preach to others that there is no hell.  This is what Paul was speaking about in 3 and 4.

Verse 5 is stressing the importance of doing our work as evangelists and FULFILLING our ministries.  If we are believers , then we are part of the body of Christ and God has blessed everyone in the body, with a specific function, gift, ability, talent, and He wants us to FULFILL our ministry.  God did NOT call us to be stagnant or stale believers, but rather active and passionate.  God wants YOU and me to FULFILL our ministry.  In verses 6-8, Paul is saying his farewell and prophesying that he will die soon for the Lord.  He stressed three important things that he achieved during his life and theses 3 should be our Christian life goals.  We should FIGHT the good fight, FINISH the race, and KEEP our faith.  Many Christians today are in danger of doing the opposite, they are giving up, they are turning back and they are losing faith.  Our goals are ACTION goals.  Live for Christ today!  FIGHT! FINISH! And KEEP!  Fight the good fight every day!  Run in such a way to FINISH the race! KEEP your faith! 

In verses 9-16 he briefly mentions about certain people forsaking him and abandoning him in the ministry.  I think this scenario points out to us that we can NOT depend on anyone to do the work of ministry…only God.  There will be times when we’ll be standing alone, BUT we can NEVER give up.  If everyone at church will stand with us……AWESOME!  If we are left alone….WE MUST CONTINUE ON and trust the Help of the Holy Spirit!

One last thing that I found pretty interesting from verse 17 was that not only was Daniel from the Old Testament delivered from the Lion’s mouth, but also Paul!  Christ was living through Paul and Paul was NOT living for himself, but for Christ.