No Need For A Leap Of Faith

Simple Faith or Belief in God is a requirement for a lifestyle of trusting in Him through Christ and His Holy Spirit, not a leap of faith. Scripture supports this by saying, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Heb. 11:6) The amount of faith controls one's mountains or activity within the issues of life but honesty about everything, especially your faith-level, before God seems to go a long way also. 

In Mark 9 we read of an encounter where a father brings his son, first to The Disciples for healing, then to Jesus because the Disciples could not impart the healing required. The son had an impure spirit within him that made him deaf and mute since childhood and would often toss him to the ground in seizures.

Interestingly, Matthew 17:14-20 records this same event but with different highlights. Matthew observed this story with the lesson being mainly about the Disciples lack of faith. In fact, Jesus mentions lack of faith early on in the passage when He refers to the entire "unbelieving and perverse generation", then proceeds to speak to the Disciples concerning the size of their faith.

Meanwhile, over in Mark 9:14-29, the encounter deals briefly with the Disciples inability to impart healing to the boy but then moves quickly to the view of the father and his struggle with his measure of belief. So, lack of belief is addressed in both accounts, but I find it interesting that in this rendering, Christ only acted at the rushing of an oncoming crowd - "when Jesus saw a crowd running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. 'You deaf and mute spirit. I command you come out of him and never enter him again'". 

Would Jesus have healed the boy if the crowd had not rushed the scene? The father's request for help in unbelief does not seem like the trigger or compulsion for Christ's healing. In between verses 24 and 25 of this passage I get the impression that there might have been a lesson or additional teaching that Jesus would have administered but did not because of the oncoming crowd. In any case, Christ healed the boy, explained the healing to the Disciples and then promptly left the area.

So, what does it mean to believe? The original word used many times in the New Testament for believe was pisteuo (pist-yoo-o), meaning to entrust, commit, have faith in. Jesus entered a generation that was lacking in belief in a huge way. As mentioned before, He even told the Disciples their lack of faith did not even measure up to the analogy of having and using one of the smallest, if not the smallest, seeds known to humans - the mustard seed.

The root word of pisteuo is pistis which means one under persuasion and/or moral conviction. Belief comes with proofs. Paul said a few times in Romans - "I am convinced...". If you desire the Halo, most of the time you gotta experience the Hardship. But God does not hold the title Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11) for no reason. He submits his many wonderous aides, convincings, persuasions and proofs that you and I can believe in Him and His loving care. Belief with God and in God is not blind, therefore there is No Need For A Leap Of Faith.

True Value of Being Childlike

Matthew 18:1-5 in the New International Version says,

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Notice the disciples seem to have a heavy subject weighing on their minds for first they "came to Jesus" and then they asked Him this question - "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" after God, of course. The Lord's answer seems to picture the Disciples having their priorities a little out of alignment.

Jesus saying, "unless you change" was a huge indicator that there was a change needed. The word "change" in other translations like the King James Version is rendered "unless you be converted". The original word Jesus used is strepho (stref - o), meaning turn around, reverse. I would add repent, which also means to change one's mind. Jesus knew the Disciples and told them up front, until you adopt and implement the mindset and attitude of becoming like little children - "you will never enter the kingdom of heaven".

The consequence is serious. When I research the word "kingdom" for "kingdom of heaven", the original word used was basileia (bas - il - i - ah). This word means both literally and figuratively - realm, rule and properly royalty. So, Jesus was saying, Unless you change the way you are thinking about the answer to your own question, you will never be a true citizen of Heaven or true royalty; a bonafide child in the family of God (my paraphrase).

Jesus realized their perception or focus needed a shift so that their behavior and lifestyle would follow. First, the mindset had to be established - "unless you change", with change being the key word. Secondly, God's version of childlikeness was a process - "become like little children" with become being the highlighted term here.

Jesus supplies the Disciples with two things they can work on - humility and hospitality. Speaking of "little children" not teenagers and up, but younger ones, Christ said of humility - "Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." 

As we grow older there are stages where we think we know it all and do not need any assistance from anybody on anything. Before we arrive at this stage, many of us in our early years are very inquisitive and seek to know as much about everything and everybody as possible. I believe the Lord desires us to develop the child in us that loves to learn from God, loves to ask Him questions, loves to pray to Him and get to know everything about Him. 

"Christ points to little children as the model to which the members of his kingdom must assimilate themselves. The special attributes of children which he would recommend are humility, unworldliness, simplicity, teachableness, - the direct contraries of self-seeking, worldliness, distrust, conceit." (http://biblehub.com/matthew/18-3.htm)

As a grown-up, Jesus desires believers to be receiving, welcoming or hospitable to young ones. Christ said, "And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." With such hospitality comes great responsibility. 

Kids are thirsty sponges ready to soak up all you give out. If your words are pure, the surrounding children are going to absorb those pure words. Why are they so absorbent, so immersed, so soaked like sponges at what their environment offers? Because they are experiencing things either for the first time or from a different angle and want to emulate or copy a behavior in their own way. Remember - negative words and actions can be assimilated and emulated too so take care in your "welcoming".

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11 - "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." Here Paul is separating out his then complex adult life from his simple childhood. True, your adult lifestyle now demands adult thinking, speech and actions but you can have the heart of a child while having the mind and behavior of an adult. I believe Christ desires us childlike but not childish. This is the True Value of Being Childlike. 

In Between The Glories

*Inspired by my Pastor's recent series.

I have decisions to make. I need healings in my life. I could use stress released. I have goals unachieved. I am more observant and concerned about world, national, state and local affairs now-a-days. The list continues.

However, in the past I have witnessed and experienced making the right decision, healings come to fruition, stress disappear, goals be met and so forth. So, I know the mountaintops with their Glory are there and I know my God is faithful.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (King James Version)

The New International Version reads,

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

The point to grasp is one mountaintop in life is not enough for full development or satisfaction. Therefore, we must live and look toward the next Glory and expect the Valley or No-Man's Land in between to be our vehicle, not our hindrance, to that next Glory.

From Glory to Glory is boot camp. From Glory to Glory is training and development of things personal and spiritual. From Glory to Glory, He is changing me. The 2 Corinthians 3:18 passage says a transformation occurs between the Glories (being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,). Notice that the Mountaintop and Glory are higher or increased from the previous one - "with ever-increasing glory". Therefore some call the time that justifies that higher mountiantop, that higher glory of life The Valley or The Refiner's Fire. Michael English sang it well - "There's not a crown without a cross." If you allow the change to take place and reach that Glorious mountaintop then there is a successful transformation; a glorious change.

Many times our challenges are not only forming us, they are setting us up for a Glorious opportunity – some refer to it as a Divine Appointment. One of Paul’s shipwrecks landed him on an island where he barely had time to have a pity party for himself before he was summoned to pray for and administer the healing power of God to those on the island.

This mindset of training, development and divine opportunity comes with experience and maturity. I for one need to pause the next time adversity comes my way and refrain from saying, "Woe is me." but with the focus of learning what God is trying to teach, develop or lead me to - ask, why this challenge? Why has God allowed this in my life? James instructs us like this - “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

The more Christians exercise this mindset and attitude the more we can be successful in navigating In Between The Glories.

Team Two+ (Alone Is A Lie)

Humanity was never meant to do life alone. The Christian God is even observed as being three in one, perfect unity of God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Alone is hard. We were never meant to be alone, that is a fabrication of The Father of Lies. Alone? Who is truly alone? Nobody. Ever heard the saying, "One is the loneliest number?" A person might experience loneliness - isolation through something like rejection, but nobody is ever alone. All of creation can be sure of one thing, there is No Privacy. God is everywhere, sees everything and knows all. 

However, God is more than a perceiver, He is a participator. God blessed us with a relationship with Him and each other. 

God is the one who has been with humanity from the beginning and stated that of all things that He created that was good, what was not good was that the man, Adam, was one of a kind. God made Adam, walked with him and charged him with certain responsibilities. So, God and Adam were a team for a while in the beginning, but Adam had nobody of his kind. Then, "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" (Gen. 2:18)

The word "alone" in the original Hebrew, bad, means properly separated; by implication a part of the body, branch of a tree. Adam became a third of the equation (he, God and Eve), a point on the perfect relationship triangle that mirrored The Holy Trinity. God took a rib from Adam, formed woman and brought Eve to Adam who now completed the other side of him; who was now not alone in kind.

When relying on each other to keep loneliness at bay there is always room for improvement. We can partner with someone or multiple people, then we will have made a great start at keeping loneliness and all its friends like depression - away.

The entertainment world in our culture has supplied us with great examples of this great pairing of individuals the likes of - 

1. Batman and Robin, 
2. Obi-wan and Luke, 
3. Han and Chewbacca, 
4. Abbot and Costello, 
5. Sunny and Share, 
6. Bo and Luke Duke, 
7. Simon and Simon, 
8. Donny and Marie Osmond and
9. The Wonder Twins

These make a great pair because they complement each other. 

Examples of other dynamic duos or intimate groups but that are found in Scripture are - 

1. God and Adam, 
2. Adam and Eve, 
3. Enoch and God, 
4. Noah and God, 
5. Joseph and God, 
6. Moses and Aaron, 
7. Moses and Joshua, 
8. Mordecai and Esther, 
9. David and Johnathan, 
10. Elijah and Elisha, 
11. Paul and Silas, 
12. Priscilla and Aquila
13. Paul and Barnabas
14. Paul and Timothy
15. John the Baptist and Jesus
16. The 72 that were sent out in pairs
17. Daniel and Company (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego)
18. Disciples

God does marvelous works with pairs. When speaking about the Two Witnesses to come in The Tribulation Period, Dr. David Jeremiah in his book, The Book of Signs, states -

"Another reason for sending two witnesses is to comply with the legal standards of Jewish law. At least two witnesses were required to establish the truth of a testimony: 'Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.' (Deut. 17:6). One witness may be mistaken or corrupted. But the corroboration of two witnesses confirms the truth.

The Bible often records God using two witnesses to confirm a truth. Two angels testified to the woman at the tomb that Christ had risen. Two angels testified to the disciples that He had ascended. God has often paired people to perform His missions: Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, Zerubbabel and Joshua, Peter and John, Paul and Silas, Timothy and Titus. Jesus sent out the apostles in pairs (Mark 6:7), as well as the seventy (Luke 10:1). These two witnesses will confirm God's message of judgment and His call to repentance with their perfect meshing testimony." (p.303)

Right now there is a pairing, a supernatural marriage of the The Holy Spirit with those who choose to believe in Christ as their Savior. Corporately, The Scripture calls Christians - Christ's Bride. As His Bride, we are betrothed to Him and His Holy Spirit is our seal upon our lives that the dowry has been paid in full. After Jesus returns to Rapture His Bride away, the two of us will have a wedding and wedding banquet that has no rival. At this joining, God the Father will not have to say, "What I have brought together, let no person separate." - for we, Christ and His Bride, shall be The Ultimate Pair.

There are pieces from each of these Biblical relationships that I hope I have and/or will attain in close relationships of my own. There is strength in numbers. A small or large group of friends can be a great support group in times of struggle and an awesome assembly to celebrate the victories with too.

Paul strongly admonishes Timothy and any believer with blood family - "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1Timothy 5:8) Then in Galatians 6:10, Paul speaks about the believer's spiritual family when he says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." There is great difficulty in being alone and experiencing isolation or loneliness when at the same time one is tending/caring for the needs of his/her blood or spiritual families.

Not that solitary moments are not healthy for us now and then. Our own personal time balanced with our precious relationships are a must for a healthy us. Jesus exercised this personal time and even then He was never alone and neither are we.

There is so much to be found and benefited from in a Christian partnership or friendship. God as the center of your relationship is paramount but the list continues from there with things like accountability, encouragement, humor, joy, prayer, possibly monetary or physical support and so forth. And when we can depend on each other, then we can begin to reach others more effectively. Solo-ism dies and Team Two+ arrives.

God is not only with us from the beginning, globally surrounding us with His presence, but He creates us for relationship and fills our life with relationships, with the opportunity of more relationships to come. There is no escaping God's presence, we were meant to harmoniously commune with Him and each other and know that Alone Is A Lie.