faith

  • if you believe...

    Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
    It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
    So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
    But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
    Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
    Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
    ...
    So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
    Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;
    and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
    Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
    Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
    "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
    Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
    Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
    Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
    She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
    When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
    And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
    Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
    Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
    Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
    When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
    Jesus wept.
    So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
    But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
    So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
    Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
    Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
    So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
    When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
    The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."   (
    John 11)

  • unable to clarify

    One of the hardest things I've ever faced is the condition of being repeatedly and massively misunderstood by someone whose opinion I care about, while being constrained by certain factors that I am not allowed to even try to clear up the misunderstandings.  I long to help this person understand me, but I am not permitted to try.  I must trust that God has good plans in mind, and continue to seek to delight myself in Him alone.

    I suppose many others have faced this type of thing too, before me.    Sigh.    All pain here is only temporary (for those of us who believe in Jesus).

  • Faith... for deliverance? or regardless of deliverance?

    Thinking today about the difference between David's "faith" and the "faith" of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

    The former:

     20So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.
    21Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.
    22Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.
    23As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.
    24When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
    25The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."
    26Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"

    ...
    31When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.
    32David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
    33Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."
    34But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
    35I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
    36"Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."
    37And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine " And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."
    ...
    41Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
    42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
    43The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
    44The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."
    45Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
    46"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
    47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."
    1 Samuel 17
    The latter:

     14Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
    15"Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"
    16Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
    17"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
    18"But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

    Dan 3:14-18
    So David was like, "You have taunted the Lord's army and you are coming to fight against me the Lord's warrior, so you are going to die."
    Meanwhile Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were like, "We don't know if God will deliver us or not.  But we will serve Him anyway regardless of whether He spares our lives or not."

    Did David have "more faith" than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  Is one attitude more appropriate than the other?  Or is the difference due to the circumstances?  How was David so sure that God would deliver him?  Because there are certainly examples in which God did NOT deliver His representatives in this life.  (However, everything will be made right at the heavenly judgment.)  E.g. Uriah:

     20Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.
    21When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt.
    22Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt.
    23And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

    Jeremiah 26:20-23

    Many more Biblical examples could be considered where "God's man (or woman)" was faced with huge / life-threatening situations and 'the glory of God's name' was put 'at risk' or 'on display for God to exalt'.  Most of the situations involving specific recorded prayers for deliverance were answered, like Moses at the Red Sea and in the desert without water, Jacob before Esau's arrival, David fleeing from Saul, Hezekiah besieged by Sennacherib, etc.  Some situations involved defeat/death - e.g. the transition of Hebrews 11 from "successful" heros of the faith to "martyred"/"unsuccessful" heros of the faith in verse 35.  And Jesus Himself - fervently asking God to spare Him from death "if possible" / if there was any other way.  Yet God said "no".  (though Hebrews 5:7 says "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety"...?)   The situation with the church in Acts praying for Peter's deliverance is fascinating - they were praying for his deliverance, and God sent an angel to spring him out of jail, then when he showed up at the door they didn't believe that it was him!

    And how does this apply to us today?  If I am faced with very large challenges at my workplace, ought I to have "David-faith": "Since I am God's representative on the job here, He will give me success in this situation and put all my enemies to shame..."  ?   or ought I to have "Shadrach-faith": "I do not know if God will deliver me in this situation or allow me to be crushed/defeated/humiliated, but I will continue to serve Him either way, as long as He gives me breath." 

    Or am I asking the wrong questions?

  • faith and irrationality...

    Here's an interesting quote... comments welcome...

    "If the contents of the Bible did not correspond with the truths which God has revealed in his external works and the constitution of our nature, it could not be received as coming from Him, for God cannot contradict himself. Nothing, therefore, can be more derogatory to the Bible than the assertion that its doctrines are contrary to reason. The assumption that reason and faith are incompatible; that we must become irrational in order to become believers is, however it may be intended, the language of infidelity; for faith in the irrational is of necessity itself irrational....We can believe only what we know, i.e., what we intelligently apprehend."

    Charles Hodge, principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878] Systematic Theology, 3 vols., reprint (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 1:83-84.

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