by Shauna Millar | Apr 9, 2021 | encouragement, faith
A journey of faith starts with understanding what faith is. There is a lot of skepticism that surrounds ‘faith’. Faith as defined by the dictionary (2:2), “belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion.”
We understand faith as defined by the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
There are people who don’t understand this concept of faith, as they don’t believe in God. They believe He is a myth. Yet, there is a void inside them that they try to fill with everything but a relationship with their Creator. Or they want to declare themselves ‘god’ and not bow down to anyone. They want to create (by cloning, modifying DNA, etc.) to saythat that there is no difference between God and man.
Don’t look to fill your void with something else
Throughout history, we have seen the vanity of mankind in their attempt to fill the space that was meant for our relationship with God. The Tower of Babel, which is used as mythos as to why we speak different languages, was built with the intention of reaching the Heavens and preventing another flood. (God had already promised his people He would never destroy the world in this way again.)
The Golden Calf, created when Moses ascended the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from the mountain, he found Israelites worshiping the golden calf; breaking the first and second commandments. Have no other God before Me, you shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below; don’t bow down to idols. (Read Exodus 20)
God is a jealous God
He desires a relationship with us. He doesn’t want anything to interfere in that relationship. His desire is for us. Often it is difficult for us to focus on what we can’t see. So, we fall back into what we can see. This is where faith comes in. This is also how the journey of faith begins.
We need to “lean not to our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will guide our path.” (Pro 3:5-6). The thing about faith is that when we first return to God, when we dedicate our lives to Him, when we decide we want that personal relationship; it is all about the journey. We believe that we are not part of this world, we are travelers passing through.
We recognize that we are not omnipotent; and although we can ‘create’, that there should be a line in what we create. God made us to be creative and inquisitive. It is in our nature to want to create: music, art, poetry, dance, inventions, etc. are all creative outlets after all.
Man Isn’t Meant to be God
Isn’t it odd that, on one hand, scientists are working to create embryos, that they are experimenting with human DNA to create ‘perfect’ children, while on the other hand, doctors are justifying abortion? This is man’s way of saying, we know better than God.
It is the intricate diversity of humanity that makes us incredible – being imperfect, flawed. Yet, grasping the idea that we are supposed to love our neighbor (who may be totally different than we are) as ourselves, seems to have been forgotten.
Isn’t it interesting, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, His reply was (Mt 22:36-40) “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The commandments were reduced to two things – loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Yet, what seems relatively easy and straightforward, people struggle with. They struggle with loving God because they don’t have a relationship with Him. They refuse to accept that there is a God and that they aren’t Him. They struggle with – wrestle with – both the spirit and the flesh. They let other things take over their hearts and minds thinking they know better.
In so doing, they aren’t able to do the second thing; love their neighbor as themselves. Why? Because they don’t truly love themselves. They love their flesh. They love the idols of the world. They love the idea of power. They love the idea of being better than others. They let their flesh rule them and ignore their spirit. They don’t want to live by faith. They want to feel in control of everything and not allow their lives to be ruled by anything other than their own wills.
Faith Makes Us Stronger
What they don’t realize is that faith is what makes us stronger. It is what heals both our spirit and flesh. It is what helps us to combine both parts of us. It is the balm to the wounds that we self inflict. Allowing God to lead us along His path is power. Giving up our will to allow God’s will to reign is true strength. Plus, the greatest benefit, God WANTS what is BEST for US.
God wants us to be successful. God wants us to have the desires of our heart. He wants us to do well. He wants us to have fiscal freedom. He wants us to be happy. Our happiness makes God happy. God doesn’t demand a lot from us, yet the world wants you to think that He does.
Perhaps you have heard this quote by Albert Camus “I would rather live my life as if there is a god and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is.”
Our faith tells us that there is a God. It is the foundation of our religion. Yet, people will fall on their swords before accepting Christ into their hearts or accepting the idea of their being a God in heaven? Why? I believe it is that we were created with the desire for communication with our Maker. This desire points to the fact that there is a God. Yet we were also born into sin, with human flesh and weakness; this means we were designed to seek our creator.
Much like in the trials of Job, where the devil asked God to allow him to test Job’s faith in God, we will find ourselves in the midst of those trials. Will you turn back? Will you curse God’s name? Will you act as if He doesn’t exist? Will you blame Him for all your problems and struggles? Or will you, like Job, maintain your faith and conviction that God is God. That no matter the situation we are in, He is there.
It is due to Job’s faith that God blessed Him sevenfold. He increased his holdings, he blessed him with beautiful children. God was walking on the journey of faith with Job and He rewarded Job’s faithfulness.
Is this a journey worth taking?
by Shauna Millar | Apr 2, 2021 | faith, General
We know that these three things remain, faith, hope and love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
We have touched on hope and love, now we will explore faith. Faith means ·being sure [the assurance; or the tangible reality; or the sure foundation] of the things we hope for and ·knowing that something is real even if we do not see it [the conviction/assurance/evidence about things not seen]. (Heb 11:1) We already know that faith and hope go hand in hand. At times it may even seem that the words are interchangeable.
Faith defined is: complete trust or confidence in someone or something. A strongly held belief or theory.
Hope is defined as: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. A feeling of trust.
Finally the definition of trust is: a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
Do we “earn” trust?
Perhaps you have heard the saying, “trust is earned not given.” Is this true? It is a constant underlined belief in our society. You may even have heard the addition – “trust is earned, respect is given”.
God placed His trust in us that we would return to Him by allowing His only son to be sacrificed on the cross for our benefit. What was the reason? He wanted us back. We didn’t have to prove ourselves worthy of His trust. We didn’t have to earn His trust. If we had, then we might still be waiting for His ultimate sacrifice to be made on our behalf.
God has proven His trust in us through repeated action. We need to learn to follow His example. Sure, trust can be broken. When we place our faith in someone and there is no follow through – we lose trust. We prove ourselves by doing what we say. Trust can be broken in so many ways. So often in today’s society we say one thing and do another, it is no wonder that people aren’t willing to “freely give their trust”.
We can look at earlier generations to realize that people were more trusting. Honesty and integrity were a vital part of life. Respect of others and the world around them wasn’t taken for granted. It was something people just did. It was expected. Distrust was the exception, not the rule. (It happened, even in the Bible we have the example of Judas.)
Today these beliefs are in short supply. The idea that people aren’t willing to put faith and trust in God is almost understandable; especially when they don’t have a personal relationship with Him. Can you blame them? The examples we see around us are disheartening at their best. Even believers are stumbling to keep their eyes toward heaven. The world is giving us a beating and it just seems to keep coming at us.
It is not God who fails – it’s man
When we look at family and what it should be compared to what it has become, we find that the values are no longer the same. Divorce, single parent homes, children being left to their own devices; all in the name of ‘freedom’. What children are being taught is not just a lack of discipline but that they don’t have value. If they did, why would we leave them alone to their own devices?
Compare yesterday’s generations to today’s. The generations that learned what it meant by “spare the rod, spoil the child”. Look at the 8th grade tests from the late 1800’s/early 1900’s; things we would have no clue how to solve today. More was expected of children and they ROSE up to meet those expectations.
Sure, not all children require the same type of discipline. We are, after all, unique individuals. Some are more sensitive than others. Some people will argue against the “rod” method that the Bible talks about. Let me be clear here. The Bible doesn’t tell us to abuse our children. It doesn’t tell us to beat them. It tells us to discipline them. Raise them up in the way they should go and they shall not depart from it. (Pro 22:6)
As I mentioned, some children only require a look of disappointment to respond. This is why it is important we KNOW our children. We need to understand them as individuals in order to best guide them.
What does this have to do with Faith?
Simple. Children have faith. It isn’t something they are taught. it is something inherent in them. They don’t lose their faith until they have been influenced by others. It is what they are taught that changes their perspective. This is why the innocence of a child is so important. Why children need to be allowed to be children. We are given the opportunity to see the world through their eyes. A reminder of what has changed in us. Learning from them while we teach them to become their own person.
Children believe that their parents have their best interest at heart. They don’t question it. It isn’t something they examine under a microscope. It just is. When that belief is challenged; whether it is abuse, neglect, or giving the job to someone else – they lose their faith, not only in their parents, but the world around them. They become distrustful of the world.
We can learn to have a child’s faith with God, our Father. The difference is, that unlike those around us, God will never let us down. He will never do anything to break our trust. He will only continue to give us reasons to have faith and believe.
Hebrews 11:6 And 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.
Faith is something that shouldn’t be a challenge for us, but it can be. The older we get, the more the world has smacked us around, the more those around us have influenced us to distrust. Yet, the more our faith is challenged, the more it gives us opportunities. We will either rise to the occasion and grow closer to the Lord. Or we will fall under the pressure of the world and move away from Him. Just remember that no matter which direction we move, God is always moving TOWARD us.
Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
God is with US no matter what
We can choose to embrace our faith and to have faith or we can choose to ignore it. It is why we were given free will. We can choose to allow the world around us to drag us down or we can fight for it. We can pray. We can share our lives and hearts with others. We can be an influencer. We can show others the strength of our faith. We can be a beacon of what happens when we trust. We can share our hope.
God will direct our path.
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
