Tag Faith

A Psalm of God’s Strength and Power

Todd R 2 Comments

The Bible software I use (Accordance) has the ability to highlight text, but so far I’ve only used it once, for Psalm 21.  In just 13 verses, David wrote “you” or “your” 25 times, referring to God as the source of his success and blessings, past, present, and future.  The short 13 verses of Psalm 21 provide a plethora of praises we can offer to confess that God is powerful, faithful and just.  Here is the entire Psalm, and I’ve bolded all the “you”s and “your”s, which I highlighted in Accordance:

“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
            and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
You have given him his heart’s desire
            and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
For you meet him with rich blessings;
            you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
            length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great through your salvation;
            splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
For you make him most blessed forever;
            you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the LORD,
            and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

Your hand will find out all your enemies;
            your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them as a blazing oven
            when you appear.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,
            and fire will consume them.
You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
            and their offspring from among the children of man.
Though they plan evil against you,
            though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
For you will put them to flight;
            you will aim at their faces with your bows.

Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
            We will sing and praise your power.”

What statements did you focus on while reading this?  Did you take the time to think about all 25 “you” statements (and the rest of the Psalm)?  Read it again.

The first section in this Psalm describes how our God is “faithful” in some ways, and the second describes “just.”  The first may come easier, with David giving God credit for all of his strength and success, but the middle section on justice may come across as harsh and harder to swallow.  However, it reminds us that only He knows for sure who His (and our) enemies are.  “Your hand will find out all your enemies.”  Only He determines the fates of others, including some who look like enemies now, but will come to faith in Him later.  With any enemy we can “wait upon the Lord”, as David often urges us, knowing God will either save them, or their plans will come to ruin by His design.

Yet, for those in Christ, “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Therefore, we echo David:

“Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
            We will sing and praise your power.”

What You Have Forgotten Today He Can Supply

Todd R 3 Comments

The Gospel of Mark records two miraculous feedings of multitudes.  The first was mainly a Jewish crowd of about 5,000 in Mark 6:30-44; the second was a mainly Gentile group of about 4,000 in Mark 8:1-9.  These two stories are very well known, but if you read on Mark adds this about Jesus’ disciples in 8:14 – “Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.”

On this verse Warren Wiersbe remarks: “It must have grieved Jesus that His hand-picked helpers were so spiritually obtuse. The fact that He had multiplied bread on two occasions and fed over ten thousand people had apparently made little impression on them! Why worry and argue over one loaf of bread when you have Jesus in the boat with you?”[1]

When well-known Bible stories have little impact on us, remember that these disciples knew the story even better than we do – they were there!  Jesus did not give up on them and will not give up on us.

Have you forgotten to trust Jesus with something today?  He desires to be “in the boat with you” in constant fellowship.  Ask Him to take your anxiety and to supply your daily bread.  He never forgets.

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Diligent (Mark) (1987).  P. 97.

“If Necessary”

Todd R 2 Comments

All Christians face trials for following Jesus.  These can range from being disregarded or ignored, all the way to physical persecution and even death.  In the face of these trials, Christians can feel targeted or that their trials are unfair.  However, Peter assures us that all the trials we face for Jesus have a purpose.

In 1 Peter 1:6-7, he wrote: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Note the words “if necessary.”  Those words beg the question of what is necessary and who decides that it is necessary?  Do we get to pick and choose our own trials, or would we probably choose to avoid them altogether?  Should we trust ourselves to choose wisely?  If we chose for ourselves, we might pick only trials we’ve already overcome or ones we are sure we can handle, but as Warren Wiersbe wrote: “We must not think that because we have overcome one kind of trial that we will automatically ‘win them all.’ Trials are varied, and God matches the trial to our strengths and needs.”[1]

Fortunately for all of us, God is the one who decides if, when, and why trials are “necessary.”  He decides whether we have trials, and only He knows all of the flaws in our faith and the best way for us to overcome them and grow in faith.  He ensures we face only “necessary” trials that test the “genuineness” of our faith and turn it into something “more precious than gold.”  These trials expose our impurities so that they may be removed.  Because of the words “if necessary,” we can rejoice in our salvation even when going through trials of all kinds.  They aren’t random or meaningless.

Therefore, we can rejoice even in our trials knowing they will “result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  Any time we feel “grieved by various trials” we know they are temporary, and they serve God’s purpose for us.

Amen.

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Hopeful (1 Peter) (1982).  P. 35.

Sometimes Life is Hard on Purpose

Todd R 2 Comments
Photo by ål nik on Unsplash

Joshua, Moses’ hand-picked successor, was very aware of the consequences of failing to trust God.  After being delivered from Egypt, Israel was led to Canaan – their promised land – and God had Moses “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.”[1]  The purpose of the spy mission was not to decide whether or not to move into the land.  God promised to give it to them.  However, when the 12 spies returned, 10 of them said “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”[2]  Only Joshua and Caleb said they should take the land anyway, because God’s promise and strength was enough for them.  Because the people rebelled, trusting 10 disloyal spies rather than Him, God said Israel must wander the wilderness for years and only Joshua and Caleb would live long enough to enter the land.

After taking 40 years to make what could have been an 11-day journey[3] to the Jordan River where Israel would enter the land, God knew, and Joshua knew, that divided loyalties could doom everyone to another 40-year wilderness adventure.

Arriving at the flooded Jordan River, some people may have doubted whether Joshua get them across.  Joshua had just become their leader, and perhaps the failure of Moses, who recently died, meant the failure of their dreams of the promised land.  After all, they saw the Red Sea part for Moses.  Could Joshua get them over this river?

Then in Joshua 3:15 we find this note: “(now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest)”.  Why is this phrase important?  Israel arrived at the Jordan at the most difficult time to cross.  The river would be as deep and as wide as ever, and likely the current would be stronger as well.  A sensible person would avoid crossing at this time, but God chose the most “difficult” time to perform this miracle to show that nothing is difficult for Him.  This phrase is there because entering the promised land should glorify God and God alone.

By coming to the Jordan specifically when it “overflows all its banks” God wanted to remind His people that only He can and will deliver them.  The Red Sea wasn’t parted because of Moses; it was parted because of God.  God could deliver Israel without Moses, but Moses couldn’t deliver Israel without God.  It was never about Moses.  Likewise, Joshua wasn’t going to get them to their land; God was.  The flood gave the people no reason to credit Joshua for their success.

As instructed, this is how they crossed the flooded river: “as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.  Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” – Joshua 3:15-17

Joshua was very clear about giving God credit, and it’s a lesson for Christians in all times and places.  When God raises up leaders, He also reminds us that they are but men and tools in His hand.  They are also profoundly fallible.  10 out of 12 human leaders being wrong left Israel wandering for 40 years.  Only God leads anyone to salvation and only when they trust Him alone for it.  He often works through fallen human leaders, raising them up to lead His people, not because He prefers sinful leaders over virtuous ones, but because there is no other kind of person and because He is jealous for His own glory.

Is there a flooded river God wants you to cross?  When we attempt things that only make sense because God told us to do them, we may be more likely to do or witness something that glorifies God and God alone, because only He could do it.

Are there rivers you have crossed in the past?  Like God told Joshua after this crossing to lay memorial stones so they would never forget (see Joshua 4), make sure to keep a record of God’s power and faithfulness in your life.

Sometimes life is hard on purpose.
Sometimes the river is flooded because God wants to show you something awesome.

Therefore, “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9b

[1] Numbers 13:1
[2] Numbers 13:31
[3] Deuteronomy 1:2

Work, Labor, and Steadfastness

Todd R 3 Comments

Many are familiar with the Biblical triad of faith, hope and love from 1 Corinthians 13:13, which says: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  In this verse, Paul is calling these 3 characteristics the most important, with love above the other 2.

In another of Paul’s letters he joins this triad with another one.  1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 says, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He’s saying that faith and works go together, that love and labor go together and that hope and steadfastness go together.  But how do they fit together and do the 3 relationships have anything in common?

When I think of these verses, I see faith, hope and love as the causes of the other 3 characteristics.  Faith motivates works.  Love motivates labor.  Hope motivates steadfastness.  Without the first thing in each pair, it’s hard to consistently have the second thing.  Let’s look at them in order.

The interaction between faith and work is a tricky one, but paraphrasing John Calvin, we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.  In the New Testament book of James, he wrote “someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”[1]  Our Savior spent His life on this earth ministering to others, and if we believe in Him as who He actually is (our God), our faith in Him will naturally result in us ministering to others as He did.  Thus, faith motivates us to work as Jesus worked.  Otherwise, it is a dead faith.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Paul also noted the Thessalonians’ “labor of love.”  The “love” here is more than an emotion or feeling.  It’s the love (agape in Greek) that is a self-sacrificing concern for others.  Any others.  G.K. Chesterton said, “the Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”  True love is hard, like labor.  Strong’s Greek dictionary describes the word translated “labor” as toil that wears us out or even causes us pain.  A labor of love is when we serve people so much in love that it wears us out.    Agape love motivates us to labor for others.

The last pair is the “steadfastness of hope.”  In my experience, hope is only useful when it is steadfast.  If we lose hope when things go wrong, we lose the ability to see beyond our current circumstances to our future in Christ.  Its only when we are able to keep our focus on Christ even in tough times that our hope is steadfast and shows its true value.  In the 2 letters he wrote to the Thessalonians, Paul referred to the second coming of Jesus at least 6 times, which would remind them that their hope is sure and won’t fail them.  Just like the Thessalonians, we need to be reminded again and again of where our hope lies in order to keep living for God.  Hope motivates steadfastness.

Today, if Paul were to write a letter to your church, would he note their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”?  I pray that for my church, including me, he could.  Pray the same for you and yours.

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

[1] James 2:18