Living by Faith

This morning I was reading in Hebrews chapters 11 and 12. Marveling at the great cloud of witnesses that are laid before us which have left the testimony of how we, as believers should indeed live by faith. We do hear preachers and teachers talk about faith, in fact I am on a sermon series talking about the very same thing, "Living by Faith". I am driven by the unfortunate truth that the body of Christ really knows less about living by faith and more about what it means to be a "Christian". If you know me, you know I don't put much stock in the term "Christian"; simply because the word "Christian" has lost it's meaning or has been made more inclusive of general term of good living. You see back in the early church days, the believers, that were followers of this Messiah named Jesus (Son of Joseph, but we know Him as the Son of God) were being mocked and made fun of because that were faithful to Christ (meaning the Messiah). So they were called "little Christ's or little Messiah's because of how they believed and how their lives demonstrated what they believed. They were willing to be sawed in two, poured hot tar over, made a spectacle of, tortured and martyred because of their faith and not because of the church they belong to or even the denomination that there were apart of or even because of their stance for or against societal issues. They were convinced that this Jesus who was crucified, was indeed the Son of God and that He had the power to save them from their sins. Not only save them, but even cleanse them. Not just only cleanse them, but give them the power to overcome sin, to conquer sin. Not just the sins of obvious transgressions, but help us conquer the sin of fear and anxiety and just plain missing the mark of what it means to "be holy as I am holy".

There would be no possible way that these cloud of witnesses could have gone to the length that the went to without being convinced that Jesus was who He says he was. There would have been no way that even Abraham could have been declared righteous without being convinced that God was everything He said He was and even more. When you are so convinced and persuaded that He is able, well there is no selling out! No selling out of fear or anxiety, because you know, that you know! Your life demonstrates that you know. Not just know like, head knowledge, but know like you know that the Sun will blind you if you stare into too long or try to view it with binoculars. One of our denominational hero's Sgt Alan York, believed that saving the life of his men so much so, that he laid his life down for them and destroyed the enemy nest of machine guns, while being shot at and even hit by gun fire. Nothing could stop him, not fear, not anxiety and not even by the things that seemed so evident that promised certain death! But God! God has a way of working beyond the natural order of life. He has a way of giving strength, courage and most of all hope when all hope seems lost. He chastens or teaches or disciplines us to reach this level of faith. Knowing full well that if you don't live by faith, it is impossible for you to even please Him (read Hebrews 11:6), how can we despise this chastening? We associate chastening or discipline with wrong doing, God associates it with faith living or living by faith. It is not a coincidence that Hebrews 11 and 12 and connected...is it? God not only associates chastening with faith, but He links it to righteousness and holiness. Hebrews 12:11 tells us, "Now no chastening (or discipline) seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it". This discipline or training cause your whole inward man to be bent toward Him as well as bent toward serving your fellow man. Why else would he continue on in verse 14, to "Pursue peace with all men and holiness (consecrated heart), without which no one will see the Lord".

This chastening not only creates a yielded heart, but a disciplined heart to live by faith. To live convinced that Jesus is who He says He is and has done everything He says He will do. The requirement isn't great faith, truth is, you only need the faith the size of a mustard seed. I can promise you though, once you start living by faith, that mustard seed size faith will grow. If you can move mountains with this size of faith, imagine what can be moved with ever increasing faith. Believer! It's time to set aside your fears and anxieties and rise up and live convinced of Whom you believe in. Get a grip on God and sanctify (set apart) your life, your heart unto Him and solely unto Him. Because anything less than that....It's just not worth believing in.

God bless you!