A Matter of Faith
Mark 9:23
Faith does not wish, hope, or desire--faith believes & receives, because we know Christ personally.
Some Christians fear they are the only believers who wrestle with doubts. Consequently they build façades of spiritual confidence, but feel like fakes. Fortunately, God understands such frustration and has provided for us in the midst of our doubts, by revealing himself to us
We need the complete picture of God
Six blind men approached an elephant. Each man put out his hand to touch some part of the elephant’s anatomy and thought he had grasped the whole.
To one the elephant was like a tree,
to another like a wall,
to a third like a fan,
to a fourth like a snake,
to a fifth like a spear, and
to a sixth like a rope--
Depending on whether they had touched his leg, his side, his ear, his trunk, his tusk, or his tail.
The poem in which this fable is contained concludes that all of them were right, though each of them was wrong.
It takes a synthesis of all aspects of God and His creation to get a complete picture of Him--and none of us is so gifted as to be able to comprehend this, though we make some progress as we open our hearts and minds to the various facets of truth we encounter on our heavenward journey.
If we believe, we will receive, because we know Christ personally.
Mark 9:23 KJV
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Those who believed and received, because of their faith
1. The woman with the 12 year ailment who touched Jesus hem.
2. The 10 Lepers that where healed by Jesus
3. Heals Peter’s mother-in-law (at Capernaum)
4. Heals a paralyzed man (at Capernaum)
5. Heals an immobile man at the pool of Bethesda
6. Heals a man having a withered hand (at Capernaum)
7. Heals the servant of the centurion (near Capernaum)
Jesus touches us many ways
It is said that the Eastern shepherd, as he brings his sheep back to the fold each night, stands at the door and counts each one. As he does so, he puts his hand on the head of each animal. He makes a habit of touching each one of them. If he were to grow careless and neglect to habitually touch his sheep, it would soon turn its head away when it heard his voice! This, of course, could be very serious, for with such a broken habit would follow the animal’s actually ignoring the warning shout from the shepherd and subsequently could be disastrous for the sheep.
If we are experiencing the Shepherd’s touch daily in our lives, then we will recognize His voice when He warns of impending danger.
This will mean "practicing His presence" daily.
It we do not practice His presence then we have probably been practicing the presence of our enemy.
Our Lord awaits the moment to "touch" our day with His presence.
Sometime we need a second touch
Never looking up
Sheep get lost by nibbling away at the grass and never looking up. The same can be said for us. We can focus so much on what is immediately before us that we fail to see life in larger perspective.
Mark 8:22-25 KJV
22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
Sometimes we, like the blind man, need a second touch by Jesus in order to see things from his perspective.
When C. S. Lewis lost his wife he recorded notes of his emotional pain. These notes eventually became a book that gives a very honest look at grief. In the middle of his hurt he wrote a very penetrating statement: "I need Christ, not something that resembles him." In the midst of grief, and every other aspect of life, we can’t afford anything less than Christ.
A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis, 1961, p. 51
Three voices
If we listen carefully to those around us, we will learn to distinguish three voices, or influences, which direct the thinking, attitudes and actions of us all. We can hear them at our work, in our homes, and in the quietness of our moments alone.
Fear (the first voice) disguises itself as "being safe," as "practical," "conservative," "cautious," or "reasonable." Look for the motive behind the disguise. Fear is a demanding master, never able to be satisfied. It disdains any voice but its own.
Fantasy (the second voice) disguises itself as "visionary," as "progressive," "imaginative," or "creative." Look for the motive behind the disguise. Fantasy is a demanding master, never able to be satisfied. It, too, disdains any voice but its own.
Both of these voices claim to be spiritual and wise. But both of these voices reveal an obsession with personal agendas. Both demand that all others see things from their perspective. Both deny that God may have a desirable goal beyond their view.
Faith is the third voice. Faith reminds us that this is God’s world, that He is always with us, that He works with us and in spite of us, and that He will complete the wonderful work He began in spite of what it may look like to us today!
1. Faith lives based on what God has done and said. And
2. Faith lives in trust that God does break into our situations with power and resources and vision and peace beyond what we can presently imagine!
All three voices will call to you today. Only Faith offers life. May we govern our personal decisions and our decisions on behalf of the church through the voice of Faith.
Let’s have the Right perspective.
Mark 9:23 KJV
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Below are Five important perspectives to aide us in our faith
1. Our Identity
In "A Portrait of America," Newsweek (1/17/83) poked some fun at the national census:
"Give your name and age and business. Is your husband working now? Do you rent or own the building? Did you ever milk a cow? This is strictly confidential--are you underweight or fat? Does your husband have a bunion? Are his arches good or flat? Did you vote for Herbert Hoover? Are you dry or are you wet? Did you ever use tobacco? Did you ever place a bet? ... Are you saving any money? Do you ever pay your debt? Are your husband’s old red flannels in the wash or on him yet?"--"The Census Taker," Scott Wiseman, 1940
"Uncle Sam’s armies of statisticians don’t really ask questions about the cleanliness of the old man’s flannels," writes Newsweek, "But they do ask about the state of our arches (2.6 million are flat or fallen). ...They can expound on life and its quality and on death and its causes. They can analyze sex and birth, divorce and income, crime and eating habits. ... As a result, America knows more about itself than ever before."
That may be true--yet people are still confused about who they are and the roles they are to fill. Could it be that in the thousands of questions, the census takers have overlooked the most important ones?
1 Peter 2:9 KJV
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
2. Our importance
2 Cor 4:7 KJV
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
"God often works more by the life of the illiterate seeking the things that are God’s than by the ability of the learned seeking the things that are their own."
--St. Anselm
Importance of trying
Wayne Gretsky, the hockey player, reported the comment of an early coach who was frustrated with his lack of scoring. The coach told him, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."
3. Our vocation
Eph 4:1-3 KJV
4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4. Our mission
2 Cor 5:20 KJV
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
5. Our authority
Matt 28:19-20 KJV
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
"We need the Lord high and lifted up, so we can get things in perspective. We are called to minister in a sense of awe, of reverence, of holy fear."
Who abides within you.
John 15:4-7 KJV
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 13:34 KJV
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
You may think you don’t make a difference!
The Value of One
An elderly man was out walking along the beach early one morning when he noticed a teenager ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked him what he was doing. The student responded by saying that the stranded starfish would die if they were left in the morning sun.
The man chuckled a bit and said, "But the beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish. You can’t save all of them! How can your effort make any difference?"
The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it safely into the water. He then turned, looked at the older man and said, "It makes a difference to that one."
