Faith That Is Part of Life
“ Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his[c] holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:20-21
Intro: I want to start out with something funny.
I heard about a police officer who was looking for a convicted criminal on the loose.
He showed some men the profile picture. "Have you seen this man?"
The first man said, "No, but I hope you catch this one eyed man."
"Sir, this is a profile picture, he has two eyes."
The second said, "I haven't seen him, but he should stand out with just half a nose."
Frustrated, the police officer said to a third man,
"I'm looking for a little help here,
I hope you are more helpful than your friends."
"Yes sir, and I can tell you that this criminal wears contact lenses!"
"Great, now you're helping me! How do you know?"
"Well, he couldn't wear glasses, he only has one ear!"
Today we are going to talk about “Faith That Is Part Of Life.”
A Lady once came into my office and said, she did not believe in religion or that church mattered.
She did not have faith.
She had never seen faith move a mountain.
She had never known faith that brought a beloved family member back to life.
She had never experienced faith that put money into her bank account when a bill was past due.
She did not believe. She did not have faith.
As she sat there my mind was racing for words to say
that would change her heart and offer her some hope.
What would you say to this lady?
We go to a doctor whose name we cannot pronounce,
who writes us a prescription we cannot read,
that we take to a pharmacist we do not know.
The pharmacist gives us a chemical compound we do not understand.
If that is not faith, I don’t know what it is.
That is an act of faith.
It is a different kind of faith than what we most often hear sermons preached about.
But it is a start.
It is a starting point of faith that is part of life none the less.
Everyone has faith in something.
Even a lack of faith is a kind of faith.
Some people have “little faith,” and we feel sorry for them.
Some folks have “a desperate faith,” and we pray for them.
Some people have a “different faith,” and we fear them.
Some people have “strong faith,” and we admire them.
Faith isn’t something we turn on and off, like a switch.
Faith is a lifestyle.
Faith is something we live by each day.
“Faith That Is Part of Life”
We live in a society full of doubters and skeptics and cynics.
They say, “I don’t believe it!"
They live in the negative experiences.
Unfortunately we’ve all had negative experiences.
Because we have all been disappointed so many times,
we are tempted to believe in nothing or no one.
When promised something we often respond by saying, "I’ll believe it when I see it!"
The problem is, even when we do see it we often don’t believe it.
When it comes to faith in God, sometimes we limp, sometimes we linger, and sometimes we just leap.
The back story to the scripture reading for this morning
Begins when people come to Jehoshaphat with an early warning that a vast army
is coming against them from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea.
They had already reached the oasis of near EnGedi.
Alarmed, that the enemy was so close Jehoshaphat by faith came to ask the LORD what to do.
and he also proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD;
indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
Jehoshaphat what are we going to do?
The things I preach are not as epic as what happens to Jehoshaphat
The sermons I give you probably don’t remember
And want be talked about 2000 years from now.
But there is a level of trust that your pastor is going to lead you in the right direction.
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD
and said: “Oh, LORD, the God of our ancestors, We have faith in your promises to watch over us.
We have faith that you are the almighty God of heaven.
Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
Our God, has given us this land and given it to the descendants of Abraham
They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary in your Name, saying,
If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine,
we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name
and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
“The sword” -speaks of direct Satanic attacks, unexpected, cutting, and wounding.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ATTACKED BY THE SWORD?
“Judgment” - refers to false accusations, stereo-typing,
and evil judgments raised against you by others as well as the consequences for sinful misconduct.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ATTACKED BY THE JUDGEMENT OF OTHERS?
“Pestilence” represents lingering, aggravating, destructive circumstances.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ATTACKED BY PESTILENCE?
“Famine” - refers to the dry, desolate times of life when God seems far away
and you feel forsaken by everyone.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ATTACKED BY FAMINE?
The sword, judgment, pestilence, famine--whatever your disaster
--God hears and answers prayer when you take your stand in the right place.
But now the men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, came against them.
Do you remember that when God brought Israel into this territory
God did not allow Israel to invade the Ammonites, or Moabites when they came from Egypt;
but made Israel to turn away from them and did not destroy them.
But see how they now came to repay us by coming to attack us and drive us out of the possession you gave us.
Our God, will you not judge them?
For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
[We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”]
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
The Spirit of the LORD came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, a Levite
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem!
This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.
For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
• Jehoshaphat reminded God saying:
...and (you) have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
“If disaster comes upon us-- sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—
(hurricane, fire, car wreck,)
we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple),
and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.” (2 Chronicles 20:8-9)
When the enemy would bear down on the people of Israel Jehoshaphat would speak faith to the them saying,
Do not be afraid! For the battle is not yours, but Gods
You are not fighting an enemy army , but every day you are on the battle field.
You are fighting temptations
You are fighting pressure
You are fighting ____________________fill in the blank………
But by faith we realize God’s spirit is in us.
If we ask for God’s help when we face struggles, God will fight for us.
And God always wins.
Touch three people and say God always wins.
We recognize our own human limits but have faith in a limitless God that we look up to.
We make sure we are not pursuing our own flawed and selfish desires
but that we are pursuing what God wants for us.
We ask God for “Faith That Is Part of Life”
They knew how to look up, let go and leap forward in faith.
Come let’s take a closer look.
1. TO HAVE FAITH IS TO LOOK UP.
Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.”
Psychologists say—look within.
Opportunists say—look around.
Optimists say—look ahead.
Pessimists say—look out.
Christianity says—LOOK UP.
Look all the way up until you gaze into the eyes of the One who is looking for you.
Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith.
I know there are times when looking up, that we would prefer to get a second opinion,
Is there another person up there to talk to?
There was a man up on top of his house trying to clean some limbs off the roof when he slipped and fell. He slid down the steep incline, sliding over the eave, and barely managed to grab hold of the gutters.
Dangling there, holding on for fear of his breaking bones,
the man looked to the heavens above and shouted “God can anybody help me?”
Suddenly time stopped. The clouds parted. A voice from heaven said, “Have faith, turn loose.”
The man took one more glance at the ground below, then looked back up into the heavens
and said, “Is there anybody else up there who can help me?”
Today we need a “Faith That Is Part of Life”
Faith that’s part of my life.
Faith that’s part of your life.
Faith: You should never be without it.
We live by faith not because we want to,
but we live by faith because so many times we have to.
There are so many times in life where you will either live by faith or you will just fall apart without it.
Since we see in part and know in part, life appears to be a mixture at best.
I embrace this beautiful day saying,
“This is the day the Lord has made” - and you remind me of hurricane Harvey, and Irma,
I embrace this beautiful day saying,
“This is the day the Lord has made”- and you remind me of the tornadoes and floods
and the those who did not make in on 9/11 16 years ago.
Yet, I stand before you a believer.
We grieve for those who lost their lives, yet we are survivors
Are there any survivors of cancer here?
Are there any overcomers of addictions, alcohol, drugs…bad habits.
Is there anyone who endured abuse either physical, sexual, or emotional?
Yet you are a survivor!
Give praise to God for the day.
Thank God for the deliverance
Keep looking up, keep looking up. Whatever you do, keep looking up.
Keep living by faith.
If you believe it, you can do it.
But some of you have believed with all your heart and it didn’t happen.
Loss of faith comes when we feel let down.
Not just in the little things that really don’t matter,
but the big things like a dying child, a sick spouse, a divorce, a lost job, betrayal by a friend.
In moments like these it’s easy to despair, but what you do with what has happened makes all the difference.
Fanny Crosby was blind.
Instead of sinking into self-pity she wrote the songs we love to sing.
“I Am Thine O Lord,” “To God be the Glory,”
“Blessed Assurance Jesus Is Mine, Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.”
In her later years surgeons found a cure for her blindness, but Fanny was too old for the surgery.
“If you had only been born fifty years later,” said a friend, “
You would be able to see.”
Fanny responded, “Just think, the first face I will ever see will be the face of Jesus.”
Look Up.
2. TO HAVE FAITH IS TO LET GO.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went,
even though he did not know where he was going.”
I have often tried to imagine the conversation in the tent between Sarah and Abraham that night.
“Just wanted you to know that we are moving.”
I can just hear Sarah’s reply, “We are what?”
“We’re moving,” replies Abraham.
“Would you mind telling me where we are going?”
“I don’t know. We are just going.”
Faith is an attitude toward life which issues in trusting acts of both will and intellect.
It goes far beyond belief into active commitment.
If belief seeks security, faith accepts risk.
Faith is grounded in hope; faith is never final nor certain,
but always asking and seeking and living and moving.
Life has taught us to hold on.
God invites us to let go.
We don’t just want to enjoy the goodness of life.
We want to own it, store it up, expand it, manipulate it for our own purposes.
With clinched fists we cling to our possessions, opinions, theories, beliefs, attitudes, hurts, grievances,
money, fearful that losing our grip will mean defeat.
All along our salvation lies in letting go.
I once lived near a beautiful bottom of farm land.
I knew the owner well, he allowed me access to it anytime I like.
When I was struggling to find the answer to a problem I had
Or making a decision I was face with.
I would get in an old farm truck and drive down along the valley meadows.
I enjoyed going off road and driving along the river bank.
One time after a short rain I drove to a place that I thought I could make it across,
But the rain had soften the ground just enough that I became stuck.
I DID WHAT ANY COUNTRY RED NECK WOULD DO.
I put my foot to the pedal but instead of moving I didn’t go anywhere.
I had to get out into the mud and find rocks and wood to put under the tires
Get back in the truck
Put my foot the pedal.
Sometimes I move a few inches, sometimes I didn’t move at all.
But after time and time again inch by inch, foot by foot, eventually I became unstuck.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in your faith.
You have put your truck to the test, your foot to the pedal but don’t seem to be getting anywhere?
It may not be that faith isn’t working
It could simply be that you should have known after a rain shower not to try to cross a muddy path on the road and now you are facing the consequences of a bad decision.
By faith I noticed Jesus is there helping me make better choices.
There are times in my everyday life when I have changed places and let Jesus drive.
Life has not been the same since.
When I was in control I thought I knew the way.
When He took the lead, He kept me out of the ditch, out of the mud,
he keeps me from getting stuck in the places where I should know better than to try to cross.
And I am still learning to shut up and give up control to God in the strangest places in my life.
I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.
TO HAVE FAITH IS TO LET GO.
3. TO HAVE FAITH IS TO MAKE A LEAP.
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the movie, The Last Crusade,
is searching for the Holy Grail—the cup reported to have been used by Christ at the Last Supper.
He comes at last to a cliff’s edge and a vast cavern beneath him.
The Holy Grail is on the other side.
Surveying the situation Indiana Jones says, “It really is a leap of faith.”
Are you willing to jump?
The famous Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard had it right;
-to believe in God or even make the attempt to understand the nature of God is to make a leap of faith.
There is story about Desert Don.
A man was dying of thirst when he stumbled upon a pump right out in the middle of the desert.
There was a can tied to the handle with this note inside,
“This pump was all right the last time I used it.
I put a new gasket on it which ought to last a good long while,
but the washer dries out and the pump has to be primed.
Under the white rock I buried a jar of water. It’s out of the sun and all corked at the top.
There’s enough in it to prime the pump,
but not if you drink some first.
So pour about a quarter of the water in and let it soak to wet the leather gasket.
Then pour in the rest slowly and then pump like crazy.
You’ll get water. Have faith.
When you get all you want, fill her up the jar for the next fella.
Signed, Desert Don. P.S. Don’t go drinking up the water first, you have to prime the pump.”
O, For a faith that will not shrink, though pressed by every foe
That will not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe
Lord give me such a faith as this, and then what're may come
I’ll taste, even now, the hallowed bliss, of an eternal home.
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly.”
The problem with life is that it has an “if” right in the middle of it,
but I know who holds tomorrow and today I choose to live.
I want every second, minute, hour; I want to live today.
F-A-I-T-H Faith stands for “Forsaking All, I Take Him.”
For Janice lipstick was something she could not do without.
She would apply her favorite color and shade perfectly.
Even when she went out to the mail box she would first put on lipstick.
She would never leave the house without first applying lipstick.
Janice was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Throughout her brave journey thru seemingly endless treatments, she never wavered from putting on lipstick.
When nausea, and fatigue, took its toll on Janice she insisted that the Hospice work applied her lipstick every day when she came.
When Janice passed she appeared so peaceful and radiant wearing her most recent favorite shade lipstick.
Her hospice nurse commented that she looked like Sleeping Beauty with her Lipstick on.
But more important than her lipstick was her faith.
She shared her faith with the receptionist at the cancer center.
Someday my battle with cancer will be over. Sooner or later the victory is mine because I have faith in Jesus.
When the Doctor said, she had six month at best, more like three months.
Janice shared her faith.
My battle with cancer may be over sooner than later but the victory is mine because I have faith in Jesus.
When the preacher stood at her casket he confidently told how everyday Janice never failed to put on her lipstick and every day Janice never failed to put on her faith in God.
Do you ever get the feeling that you're leaving something behind as you start off your daily life?
What did I forget?
Did I lock the door?
Did I leave the curling iron on?
Did I leave money on the dresser?
How many times in life have you had to make a U-turn and go back and retrieve something that was left?
The credit card company, American Express slogan reminds its customers.
American Express never leave home without it.
In this spiritual journey the reminder today never leave home without your faith.
Whatever the emergency, you needed to have your faith with you at all times.
Your faith will get you out of situations that credit cards can't even handle.
In a real sense, your faith in God will help you get through the obstacles of dealing with crazy people, insane circumstances, and unpredictable moments.
There was once a woman who wanted to leave work early.
But she knew her boss would not let go.
So she stood up on top of her desk with her arm over her head.
The boss came in and asked what in the world was she doing.
She said, she was being a light bulb.
The boss told her she was too stressed and needed to take the rest of the day off.
So she got her purse and headed out toward the exit door.
A co-worker followed close behind.
The boss asked the co-worker “Just what do you think you are doing.”
The co-workers said, she was leaving also, she couldn’t work in the dark.
It's your faith in God that places you where you need to be.
A small boy riding a church van home from Sunday school
was very proud of the card he had received,
the card had a picture of Jesus and a caption that read: “Have Faith in God.”
But then the card slipped out of his hand and flew out the window.
“Stop the bus!” he cried. “I’ve lost my ‘faith in God!’”
The driver stopped the van and safely helped the boy to retrieve his card,
All of us would be better off if we were that concerned about our faith.
We’d better stop here and examine the word and the concept of faith.
In Hebrew, faith means without question or without hesitation.
In the Greek, faith means a conviction in the truthfulness of God.
Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand, but “Forsaking all, I take Him.”
Many things that happen today are more than I can comprehend, but “Forsaking all, I take Him.”
Many things about yesterday continue to drag me down, but “Forsaking all, I take Him.”
When living by faith I feel no alarm, “Forsaking all, I take Him.”
LOOK UP, LET GO, TAKE THE LEAP OF FAITH.
Amen.
