Faith

I'm reading through Hebrews at the moment and just hit Hebrews 11 which has to be probably my favourite chapter in the whole bible (I say probably because there are so many awesome chapters that that is likely inaccurate!).

Hebrews 11 begins with an amazing explanation of what faith is...

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11.1)

It is a beautiful verse even before you grasp all that it means...but I'll do my best to explain.

Faith comes from trust, and trust comes from knowing someone really well.

Think about it like this...you wouldn't tell your secrets to just anyone. You would wait to get to know someone, see them actively demonstrate an ability to keep schtum when it comes to important information, and then when you'd seen it enough times, you would entrust them with your secret, having faith that they will keep their word to you and not tell anyone.

It's the same in faith with God. God is personal; as in He knows us inside and out and wants us to know Him and have a relationship with Him and be ourselves with Him. As with any relationship, it takes time to build up that kind of familiarity and trust and such a deep friendship only comes from spending time with Him; reading His word (the bible) and talking to Him (prayer) and hearing what others who know Him personally have to say about Him and what He's done in their lives (the testimonies of other Christians). The more you hear and see of Him the more you trust Him!

That's what Hebrews 11 is all about. It's about what happens when you take the leap of faith and get to know God and trust Him with your heart and hopes and future. Hebrews 11 is all about the amazing miracles that happened when people took the step of faith to trust God.

The thing about a relationship with God is that the faith it produces is extraordinary. It starts small. Maybe you trust God with something you feel you have no real control over anyway, like friends at a new school...and then when God blesses you with good friends you trust Him with something bigger, and so on until you're trusting God with everything, you put all your eggs in His hand and wait to see what He does with them.

What makes trusting God even better than just empty hope is the fact that in a world where nothing is certain - people are corrupt, sickness and death are everywhere, wars and famines abound everywhere - God is certain.

He is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13.8). He never leaves us (Deuteronomy 31.6). He always holds our hands (Psalm 37.24). He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29.11). He is not a man that He could lie (Numbers 23.19). He promises that even though we see trouble in this life He has overcome and we are with Him (John 16.33).

So our hope for the future isn't an empty one. It's not this empty wish we have that maybe if we are good people, or maybe if we work hard,or maybe if we are lucky, maybe everything will work out.

The hope we have anchors us because it is certain. It is rooted in something, in someone; Jesus Christ; the author and finisher of our faith, the Saviour, the Messiah, the King, God's final word, Emmanuel - God with us!

Faith in God and His word saved the human race when the earth flooded, faith in God and His word led Abraham into the promise land, faith in God and His word gave the Israelites Jericho and that isn't even all of it, there is so much more!

Faith requires nothing more than trusting God. You don't have to be sure of yourself, you just have to be sure of Him.

If I'd moved to this country just because it's nice, the moment it got tough (a week in) I would have packed up and gone back home. BUT because I knew without a shadow of doubt that Stockholm was where God wanted me right now, even after three months of unemployment, I knew I'd made the right decision and I was in the right place.

Our feelings and emotions are about as certain and sure as on-time buses or hospital waiting times...they aren't at all!!! But God is certain. You know that if He says He'll do something He will for sure do it, and not only will He do it, He'll do it better than you could have ever imagined, over and above your expectation (Isaiah 55.9, Ephesians 3.20).

Such is the God of the bible. If you put your life in His hands, He will do far better things with it than you EVER could have.

"Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37.5

Jeremiah 17.7 and Psalm 125.1

Yesterday the sermon in church was about hearing God; whether or not we understand Him to still be speaking today and if so how. There were many ways; the bible itself, things around us, a confidence 'I just know', other people, sometimes even an audible voice.

Anyway, as I go through this somewhat trialling time in my own life, I felt God drop the phrase 'but the man who trusts in the Lord is like...' in my head.

I googled it, the following two verses came up:

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord." - Jeremiah 17.7
"Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever." - Psalm 125.1

My hope is in Him who cannot be shaken, therefore no matter my circumstance, I will hope and trust in Him alone.

The earth may shake, my world might change, my circumstances will always change... but He will never change. The same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13.8).

♫ Jesus, You're my firm foundation, I know I can stand secure...♫

1 Corinthians 1.25

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

Wiser, higher, stronger, greater, better.

But even more than that;

Wisest, highest, strongest, greatest, best.

There's a verse I love in the bible (one of many!). In the verse, God (speaking through Isaiah) says this; "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55.9)

On a personal level, I'm in a kind of wilderness at the moment. I'm in London, when I was hoping to be making tracks to Stockholm. I'm a little lost because I'm not a one hundred percent sure what I'm doing here right now. I'm in an Internship, which I am thoroughly enjoying, but it's in London, not Stockholm.

I'd be lying if I said that I was sure about what I'm doing or where I think I'll be in the next year. God has a way of surprising us and taking our plans and turning them on their heads. So I don't know.

However, one thing that has always comforted me, is the knowledge that all the stuff I don't know, God knows. And I trust God. I believe that His wisdom, planning, foresight and provision are far better than mine will or could ever be. And I believe that He has a plan for my life and that it's a good one (Jeremiah 26.11).

I can't remember if I've ever shared this here, but something that struck me when I read the story of Noah in the Old Testament was the fact that there was only one window in that ark, which in a boat of such size, filled with that many animals, would have made it difficult to see what was going on outside.

Now, whilst Noah knew how long it would rain for, he didn't know how long he'd be on the waves for, and he didn't really have that much of an insight into what was going on around him. But he did know that God was with him, and had put him in the ark in a place of safety, to preserve him despite what was taking place around Him.

God's done the same for me. He's got a plan for me, and even amidst the change going on around me, I know I'm where I am now for divine purpose (because God has organised it for a reason of eternal (everlasting) significance) and that He's with me and will never leave me (Matthew 28.20b)

It might not make sense to me, but it makes sense to God, and with wisdom like His, what more do I need?

LOVE

One of the big things I think you'll find most human beings, irrelevant of race, culture or religion; will agree on, is the existence of love. People explain it in different ways, and not all of them have experienced it first-hand, (which is an extremely sad thing if you think about it), but most will agree that it exists. Love of money, love of popularity, love of objects, love of people...the list could go on, but what is real love? How do we spot the real thing from the counterfeit?

Films have been made about it. Stories written about it. Chemical equations have been formulated to discuss the scientific explanation of it. Even in the bible itself we see countless examples of relationships with 'love'. Samson and Delilah, Rebekah and Isaac, David and Bathsheba, Jacob and Rachel...

But the only relationship in the bible with a love described as 'real' is that relationship between God and us:

1 John 3.16 - We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4.10 - This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

The love that God has for us, as described in the bible, is multi-faceted. In Hosea; we see the jealous love God has for us, like the love between a man and wife; in Jesus, we see the compassionate love God has for us, and the most popular presentation of God's love is much like the love a parent has for a child:

Jeremiah 3.19 - "I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land— the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me.

Jeremiah 31.20 - "Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?" says the LORD. "I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That's why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.

According to the bible, our ability to love, originates from the love that God has for us:

1 John 4.19 - We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4.7 - Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

But probably the most notable thing about the way in which the bible defines real love, i.e. God's love, is that it is unconditional:

Romans 5.8 - But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God's love is not a reaction to good behaviour, it is given freely to all who wish to accept it, regardless of sin. God's love is so patient, that even to those who reject Him in this life, He offers a second chance at knowing Him. God's love is so kind, that He chose to extend the capacity of it to include those who were not even relations of those whom He first made the promise of love to. God's love is so humble that it came in the form of a baby boy born to a carpenter in an animal feeding trough. God's love is so unselfish, that it gave itself up for those who did not deserve it, rewarding them with a gift they could never have earned. God's love is so hopeful that it comes with mercies new every morning. His love is so faithful that even when others renounce and deny it, it holds on. And God's love is so persistent that nothing; not life or death, not angels or demons, not fears and worries, and not even the powers of hell itself could separate us from it. [1 Corinthians 13.4-6, Romans 8.35-39]

Godly Obedience - A Change In Heart

At the very beginning of Earth's history, God gave two people an instruction. These two people were Adam and Eve, and God told them one thing; not to eat from a tree in the garden of Eden. As it happens they ate from the one tree they were told not to eat from, and mankind has had to live with the consequences ever since.

If you aren't a Christian, this sequence of events seems almost inconsequential; why should it matter that these two random people ate from that one tree? Why did God tell them not to anyway? They should have been allowed to do whatever they wanted anyway shouldn't they?

Here's the issue. God said to Adam 'Don't eat from that tree or you'll die.' Adam never questioned it because He accepted that God knew what He was talking about. He trusted God and His judgement. It was only after the snake in the garden sowed seeds of doubt into Eve's minds that she began to consider that maybe God wasn't being one hundred percent honest. In other words, she stopped trusting God. She began to think she knew better. It was a change in heart that spurred her into action.

You see with God, it isn't so much what we do on the outside that is significant to Him. What He cares about is the status of our hearts. When God tells us to do something and we do it, we do it because we trust that 1)He is good, and 2)He cares about us and won't ask us to do something that will harm us. The moment we feel we can't obey God, we are ultimately telling Him we know better.

So what happened to Adam and Eve after they did the one thing God asked them not to do? They were thrown out of the garden of Eden, they were given an expiry date, and life became harder for them.

And this is why God is so concerned with the condition of our hearts. It's not whether we walk here or there that He cares about. It's why we're walking here or there. God doesn't care if a guy looks at a girl, by all means look. God cares about how the guy is looking at her. If He's looking at a girl who is not his wife lustfully, he's committing adultery in his heart (Matthew 5.28).

Obedience is an act of worship to God. Worship is all about letting God know how awesome He is, bringing glory to His name, showing the world how great He is. But if God gives us an instruction and we can't follow it because we don't trust Him enough, our words and songs are useless. Luke 6.46 says this;

'Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?'

Godly obedience starts with the heart and ends with the action. Godly obedience acknowledges God as supreme and the standard of Goodness in the universe, and therefore obeys Him.

So when I say I won't have sex before marriage, I'm not saying it because I don't have a sex drive or think sex is boring or anything like that, I'm saying it because in my heart I have chosen to live God's way (John 14.6), and I trust that as my father who is Good and who has Good plans for my future (Jeremiah 29.11), He has a reason for telling me to wait till marriage. The most important thing about Godly obedience is not how I feel - because my feelings change daily, hourly even; the most important thing about it is that I trust God with my life and future completely and therefore will show it outwardly in behaving in obedience to Him.

The reason why Godly obedience is so hard is because it's something that has to be done daily. You don't obey God once and that's it. It isn't like your mum telling you "wash the dishes" and you doing it and it's done; it's more like you everyday having to make a decision to do things God's way, the way that might not seem the most natural to you. It's a daily sacrifice. And that's why God says that we should offer up our bodies to Him as 'living sacrifices' (Romans 12.1-2).

It's in this way that we show ourselves to really be God's people; a testimony to Him and who He is.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

-Romans 12.1-2

Is God A Man That He Can Lie?

"God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?"

- Numbers 23.19

I love this verse because it reminds me of God's steadfastness and strength. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13.8), and if He had the power to speak the world into being, then NOTHING can be too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32.7).

Why Church?

Whenever people find out I'm a Christian, one of the first questions that they ask is whether or not I go to church every Sunday. The answer is yes. And then pretty much. And then a slightly awkward silence where I go on to tell them I'm not religious about it; at which point they look at me funny and attempt to understand.

I go to church. Not to Church; as in church isn't a place, it's something that happens in a place.

Still confused? I'll try to be clearer.

The word Church in the bible is first mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 16.15-18). Before then there was no mention of it. What you do see a lot of mention of is the Synagogue.

A Synagogue was (and still is) a building of worship for the Jews.

The church Jesus was describing was a group of people, not a place.

When I go to church, it's for the people. I can worship God anywhere. When Jesus died he removed the need for anyone else to intercede in order for me to communicate with Him. If I want to pray, I can do it on my own. What God wanted was a group of people; His people (Jeremiah 32.38, Hebrews 8.10). He wanted a group of people all in a relationship with Him.

'Churching' is just corporate Christianity; like a group of people who like to do the same thing hanging out together and doing that thing they like to do so much as a group.

The best thing about church is the fact that it is a community. It's a group of friends who are all going through the same stuff you have to go through day-to-day, who can encourage you when you need it most and help you celebrate all your victories.

Church is an opportunity to help others and for you to find help in others (Galatians 6.2, Ephesians 4.2, Ephesians 4.32). The New Testament believers were supposed to support each other, even in the day-to-day needs like food and clothing (1 Peter 4.9), so that no-one went without what they needed.

That said, God doesn't say anywhere that we HAVE to church. It's more for our own benefit that we spend time together (Acts 2.42) as friends do, and help to keep each other on the right track. So yes, I do go to church most Sundays, but it's not because I have to, it's because I want to. And I do miss church occasionally. I'm not religious about it, but when I don't go I do miss the company of my Christian friends, and when I do go I do reap the benefits of spending time with other like-minded people.

♥

I'm working through this course at the moment called 'Freedom In Christ' or FIC for short. Its been really good so far, and I would definitely recommend it to someone who has just become a Christian, or has issues that they need to work through.

During one session on it, we were talking about how we handle our emotions and feelings when it comes to God. Chapter 3 of the book Lamentations was mentioned, and seeing as I have yet to read it, I thought it would be good to just read the chapter.

Just to give a little background information on Lamentations, it is a book of five poems in the Old Testament of the Bible, believed to be written by the prophet Jeremiah. The word 'lament' is another way for describing passionate grief or mourning, and in the book Jeremiah mourns for Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by Babylonian invasion (which you can read more about here).

Anyway, the main point of interest for me was the nature of Jeremiah's lament in chapter 3. It starts with doom and gloom; and no wonder, because the city has been ravaged to the ground - and Jeremiah addresses God, talking about how he feels that God has turned against him and surrounded him with bitterness, and left him in the dark (vs. 3,5 and 6). This tone continues until the eighteenth verse, when after getting all of it off his chest, Jeremiah is encouraged in the knowledge that God has already done so much for him and is continually merciful; and he proceeds to bless God's name, with the tone of the poem changing dramatically (vs. 22 and 24).

I guess what I was encouraged by the most was the fact that God is man enough to take all our winging to His face. We don't ever need to worry that we might offend Him by saying how upset or abandoned we feel. God is okay with us acknowledging our feelings to Him, He wants us to get them off our chest so that we can hand them over to Him and know that He is totally in control.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"Therefore I hope in Him!"

- Lamentations 3.24