FAITH the Reality We all must Face
It is a death from one life and baptized into another. This physical world that we are in-touch with daily is full of pitfalls and distractions that causes our faith—the total opposite of feelings—to take a few spins. However, the reality is faith is hard work. Well, let me say, maintaining faith in Christ is hard work. It reminds me of the parable (short allegorical story that points to some truth) Christ gave about the sowing of the word of God and how differently the word can be received. Though only the seed that was sown into good ground remained in the heart of the hearer, one thing we must understand is everyone received the seed.
In Matthew 13: 3-9 Christ shows how easy it is to receive to believe. But the maintaining of that belief is the work. Why? Because the only one who maintained the seed that was sown was a doer of God's word. Which makes the ground good for sowing. First, the hearer made sure to understand the word: "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it" (Matthew 13:23). Secondly, the hearer brought forth fruit: "which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:23). That means obeying/being a doer of God's word causes you to resemble the word; be a reproducer of it. You will look like the seed that is in you. It is like saying, you look like your mom or dad or someone in your family line that is connected to the seed of your mom or dad. Christ says a sower went to sow seeds (The Word) and some fell by the wayside, some on stony places, some seeds fell on thorns and some fell on to good ground. I am pretty sure you have as I have experienced or been victim of these grounds in your life. Some circumstance, some misunderstanding, just something kept you from the good ground. Well, let me tell you what that something is... It is our adversary, all day, everyday, no breaks, no time off. It is Satan, the Father of lies.
Now that we have established what keeps us from the good ground, we can talk about what faith is and what it costs to live by it. Christ has declared in the Word of God, the just (justified) by His standards shall live by faith. So, faith is ultimately an abandonment of you. Faith in Christ is allowing Him to make you an example even if you look like a fool to others. It is a constant confession, “Your ways are better than mine. So I will obey your words, even when it goes against my feelings and “logical” thinking. It is a declaration that I know Him. I am in relationship with Christ. Faith is being a doer of God's word. It is forsaking all to believe (obey/adhere, follow after, cling to) Christ. It is our most powerful weapon against the enemy. How do I know? In the word, Christ tells us “above all, [take] the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).
There are a few key words and phrase in this scripture: Above all, shield, and all. Christ tells us, above all the weapons that are listed in this chapter, though you need them, above all those other weapons take up your shield of faith. What is this shield of faith? Or rather who is this shield of faith. Christ is our shield: “The Lord is my strength and my shield…” Psalms 28:7 and Christ is our faith: “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (I Corinthians 15:14). Christ is ultimately telling us to pick Him up. He wants to be with us always. But He is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on you like Satan who imposes and demands sin. And through his demands and imposing, we choose sin, unknowingly and knowingly. But if we choose to pick up Christ for every facet of our lives, Christ gives us a promise. This promise is that if we take up our shield of faith we have an assurance that we will be able to quench (put out, quell) all, not some, all the fiery darts of the wicked—the enemy—that shoots at us. This means every single fiery dart will be put out and its intent to harm you will come to nought.
Let us look at Peter quickly. Christ told Peter that he would deny Him 3 times before the crock crows. This denial would come at a pivotal time. A time when Christ was on His way to betrayal and a willful crucifixion. Peter’s test was a test of do you know Christ? In this test Peter denied being with and knowing Christ. And it is the same test we are faced with every time our faith is tested. It is the test of do you know Christ? And when we walk in unbelief, we put our shield down and declare we do not know Christ.
But Christ is ever-so gracious and forgiving. Most times it takes these heart-wrenching tests for us to finally be honest and say, "Lord, I do not know you the way I thought I did." Relationship is key to knowing Christ and maintaining Him. Like most of our relationships, the tests that come have either proven or disproven the value, strength, need, or genuineness of that relationship. However, in Christ no matter how many times we have failed Christ in faith, His mercy gives us another chance to prove we will pick Him up to never put Him down.
I pray you stick around... more to come on faith.
Choose Christ.
Invitations sent, Let’s Be Converts.