Faith and Christianity

When it comes to Faith and it's definition Hebrews 11:1 is the go to Bible passage for most Christians: 

"To have Faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see."

I was making notes on this particular chapter recently as I was reading through it. It didn't occur to me then to share what I had written down until I read over it today. It seemed like something everyone would know, until I realised that I only made those notes because even if I knew most of the things I often forgot them. So for those who are prone to forgetfulness like I am, I will leave this here so we can always come back and remember all that Faith is and should be. 

Through our faith we win God's approval: the Bible constantly reminds us that God doesn't bless us because of the works of our hands but because of His infinite grace and mercy. Yet it is by our faith in God that we qualify because we prove our obedience to God. God in His loving kindness never deserts us even when we desert Him, but it is important for us to understand that having faith in Him and trusting Him draws us nearer to Him. In this way we are able to please God because by putting our trust in Him we receive the gift of His righteousness. 

Because of our faith we present a better offering to God: before anyone bites of my head this isn't a prosperity gospel thing. Think of it this way. If you trust someone, you give freely to them. It's natural. In the same way when you put your trust completely in God you give freely to Him of ALL you have. Now of course that depends a lot on what it is that you have! You cannot give someone what you don't already possess. So by giving all you have to God I don't necessarily mean in a monetary way. I also mean an offering of the heart and the soul, a sweet smelling praise and worship, a heart wrenching prayer. Whatever you have, give.

Faith helps us carry out God's plan even when we can't see or understand it: believe it or not a few years ago saying "I surrender Lord" or "Not my will Father but Yours" was one of the most difficult things for me. Letting go of all that control just made me feel weak. I couldn't bring myself to trust God to do the impossible because it still looked impossible to me. Two things changed my mind. Firstly a lot of communicating with God about giving me the strength to let go made me realise that it took strength to let go. Thus releasing control stopped being a sign of weakness. Secondly it is easy to hold on to control when you're in control but when things are completely out of your control holding on becomes kind of stupid. 

Faith is a prerequisite for miracles: ask any children's book writer; the impossible cannot happen unless you are crazy enough to believe it. Faith MAKES the impossible possible. 

Through faith we can plan ahead: because we believe in the promise of tomorrow, we make plans for tomorrow. You cannot make plans for a time that does not exist.

Faith makes us reject sin by keeping us focused on heaven and it's future rewards, not on the world: saying no is never easy but it becomes much easier when there is hope for a better yes. Faith helps us defy the devil when he tempts us because we know that God has better things in store.

Faith strengthens us by helping us endure persecution: faith strengthens us in many other ways as I explained before but one of the most important ways for me is strength in the time of persecution. Now many will say they haven't faced persecution before and perhaps they are right. However if you think about it, chances are you have. Every time someone has laughed at you or ridiculed you for making time for God, every time someone has pointed out your faith as a reason for a joke, you have faced a degree of persecution. Of course that is NOTHING compared to thousands that are literally slaughtered for their faith in Christ. But how we deal with persecution shouldn't differ according to how serious we deem it. 

Matthew 10: 32-33

"If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven." 

Happy Good Friday All

My Day
It's the day of our Lord's crucifixion, so my friends and I got up extra early for service today. We fought our flu and managed to make it in to church on time. The sermon was powerful and there was supposed to be a showing of The Passion of the Christ this evening. However I was so exhausted that my short nap turned into a long one and I ended up missing it :( Not to worry, I watched it at home.

Bar some rather unnecessary embellishments, not a bad movie at all. It really captured the brutality of Roman torture and crucifixion. Not for the light hearted I tell you.  It got me thinking though...

The Romans
They were brutal!! Floggings that peeled flesh off bones, smashing of knees, dislocating of shoulders, the whole 9 yards. The men responsible for all of that were either seriously touched in the head to start with or became like that after years on the job. It just doesn't seem natural.

Pontius Pilate, Peter & Judas.
Sounds like the name for a pretty nifty Indie-Rock band.
After a short conversation with one of my friends tonight I came to the following conclusions.

• Judas' betrayal, Peter's denials and Pilate's decision to exempt himself were all necessary in Christianity's journey. Without them in some ways there would be no cross, although God's word is still Ye and Amen.
• Unlike Peter, it seems Judas and Pilate made the mistake of (to the best of knowledge) not giving themselves a chance at redemption. Yes they sinned but if they had asked for forgiveness like Peter and devoted their lives to the mission of Christianity it would have been a slightly different story.
• Pilate was politically between a rock and a hard place so in some ways you can understand his decision. He gave the crowd a choice between terrorist/mass murderer Barabbas and Jesus and they still condemned Christ. However as Christians this doesn't mean we get to fold our hands and watch morality destroyed. In fact as people we really ought to know how and when to stand up for what we believe in. 
• Judas learnt nothing from his time with Christ. Zilch. Zero. Nada. He should know better than to think that there is no redemption for him after sin. 
• We shouldn't give our sins and past mistakes power over us. Yes we have sinned and it is wrong but in order to move forward we need to cast it off and look to God for mercy, salvation, insight and strength to resist future temptation. 

Barabbas and the thief on the cross.

They were the first examples of salvation through the cross. Barabbas who was awaiting death had Jesus take his place quite literally on the cross. As for the thief to the best of our knowledge he sits with our Lord Jesus in heaven as he was brave enough to recognise the Messiah even on the cross. Not many of us would do that in a similar situation. In fact too many of us fail to do that even today.  

I don't know if there is a moral to all of this. I just felt like sharing my thoughts with you. For those who are already Christians I hope you're having a wonderful Good Friday recognising the sacrifice made on our behalf. For those yet to recognise it, I hope you do soon. I'm not perfect but in Christ I can seek perfection with the hope that through Him it can be achieved.

Stay Blessed.