Tag: Discipleship

Cultivating Faith (Part 2)

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Cultivating Faith:  A Man of Perspective

The most wonderful result of cultivating a life of faith is that people will glimpse the character of God in one who genuinely believes His Word.  God blessed Abraham, but in him blessed all the families of the earth (Genesis 12.1-3).  There are two perspectives which become very important in the cultivation of our faith.  First, we must have a proper perspective of God.  Second, we must have a proper perspective on godliness.

Our Perspective of God

Acts 7 contains the account of the Christian church’s first martyr named Stephen.  Stephen’s address leading to his murder begins with these words:  “Brethren and fathers, listen:  The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham” (Acts 7.2).  What then is the glory of God but an understanding of His character?

The Power of God

We learn much from God’s character when we consider that He called Abraham, an idolater, to become the source of blessing to all the families of the earth.  How do we make sense of that?  I believe God does that which will bring Him the most glory.  Abraham’s conversion and calling is a demonstration of His omnipotence.  God delights in taking broken vessels and communicating His grace and power through them.

Man does not operate in the same way.  We always look for the best and the brightest.  I am sad to say that the best and the brightest among us often do not need God.  Their abilities and resources hinder them from relying upon the power and glory of God for effective ministry.  God does indeed save those who realize they cannot save themselves.  Paul cautioned Timothy about being ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or even of Paul and his imprisonment for the Lord.  Suffering for the Gospel is a part of our call to ministry; it must be according to the power of God, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works (self-power), but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began…” (2 Timothy 1.8-9).

Not one believer should puff themselves up against the another believer.  God has made us to differ from one another.  Everything we have we received from Him.  Since we have received it, why would we boast as though we have not received it from Him?  (See 1 Corinthians 4.6-7.)  What was true of the formerly idolatrous Abraham is certainly true of you and me:  “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15.10).  The question remains, “Will God’s grace toward us be in vain?”  Anything worth doing in our lives must be empowered by Almighty God.

The Promise of God

While Abraham exemplifies a life-long cultivation of faith, it all began with the faithfulness of God.  God keeps His promises.  Yet Abraham would not own any of the promised land until he purchased his wife’s burial plot.  He would be an old man before Isaac, the child of promise, was born.  Yet God kept His promises.  The child was given.  Abraham’s descendants inherited the Land and will have it to the full one day.  Indeed, all the nations of the earth are blessed and will be blessed through him.

We can be very thankful for the promise of God.  “All the promises of God in Him are ‘Yes’, and in Him ‘Amen’, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1.20).  The greatest promise God has made to us is the eternal security we have in Christ.  Jesus said, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10.29).  All of God’s children “are kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1.5).

Our perspective of God is sharply focused by a look at His power and faithfulness to keep the promises He makes.  If we are to cultivate a life of faith as Abraham did, we must keep an eye focused upon the power and promises of God.  But we also need a whole new perspective on godliness.

Our Perspective on Godliness

While Abraham move toward Canaan in Genesis 12, the LORD appeared to him and encouraged him.  He built altars to the LORD in both Shechem and Bethel.  He called upon the LORD as well.  Our perspective on godliness must include the ideas of dedication to God and communication with God.  I find it interesting and very ironic that Abraham epitomizes the cultivation of a life of faith, but he went down to Egypt when a famine came upon the Land.  It doesn’t seem to me that the LORD directs him there.  We don’t find it in the text.  Also, God’s Word makes it clear that Abraham felt the need to lie to protect himself even at his wife’s expense (see Genesis 12.12-13).  God faithfulness and power preserves Abraham and Sarah in the end, but we wouldn’t really turn to the end of this chapter for a perspective on godliness, would we?

Perhaps our perspective on a godly life is clarified over time.  The weakness of Abraham is becoming a strength as he is led by God.  But God will allow Abraham to strike out on his own and fail.  He will permit the same when it come to our own lives.  Still, Genesis 12:5 is evidence of Abraham’s faith.  He departed from Haran and went into the Land.  Clarity when it comes to godliness will require that we first and foremost follow the leading of the Holy Spirit by truly relying upon Him.  As we rely upon God’s power and promises, we will fulfill five very important requirements.

Godliness Requires Faith

Faith is not complicated from our perspective.  It is an unwavering stand upon the foundational power and promises of God.  Abraham went without knowing where he was going.  He simply believed what God revealed to Him.  It’s not that he never stumbled or failed in life; he did.  We simply must walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith (Romans 4.12).

After all, to be godly one must belong to God.  To belong to God one must believe.  “Abraham believed God …and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.  Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us.  It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4.3, 22-25).  God has always and will always require faith from the godly.

Godliness Requires Obedience

Obedience comes after faith; although, admittedly they often appear to be contemporaneous.  When God called Abraham, Abram obeyed God right away.  No hemming and hawing.  He went.  If we are to be godly, we must obey right away.  Obey right away isn’t just for our children.  We have the same litany of excuses as they when it comes to delayed or failed obedience.  Consider the words of our Lord Jesus who said…

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”  Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”  But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”  And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”  But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9.58-62).

It is inexcusable for the godly to disobey or delay when it comes to the clear directives of our Heavenly Father.

Godliness Requires Self-Denial

It’s not only hard but impossible to get this right without relying upon the leading of God the Holy Spirit.  When you leave everything familiar to you (people and comfort), it can be disorienting and depressing.  Abraham certainly struggled.  This is when we must know the Person in whom we have placed our faith.  We know whom we have believed!

We must not only be willing but active in putting to death our members upon the earth.  Cut off the right hand, pluck out the right eye, and crucify the flesh and its affections.  It’s not easy, but God didn’t call us to easy.  He call us to self-denial.  If you lose your life, you most certainly gain it.

Godliness Requires Foresight 

Abraham certainly planned for the trip from Haran to the Promised Land.  It would be absurd to think otherwise.  He even calculated how he would handle things with Sarah once leaders saw how beautiful she was.  Abraham must support his family and provide for those close to him.  But wisdom does dwell together with prudence, which is the practical skill of being discerning.  If we do not provide for our families, are we not worse than unbelievers?

Godliness Requires Effort

Abraham stalled in Haran until Terah died.  When the LORD renewed His call for Abraham to go further into the Promised Land, he went.  He didn’t give up on God.  We, too, must press on.  Diligence is an essential part of a godly life.  But I hasten to add that effort is effortless when we are led by the Holy Spirit and supplied with the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Galatians 2.20).

Hopefully, we see that the link between a proper perspective of God and a proper perspective on godliness when it comes to the cultivation of a life of faith.  Those who follow Abraham’s example will find themselves to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of Lord, because they know that their labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15.58).

Black Friday Possessions

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And Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ -Luke 12.15

Covetousness is nothing new, but it is steadily tearing our country apart.  Ron Colone wrote an op ed piece in the Santa Ynez Valley News.  His conclusion is quite bracing:

Well, know this, Black Friday has 100 percent to do with the promotion of covetousness, which is greed, materialism, envy and avarice.  These are not the kinds of feelings that can raise us to our own higher ground.  Instead, they condemn us to cold-heartedness and small-mindedness.

Jesus spoke the words above to His followers in order to challenge them regarding their spiritual wellbeing.  The instruction actually came upon the heels of being asked to settle a family dispute.  A man in one of the crowds that typically gathered around Jesus called out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (12.13).

Jesus instantly knew that the man had his mind fixed on earthly and temporal matters rather than spiritual and eternal matters of the heart.  The focus in our lives should be to take root downward in order to bear fruit upward.  The Lord simply would not allow this man to put Him in such a place.  He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

The Lord Jesus wouldn’t allow this man to put Him in a place where He would be settling a family squabble about money.  At any rate, the core of this man’s problem was covetousness (greed and avarice).  Contrary to popular opinion, life is not made up of possessions.  Possessions are tools to serve not chains to bind.

How are we to know whether or not we are bound by our possessions?  First, we must examine the way in which we pursue them.  Does it make a whole of sense to wait in line outside of a department store for four days in order to purchase a widescreen television at a deeply discounted rate?  Consider the opportunity costs in making this foolish choice?  How much time was sacrificed which could have been better used for eternal pursuits?  Second, we must examine just how delusional we are to think that possessions will satisfy.  A lot of rich entertainers and athletes prove this point with their self-destructive choices.  It would not take long to marshall serveral examples to prove this point.  Finally, we must pause to recognize just how debasing and destructive rampant materialism is.  It will be the ruination of our country.

Life is too short to justify our drive for more in the United States of America.  It is good to find out early in life that blessing comes to those who behave as a sieve.  The wealth comes in, we pray for discernment, and we distribute it to those who have true needs to be met.  As we think of the month ahead of us, may the Lord grant us the wisdom to see that all we have comes from Him (Psalm 24).  Wealth is simply a tool to serve others and to ultimately serve our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.  After all, we are not redeemed with precious possessions, but rather with the precious blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Life-Givers and Life-Graspers

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You would think that the king would be the first to eat at the rich banqueting tables of his palace.  But tables heavily laden with delectable, rich food provide an excellent opportunity for an enemy to poison the king.  So a man was chosen to go before the king and taste his food.  How would you like to be that man?  Going first in life is not always desirable; it’s often risky and dangerous.  Even so there is a big difference between the desire to be first and the fortitude to go first.  Those who would be first are selfish; those who would go first are selfless.

“Now [Jesus, the Twelve, and others] were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” ” (Mark 10:32–34)

Amazed and Afraid

The apostles of Jesus were amazed.  Those who followed at a distance were afraid.  Why the amazement and fear?  It stems from the confident and steadfast stride of Jesus as He moves toward the cross, the instrument of His death.  Mark 10 is about discipleship and mentoring.  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance and permanency of marriage because of the natural tendency to search out loopholes in order to escape from our responsibilities before God (10.1-12).  Second, Jesus also taught the disciples about the importance of receiving the Kingdom of God and maintaining our citizenship with quiet, loving dependence (10.13-16).  Finally, Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of complete reliance upon Him and nothing else for the joy of eternal life (10.17-31).

Three passages prefacing the one under our consideration stress the importance of faithfulness.  Whatever it means to follow Jesus Christ, it most certainly will include a component of dependability.  Jesus modeled faithfulness as the selfless savior, the ransom and servant of all.  He leads out before all of His disciples:  those who follow close and are amazed and those who follow at a distance and are afraid.

Ascent

Roads leading to Jerusalem necessitate an ascent.  Jesus is ascending in more ways than one.  The road to Jerusalem on this day was the ascent to the climax of His ministry.  As He does so, He offers the third and fullest prediction of what awaited Him.  The following components detail the prediction for us:

  • His betrayal to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin)
  • Condemnation by the Sanhedrin
  • The deliverance of Jesus to the Romans due to the fact that the Jewish leaders could not enforce capital punishment on their own
  • The mocking, scourging, and spitting
  • The murder of Jesus Christ
  • The resurrection of Jesus Christ

The three predictions in the Gospel of Mark have two common elements:  the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus set His face like a flint toward Jerusalem knowing what would befall Him.  The sorrowful, bleak, and difficult ascent up the Jerusalem road forms quite a contrast with the resurrection and redemption that would be the end result of Jesus’ finished work.  There is a contrast between the confident Master and the beleaguered disciple.  It is unfortunate that this contrast continues to the present day.  This in spite of all we know.

Life-Giver or Life-Grasper

It is a contrast between the selfish life-graspers (10.35-40) and the selfless Life-giver (10.41-45).  James, John, and the other ten apostles pitifully demonstrate what it is to grasp life only to lose it.  Jesus is a powerful example of One who selflessly gives His life only to gain redemption for all of us.  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (10.45).  Are you one who serves or one who is served?  Are you a life-giver or a life-grasper?