Music of Life: Faith (Part 3)

When we choose to walk by faith, we not only impact our own lives but also the lives of those around us. Living a life of faith in Christ is choosing to walk in the power of the gospel.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH" (Romans 1:16-17, NASB).

It is through walking in faith that God works out His righteousness in us. We are restructured and shaped to resemble His righteousness through the pressure and trials of walking in faith. We become evidence of His righteousness as we move down the road of life through stepping out trusting that where our feet land will be solid ground, even if it does not appear to be or is not yet. Remember, God is the One who makes things out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3). That being said, what is the gospel? Well, in a nutshell, it is the good news of what Christ did through His life, death, and resurrection. The gospel is how we communicate verbally, what Christ wants to do internally for all who come to Him in faith. Here is the real question: Why would anyone want to come to Christ in faith? If the greatest motivating factor were simply words depicting the gospel, gospel tracts being left in various places would end up being the #1 reason why people become Christians. The truth is that most people do not just find a gospel tract, read it, and decide to become Christians. Now, it does happen, but if you think for one second that you are being an effective witness by leaving a tract on the table for the server after you finish dining out, you have missed what Christ is calling all Christians to do. The verse above hits the nail on the head for what it takes to be an effective witness in the gospel of Christ. The gospel is "the power of God for salvation" according to Romans 1:16, but it isn't until you get to verse 17 that you find the most effective vehicle to deliver the gospel. You find the key element of witnessing in the very beginning of the verse, "For in it..." It is the gospel, of course. "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," the verse continues. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, and for those of you who are not Greek scholars, as most of us are not, the question may be raised what is the big deal about that. You see, righteousness is basically what makes God different from a everyone and thing else in the world. It's His character, nature, qualities, and personality. It's His distinct signature that says,"I am," and the reason He is holy. If you want something tangible, let's start with a look at the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23a, NASB). These qualities are produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer who invites and submits to the Spirit's rule in their lives. It's a fitting display of what awaits someone with the attitude and focus found in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (NASB, emphasis added). This brings us to the next part of Romans 1:17, "...revealed from faith to faith..." We already discussed that the gospel reveals God's righteousness, or character, but how is it done? The answer is faith. God cultivates faith in us, not only for our own growth and development, but also for the benefit of those around us. God prefers to use our faith to begin and strengthen faith in others. The biggest and best way to preach the validity of the gospel is to walk in faith. God desires to show the world who He is through every step of faith we take. We never truly know who is watching or how what they see will affect them, but we can trust that God does. The author of Hebrews extends this challenge to those are watching: "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7, NASB emphasis added). Paul did not exclude himself from such challenges, and speaking of himself says, "Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness" (Titus 1:1, NASB emphasis added). Paul believed that he was called, even chosen, of God to teach and preach the gospel, not only through words, but also through a life of faith. We should follow his example. God used him to write most of what we now call the New Testament, and I and sure that is only the tip of the iceberg in regard to impact of his life and faith. I pray that we will walk by faith, and not because other people are watching but because He is watching and desiring to strengthen our faith and many other that we do not realize. It's probably going to require some tough stands at the hand of persecution and mockery, but who ever saw great opposition when there was not great achievement and progress at stake. Paul was encouraged by the faith he saw in the church at Thessalonika and so stated, "therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure" (2 Thessalonians 1:4, NASB). Peter also knew and taught of the great opposition that we are called to stand against and why we should. He said,

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you (1 Peter 5:8-10, NASB emphasis added).

There is great achievement and glory which God desires to bring forth through us, but it is not discovered without great opposition and against fierce odds. It is worth every bit of it though. One last verse of encouragement before closing, Ephesians 6:16 states, "in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (NASB). Faith is the element that makes every movie hero amirable, and we are given by God the opportunity to be the hero of our movie of real life. Pick up the shield and the full armor with sword in hand and walk forth not relying on sight but on faith in the God of creation.

Music of Life: Faith (Part 2)

Now that we have determined that everyone has some amount of faith, and the amount of faith needed to do the impossible is a small amount. It may be a good idea the explore the idea of what faith is.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:1-3, NASB).

This ever famous and foundational depiction of faith gives us the most direct definition of faith that can be found in the Bible. There is a balance of action and words that reinforce each other and solidify the validity of our faith. Standing in this balance places us in a position which God has prepared for us when all His pieces fall into place and create a firm foundation for our feet to land on. Paul's words challenge us in this manner as well; "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, NASB). Faith is defined, in the passage from Hebrews, as having a confidence or belief that something that cannot be seen or maybe even proven is coming or will happen. This confidence or belief is viewed by the owner of the faith as being a present reality, even though it will be seen later. The possessor of the faith may not even be able to explain it any better than they "just know." To that individual though, it is real and concrete because God is the One who makes things out of nothing. His supplies need not be inherently visible nor actual, yet they are boundless and more than sufficient for any task. God is the only one who can truly create. We simply rearrange at best. We can take the supplies we have and make new arrangements of those supplies that have never been seen before, but we do not make the supplies. God truly creates because He makes things out of nothing. This Creator is the one whom our faith should always reside in. For it is by faith that we truly live and find ourselves: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, NASB). We can be pleasing to him by coming to Him in faith. If we seek Him, we are expressing to Him that we believe that He has more for us than what we currently have. He rewards us because He desires to give us deeper and meaningful lives than we could imagine for ourselves or currently have. In movies, the hero always persists because he believes there is more and where he wants to be is not where he currently is. The author of Hebrews makes this same claim about the heroes of the faith that he wrote about in chapter 11: "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:16, NASB). He had already prepared a city for them. They believed that He had a place for them that was better that what they had and believed it to the end of their lives: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Their faith in God was strong enough to carry them to the end of their lives. They were probably told they were crazy by others who did not share the same vision, but they remained persistent. They arrived at their promised "better country" because they did not give up and did not stand still. No one achieves a great finish without leaving the starting line. There are no guarantees that marathon runners will finish the race if they start, but they do it anyway. When they arrive and have conquered the course, they have reached the place they believed existed but had not seen until they got there: the finish line. They did this despite all the thoughts that the finish line never seemed like it was coming. The heroes of the faith finished their marathons of life that God had set before them. The Apostle Paul, as he near the end of his time on earth, joined them in saying, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NASB). Our faith is our mode of transportation. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, NASB). Their is not a good adventure movie out their that does not have a high degree of faith involved in it. The character must act in faith to accomplish the goal. We are no different.

Music of Life: Faith (Part 1)

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses (1 Timothy 6:12, NASB).

And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake (Philemon 1:6 , NASB).

One of the key elements in any great movie is suspense. I am sure that you can recall a scene or two from a movie in which the hero is faced with a situation where he must rise up and take on a challenge which is probably outside safe odds of success. In most cases, the hero must even face death itself, if he does not succeed. The danger is apparent, and the risk may seem to be too great. But would the movie really be great if the hero didn't take on the odds, outwit the risk, and take the danger out with the trash. Most of us would agree that even if the hero failed to save his own life but accomplished his task, it stilled made an awesome story. In real life, this kind of suspense only comes attached to faith. Even in the movies, the hero exercises faith in his own abilities and/or those of his team. You cannot build this element of suspense without it.

The key is understanding that the hero was predetermined to have this kind of faith in the script before the story was ever played out. He didn't just all of a sudden get this burst of faith or willingness. We are all the same in this matter. Paul states in the book of Romans, "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith" (12:3, NASB emphasis added). Everyone has been given by God some measure of faith. There is not one person out there who can accurately say that they have no faith. They may not have much, but they do have some. The amount is directly proportional to what God has called them to do, which makes the quintessential question about what you do with your faith. The disciples were challenged by Jesus on a couple of a occasions to stand in their faith more. In the first situation, the disciples were trying to cast out a demon with no success. Jesus came up and cast it out, and the rest is as follows:

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you (Matthew 17:19-20, NASB).

The second comes at a time when Jesus was queried by his apostles in the following manner:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you (Luke 17:5-6, NASB).

Jesus wasn't mad at or frustrated with the disciples when they were unable to cast out the demon. He had shown up for this specific purpose. They had not encountered this kind of demon before. And when they tried to cast it out using their previous method, as they did when Jesus had sent them out before, they did not succeed. Jesus denoted that they had failed to seek God for help when He informed them that "this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21, NASB). Jesus had planned this episode to help the disciples understand that they must trust God to equip them for everything He has called them to do. Jesus had been in communion with God on the Mount of Transfiguration before casting this demon out. He was the one who was supposed to cast it out, and that is why He his statement to them concerning the littleness of their faith was not condescending. There faith indeed was little, but He also wanted them to understand that their faith did not need to be the size of a mountain to accomplish the impossible. Rather, it only needed to be the size of a tiny mustard seed. These statements of the littleness of their faith and faith size of a mustard seed were intended to encourage and challenge them to grow in their faith.

Music of Life: Introduction

There is something thought provoking and exhilirating about a great movie. I'm not talking about great special effects or an all-star cast, nor am I talking about a movie that you walk out of saying, "That was really cool." When I say, "great movie," I'm talking about the kind that draws you into the story so much that you forget you are in a theatre or your own home; in fact, you forget it is a movie altogether. The truly great movies that have storylines that are so captivating that they spark a tear or cause you to speak to the screen or break out in applause. Even if we have seen even only a few movies in our lifetime, we all probably have movies that come to mind even now. The odds are there is not one truly great movie out there that does not also have truly great soundtrack. In all honesty, the soundtrack is basically the core of the movie's captivating power. It sets the stage and draws us in. You can even recall the images of the movie just by hearing the music being played. It's amazing how quickly we can be taken back in our minds to the place in the movie the music is cued and almost relive it again. The music of the soundtrack draws us all into the same place, where we all establish a common ground. For one moment, if no longer, we are all on the same page, and we see things through a common lens.

Now, imagine if the same thing were possible in real life. What if there was a medley of perfectly selected music, blended and orchestrated with unmatched precision, of which our lives could possess as its soundtrack? Take a moment to stop and think about the question. If the story of your life could have the ultimate soundtrack to play along side it, how would that change your life? Even deeper question, how would that impact the lives of those around you? What if the story of life could live well beyond your physical lifespan, just like how movies continue to be available to watch on DVD and video to retell the story over and over again? What if? What if? What if I told you it is possible? What if I told you I believed it was true? And it is.

In what is probably the most popular passage of Scripture, the music is found. Now, it is most likely not going to jump out and bite you or smack you in the face, but it is there seated in 1 Corinthians 13. I'm not going to break down the whole chapter, but rather the final verse. Verse 13 is the key. It states: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love" (NIV). If you read the whole chapter and even into the beginning of the 14th chapter, you may notice that verse 13 almost seems out of place. This is the only place in the bible that you find faith, hope and love grouped together in one verse like this. Maybe this is all just coincidence, and I am barking up the wrong tree. What if I am not though? All throughout the Bible you find the three intermingled and mentioned one with another. In fact, it is practically impossible to teach on one with out mentioning the others in some fashion. Join me in a walk through the depths of each of these three: Faith, Hope, and Love.

Beginning the journey

I never really thought that I would be writing a web journal. Apparently, I was wrong. My purpose behind creating this web journal is to share what God has been teaching me. If you get anything good out of this, GO GOD! I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ....sorry, I guess this isn't the Oscars. Have fun browsing the topics and teachings covered here. I pray that the Lord will speak to all who come here and read for Christ's glory. I realized that hope is essential to my existence and life, and I want nothing more to instill hope in others.