Show Me Your Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Depending on your Bible translation two words in this verse can be different. Personally I prefer the KJV translation in this verse. 

Last week while studying for our Sunday Bible study I began to ponder this verse. I began to consider how faith could be substance or proof. What is it about faith that gives it substance?

I have often considered faith as an intangible... something you either have or you don't. However, as I began to dig deeper I began piecing together verses in Hebrews and James that I've known all my life but just haven't considered together (in the same context). I guess it wasn't really that much of a revelation... it was something I have known somewhere inside all my Christian life but just have never been able to really lay hold of... to be able to communicate adequately to others. 

In chapter 2, James makes the point that faith without works is dead. He gives the example of someone wishing a person who has nothing well, but not doing anything to help them. In verse 17, after giving the example, he said that "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (NIV). I like the NIV here because it uses the word "action". Faith is a verb... just like love. It's an action word!

James continues... "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do". James is going to show people his faith by his actions. The substance of his faith is what he does. The evidence of his faith is how people see him act on that faith.

That's why faith without works is dead (nekros)... because without action it's powerless!

• Faith becomes faith because you act on it, not because you have it. 
• Faith becomes faith when you determine to wait on God's timing instead of your own. 
• Faith becomes faith when you take the initiative and make sure that hungry person has food to eat, that hurting friend has a shoulder to cry on, that elderly church member doesn't have to get out and rake their own leaves, or that town in Oregon gets to hear the Gospel of Christ!!

James said "I will show you my faith by what I do". What are you doing? is your faith becoming faith?

Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

Moments Of Clarity

It's been about seven months since my last post. I have started more than one post since then and then just not finished it.

Does that ever happen to you? You get started on one thing and another gets your attention. You put this down to work on that and the other gets your attention. Welcome to my world... the world of Attention Deficit Disorder!

Or maybe it's more complicated than that. Maybe you set out to do something for the Kingdom... some ministry task... and decided you just weren't worthy of such a task. Your conscience just wouldn't allow you to go through with it. So it remained half-done.

That's probably a more apt description of why it has taken me over six months to complete a blog.  Sometimes I look around me and begin to feel I'm failing my God and Savior. I feel like I am unworthy and a hypocrite. When I find myself in this place I find myself doing nothing. It's not that doing nothing makes me feel any better. It's just that, at the time, it seems to not make me feel worse about my testimony. The unfortunate thing is this feeling eventually tends to build on itself. So I have to conclude that I am feeling worse about my testimony and I am beginning to withdraw into my own little pity party.

But there are times, like this past Sunday evening, that can really bring me out of that place. At bedtime Sunday evening Lacey gave her heart to Jesus! She has been talking about being saved for quite awhile now. However, the way she talks about it is so matter-of-fact that it has kept us from making a big deal of it.

Lacey is quite a bit different from her sisters. Whereas they are a bit reserved and don't volunteer much information, Lacey is outgoing, outspoken and whatever is on her mind is coming out her mouth! Lacey is extremely sensitive to the world around her in many ways (much like I was at her age). She can't stand loud noises, she can't handle any sort of intense situations... whether in real life or in a movie. She has yet to watch a Star Wars movie because the intense music makes her extremely uncomfortable. That said, she is also extremely sensitive to (and responsive to) the needs of those around her.

Along with all this sensitivity comes a very expressive personality. Lacey can communicate her feelings better than any six-year-old I've ever seen. She is so expressive your first inclination is to pass it off as a game. But when she came to us Sunday evening to tell us she wanted to be saved we decided we needed to follow up on it this time. I got my phone out and opened up my Bible app. I pulled up a few scriptures and Lacey read them to me. I then asked her to tell me what they meant. She answered all my questions fully and quickly. When she understood what she needed to do she prayed, told God she was a sinner, told Him she wanted to turn away from her sin and turn to Him. She said she knew Jesus was His son and that He died for her sins and she asked Him to save her. It was that simple!

So it's at times like these when I realize first of all that I am making a difference. I also realize I had a responsibility to be a witness because someone was watching me and that someone was my own daughter! She learned about Jesus in part because of me and she made the decision to follow Him in part because of me. What if I had given up because I felt so unworthy to be a witness and had gone my own way? Would she have made that decision?

Finally, we have been studying the Holy Spirit in our Sunday School series. Part of our study was when Jesus promised to send a "comforter".  He said that this advocate would be with us forever... that He would guide us to all truth and He would declare the words of Christ to us!

So, if we have such a Spirit within us, why should we be discouraged? Jesus knew we would struggle with our sin and our inadequacy and he sent his own Spirit to dwell in us and to glorify God through us. In fact, Jesus wants us to rely completely on the guidance of His Holy Spirit and not on our own guidance (Prov 3:5,6). That's where we get tripped up isn't it? We decide we aren't worthy and forget that we aren't supposed to do it! We're supposed to let God do it through us!

Romans 5:20b - "...but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly"

30 Life Principles by Charles Stanley

Who's On Your Friend List?

Do words still mean things? Do we still mean it when we say someone is our "friend"? These questions take on an entirely new light when you consider sites like Facebook. I have 824 "friends" on my Facebook page. I didn't realize I knew 824 people.  But I do. Honestly. I know everyone on my friend list. Not only that, there are certainly hundreds, if not thousands, on Facebook I do know who are not on my friend list. But to these 824... can I truly say I consider all these people my friend?

What does it mean to be a friend? What are the criteria that have to be met for someone to be my friend? To be honest I've never really thought about this. Does my finding them on Facebook and "friending" them get the job done? Or should there be more to it?

In today's world I believe we have come to view friends differently than at any time before. There is a supermarket in our town that employs a lot of high school students. I'm certain the primary reason is they work for less than most adults would and are also much more easily replaced. One thing I notice when I shop there is the complete lack of temperance (for lack of a better word) when these teens speak to one another and to the customers. It's not that they are using foul language. It's that they hold nothing back. It's as if, by smiling at them, greeting them and asking how they're doing, you've instantly become their best friend. And what follows is a detailed account of their lives. In all fairness, however, I did ask how they were doing, didn't I?

I listen to these teens and feel so sorry for them. They obviously have a lot on their minds and nobody with which to share it. I have to ask myself what their home lives are like. First of all, do their parents spend time with them?  Do they truly want to know how and what their teens are doing? Do these teens have true friends... friends who, when asked, give real advice or, when not asked, simply listen? Friends who hold their conversations as sacred, never to be discussed with others and especially never to be aired out on the internet or in the classroom? Do these young people really know what a friend is?

If one is willing to spend time in the scripture the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the qualities of a good friend.

A friend is someone who

• can keep a secret - 11:13, 12:23
• speaks the truth - 12:17-19
• loves at all times - 17:17

To the person seeking a friend wants to 

• avoid foolish persons - 14:7
• look for wisdom - 12:15
• look for faithfulness - 20:6

There are scores more you can add to each of these categories from the book of Proverbs alone.

I had lunch with one of my best friends today. David and I became best friends in Jr. High and have remained so for the past thirty plus years. David moved back to Arkansas a couple of years ago and we regularly meet for lunch. We share life stories, ups and downs, and our love for God when we visit.  We laugh... a lot. We give advice when it's sought and we don't really hold back much when we give it. That's because each of us knows the other is speaking in love with our best interests in mind.

Finding a true friend is a worthy endeavor as it will benefit you throughout your life.  However, if you yourself aren't willing to be a true friend... to be trustworthy, truthful, selfless and loving... you are likely to have great difficulty finding a true friend. Friendship is a two-way street. It must be both pursued and earned. 

If your children are still with you please make every effort to show them what a friend is. Along your parenting, they need to learn from you what it takes to be and to have a close friend. They need to learn these traits from you before they can ever properly utilize them in their own lives.

If you are a teen who is seeking a friend.  My first recommendation is that you take the book of Proverbs to heart. Let it help you to understand what your behavior should be. Then go and be a true friend... and you will have true friends.

Proverbs 18:24 - A man who has friends must himself be friendly.  But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

The Other Woman

I have a confession to make.  I'm not going to beat around the bush.  There has been another woman in my life.  It's been this way for some time now.  It starts out and you don't even think about it.  Then, years later, you realize the profound impact it has had on your marriage.

It seems like such a short time ago when Lindsey started kindergarten.  She was reading so quickly and hasn't stopped since.  I told her that learning to read was one of the greatest things you can do because once you know how to read you can learn anything.  She has long since read far more books than I ever will.

About a year ago Lindsey got her driver's license (or "dryfen lyvers" as Lacey called it).  It's a very surreal experience to see her and Lauren hop in the Expedition and drive off to band rehearsal or piano lessons or to a friend's house.

Now she's grown up!  She completed all her high school work a few weeks ago.  She's done!  Now she is hard at work pursuing her career as a writer.  At seventeen she has already been published in a Christian magazine and, this week, had the privilege of speaking to a writers group at FamilyLife.  She is now hard at work on a novel and a children's book.

By contrast, when I was seventeen I was only worried about how to put gas in my Nova!  Oh, I had some ideas of what I wanted to do but I was far from making strides in any of those directions.  Come to think of it, I've never really been that adventurous... maybe I'm a hobbit at heart.  But I'm so glad my girls are outgoing!

To quote Larnelle Harris

She's become the other woman in my life. 

She's the evidence of love between me and my wife. 

When she was a baby I held her

And as a young girl I watched her

Become the other woman In my life!

I love you Lindsey and I'm so proud of you!

Psalm 127:4-5 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of ones youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.