This past Sunday I sat in on a LifeGroup (which is always a great time…awesome to see God working in these groups!). They are walking through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It’s a great book and our LifeGroup went through it a few months ago. I had loaned my book to the leader and he returned that night. So I flipped through it and one of my highlights caught my attention again.

It was one small sentence, but it has stuck with me all week…

What are you doing right now that requires faith?

What a great question. What am I doing in my life right now that requires faith? The question has haunted me all week. God is using this simple question to challenge me spiritually. Am I only doing things that are fully under my control? Am I even willing to attempt something this week that requires me to depend completely on Him?

It’s a challenging question…it stretches my faith (pun intended). And it’s not the first time God has spoken on this topic. Jesus admonished His disciples to have just a little faith…

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them.
“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed,
you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.”
Matthew 17:20, NLT

Just a little bit of faith makes a huge difference…because that’s when God does His thing. Just a little faith and nothing is impossible…because nothing is impossible for God. A little faith is enough…because we’ve got a huge God.

Imagine what could happen with a little more faith.

So…what are you doing right now that requires faith?

This morning God is asking me if I’m a mountain man or if I’m His man. I am His man, but let me explain.

I was reading in my devotional book this morning (and I need a new one for next year if anyone has any recommendations) and the author made a profound statement that God is using to challenge me.

The challenge focuses on this verse:

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt,
you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain,
‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
Matthew 21:21-22, NLT

That’s a powerful promise from Jesus…one that most of use struggle with living up to. Jesus says we can move mountains if we have faith and don’t doubt. And that’s where the challenge comes…

No one ever gets mountain-moving faith by obsessing about the mountains.
We get it by focusing on God.

I don’t know about you, but I am too often the guy worried about the mountain in front of me…whatever current stress, fear, or struggle that may be…instead of focusing on God. But He’s teaching me this lesson and I am slowly beginning to learn to trust Him, lean on Him, and have faith in Him alone and stop worrying about the mountain.

It’s a hard lesson…but the mountains are starting to move already…

The first verse of Hebrews 12 gives us a serious challenge as Christ followers…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a
huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1, NLT

In other words: you’ve heard about the spiritual giants such as Abraham, Moses, and David so start acting like them. Easy to say…not so easy to do. On the one hand, most of these “spiritual giants” had their share of problems (i.e.: lying, cheating, and murder) so they are as human as you and I are. On the other hand, they had great faith and walked close to God in spite of their weaknesses (and maybe because of those weaknesses).

Any way you look at it, it’s a tall order. How do we do this? Well, that’s why you have to keep reading to verse 2…

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,
the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Hebrews 12:2, NLT

How do we run the spiritual race? How do we endure it? How do we act like the spiritual giants of the past?

By keeping our eyes on Jesus. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. It’s not about our strength or our weakness…it’s about His power demonstrated in our lives. We do not initiate or perfect our faith…Jesus does (sometimes we get that one backwards).

So….who you lookin’ at?

Have you ever had someone say to you: “Trust me”? What’s your initial reaction? I may be a little cynical, but my first reaction is, “Yeah…right. Not gonna happen pal.”

That is, unless I really, really, really trust that person. It’s just that most people have a way of letting us down…often when they are trying their darnedest not to. We’re human. We fail. We’re frail. We kinda suck.

But there is someone we can trust 100%. He never lets us down. He never fails. He’s strong enough to lean on. He definitely does NOT suck. And He tells us to trust Him…

Don’t let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God, and trust also in me.
(John 14:1, NLT)

I confess that too often I trust in myself or others to try and get me through. Sometimes I even try and let God be my assistant and/or guide to help me through  life. But I got a reminder this morning that this isn’t enough…Jesus doesn’t want to just be our “copilot”…He wants to be the pilot that takes us where we need to go:

Do you see Jesus as someone who has come along to assist you? Or do you rely on His dwelling in your heart? He is not just your example or your copilot. He is the substance of your life. You cannot know the Father, and you cannot get to heaven, with Him only showing you how to get there. He must take you there. Having been born of His Spirit, we must let His Spirit actually live in us. (Walk With God, page 224).

Yep, that’ll preach…

God has slowly, but surely, been working on my walk with Him this week. Specifically, He has been talking to me about my “bookend faith”. Bookend faith is starting and ending my day with God with little in between. It isn’t like I am a total heathen the rest of the day…I am just not living as close to Him as I would like (and as He would like).

I get caught up in work and school and family and the myriad of other “things” going on in my life and He ends up getting squeezed out. It’s not on purpose…I start out with the best of intentions…but it happens. I fail to ask Him about a problem at work. I walk into a meeting and forget to partner with Him. It is subtle, but it makes a huge difference. I am not living in relationship throughout the day.

I know better and God is helping be do better. I desire to walk with Him all day long. I need His Spirit to challenge me and guide me and direct me. I need relationship with Him from beginning to end. So I will start my day with Him and I will end my day with Him. It’s just time to fill in the “in between” a little better than I have been doing lately.

Over the past couple of weeks I have heard a few great questions that I wanted to share. I am not the author of these questions (I will give credit where it is due). Grant English asked me the first question. Nick Roberts shared the last two questions with me (he asked his daughter these questions).

I love to ask questions and I love having people ask me questions. These three questions are exceptional. I plan to use them often. Here they are:

1. How is your soul?
        Quick and to the point. This question gets to the important stuff right away.
        Grant asked me this one two weeks ago and I am stealing it already.
        This is a good one to ask yourself too.
   
2. How do you think I am treating your mother?
        Nick asked his daughter this question on a “date night”.
        Be ready for the answer because I suspect you’ll get some great answers!
        I plan on using this one very soon with all my kids.
   
3. How am I doing at being a Dad?
        Nick’s follow-up question…also a dozy!
        Both of these questions fall into the “be careful what you ask for” category.

Good questions. OK…great questions!

Have any more you want to share? Have any answers?

This is just a quick thought on a passage of Scripture I read this morning…it has my wheels turning:

Night and day we pray earnestly for you,
asking God to let us see you again
to fill the gaps in your faith.
1 Thessalonians 3:10, NLT

Paul is writing to Christians here. Persecuted Christians. Christians living out their faith in tough times. And he tells them that he wants to come see them so that he can help “fill the gaps” in their faith. A couple of thoughts here off the top of my head:

1. I don’t often think of my faith like this…having gaps. It makes me ponder where the gaps are in my own faith.
2. It strikes me that the remedy for these gaps, how they “get filled”, is within community. We can’t fill these gaps ourselves. We need on another to fill the gaps in our faith. This underscores just how important we are to one another.

Anyone have some thoughts to add to this one? Do you know the gaps in your own faith? Have you ever been a part of filling the gaps in someone else’s faith?

This may sound weird, but during some time with God this week He has impressed on my that my faith is too internal. I need to be living and sharing my faith more externally—in the open. I don’t know about you, but this has always been tough for me (which is why I am sharing it here…so that this too is out in the open). I need and seek the approval of others far too much and this keeps me from sharing my faith as openly as I should—after all, someone might think I’m a freak or something!

This is just one of the many character flaws God continues to work on me. There is no doubt that I am a “work in progress” and sometimes I feel sorry for just how much work God has to do.  But I am listening and I am willing to allow Him to transform and change me (and I am willing to do my part too). Sometimes it is painful. It was hard just to admit that I seek the approval of others sometimes more than God’s.

Of course, He helped me on this point with several Scriptures on the topic and He is so faithful through the process of shaping me (it rarely happens in an instant…the process is important). Here are the passages in case you’re curious (and want to read them for yourself). I’ve included the phrases that dig the deepest but you should read them in full too:

1. Psalm 19:14 – “…be pleasing to You…”
2. Romans 2:29 – “…seeks praise from God, not from people.”
3. Galatians 1:10 – “…win the approval..of God…”
4. Galatians 6:8 – “…live to please the Spirit…”
5. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 – “…please God not people.”
6. I Thessalonians 4:1 – “…live in a way that pleases God…”

Think maybe he was trying to get my attention on this topic? If you are so inclined…pray for me about this. God isn’t finished yet…

My devotions this morning stretched me…it even hurt a little. I even struggled a little bit about writing a post about it, but then I remembered that this is the main point of the blog in the first place: to share my spiritual journey (the good, the bad, and the ugly). And it’s my fault anyway. I’ve been asking God to poke and prod and help me grow…He just gave me what I asked for.

The topic this time around? Faith.

It started with my devotional book reading discussing the topic of faith and our belief in God’s abilities and willingness to work in our lives (I warn you…this stuff is toe stepping material):

“We can believe that God might meet our need without any understanding of whether He wants to. And our suspicion of Him at this point is often the flaw in our belief.

“We know God can do great things on our behalf; we seldom believe that He will.

“We often tacitly acknowledge God’s omnipotence, His ability to intervene in our lives, even in very specific ways. But this is only half of faith. It has nothing to do with our experiences as long as it remains only a theological proposition. The other half of faith is understanding the mercy of God and His great willingness to intervene. This is what brings His glory from the realm of theology into the practicum of our lives. You want mercy and power? Expect mercy and power. And it will be done to you.” 
(At His Feet, page 300)

G-U-I-L-T-Y-!

I have long struggled with my lack of faith. I want to have faith…and I certainly believe that God CAN do some amazing things. What God exposed within my spirit this morning is that I don’t usually think God will, because I don’t trust His heart. I don’t trust God’s motive.

I know that sounds crazy..and it is a little bit. I know where it comes from, but my childhood is only an excuse. God wants to heal this within my spirit. He wants to free me from this lack of faith (or half-faith?). I desperately want to see the miraculous and the supernatural (not just for it’s own sake but to see God revealed and working as a result of my faith).

I do know that I’m not alone here. Even if others today don’t admit to this ailment I know that Jesus saw it plenty of time sin His ministry. He was constantly chastising people, including His disciples, for their lack of faith. And as long as they didn’t walk away from Jesus He was more than willing to help their lack of faith. If they showed an interest in growing and changing then He was there to help.

After my reading and prayer time this morning…after God had done some of His work on me…I felt a lot like the man in Mark 9:14-29 who has brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing (after the disciples couldn’t to it because of their…well, you know):

“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

It’s that last line that has stuck with me all day (and that God is using it to change my heart and spirit on this topic):

I do believe — in God’s ability and power to do great and wonderful things

…but help me overcome my unbelief! — In God’s heart and motives…His willingness to work in my life.

I think many Christians suffer this particular malady, but God is working on me so that’s my focus right now. I am praying ans asking him to change my heart and restore my faith to fullness. Faith in God’s ability and faith in God’s heart. I’m a work in progress…

I have been reading out of the book of Mark for the past few weeks. It moves fast, Mark rarely beats around the bush…he gets right to the point of the story. No fluff, no filler. The entire book moves fast…sometimes so fast you can miss important details.

This morning I was reading out of chapter 11. In this one chapter mark covers the Triumphant Entry, Jesus cursing a fig tree, and Jesus clearing the temple, and Jesus’ authority is challenged. So what stood out this morning? A picture of contrasts.

As Jesus is clearing the temple, the Pharisees are flaming hot angry at him. In fact, they decide right then and there that they are going to kill Jesus (that’s murder one in case you’re keeping track). But they don’t do it right away. Why?

But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at His teaching.
Mark 11:18, NLT

That’s kind of where that story ends. The next day the religious leaders decide to challenge Jesus…ask Him where He gets the authority to do what He does (they never learn). Jesus refuses to answer them unless they tell Him by what authority John the Baptist came from. Oops…now they are stuck! They refuse to answer. Why?

For they were afraid of what the people would do,
because everyone believed that John was a prophet.
Mark 11:32, NLT

No matter how wrong these guys were, at least they were passionate about being so wrong. Yet, they were afraid. But not afraid of what Jesus might do or afraid of what God might do (or what He wanted for that matter). What were the afraid of? The people. They were afraid of losing what mattered most to them: popularity, power, and influence. They loved the spotlight and would do anything they had to to keep it. Sound familiar?

This attitude (and the actions that go along with it) stand in stark contrast to the way Christ followers should think and act. It’s the very attitude that God seeks to change deep within our hearts. He wants to transform this part of our spirit and change where we seek this kind of praise:

A person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Romans 2:29, NLT

The Pharisees lived a life of fear…fear for what they could lose. We are called to live a life of faith…faith in a God that makes all the difference. Fear or Faith? It’s our choice. It’s a lesson I am still learning. How about you?