Living by Faith

I am surprised that there are some people who have followed Jesus for years, yet they still are lacking in faith. God has sustained you and provided for decades and yet when trouble comes; fear, doubt, worry and anxiety creep in and you fail to remember what God has done for you in the past and what he has promised. There is an interesting incident in the gospels where Jesus shows the contrast between faith and fear.

 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27

The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles long and eight miles wide. It’s not unusual for violent storms to sweep across the water all of a sudden. The sky was probably dark and cloudy, there may have been thunder and lightning, and the text says that a fierce storm struck the lake and their boat began taking on water. They were being swamped by the high, crashing waves. This must have been a brutal storm because some of these men were experienced fisherman who had weathered many storms in the past, but this one had them shaking in their sandals. They were scared to death but Jesus was sound asleep. They went over and woke Jesus up and said, “Save us, Lord; we are going to drown!”

When you look at the circumstances surrounding them you could see why they were terrified. But it looks like this whole scenario was designed to be a test of their faith. Because the first thing out of Jesus mouth when he wakes up is “Why are you afraid, you have so little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed saying, "Who is this man? Even winds and the waves obey him?" (Jesus is the Master of the sea).



So what about you? Are you consumed with fear or do you walk by faith? Do you allow fear to overcome your faith or does your faith extinguish your fear?

If you really claim to follow Jesus; then that means you must live by faith. Even when the storms of life come and you think you’re going to drown. Have faith in God. If you’re dealing with grief or sorrow, sickness or disease, heartache or loneliness, disappointment or despair, fear or anxiety, marital or financial problems; have faith in God. Just as the disciples did, cry out to Jesus. He understands. He's been there. He's gone through the human experience and sympathizes with your weaknesses.

We begin by faith
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

We are saved by faith
For by grace you have been saved through faith. Ephesians 2:8

We live by faith
We walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

The Real Valentine

Valentine was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor named Claudius who persecuted the church. He had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.

Valentine lived in a very permissive society. Polygamy would have been much more popular than monogamy. And yet some young couples seemed to be attracted to Christianity. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem of what the church should do about this.

The idea of encouraging them to marry within the church was what Valentine was all about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against the command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine's actions while in prison.

One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law was a man called Asterius, whose daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became a Christian.

In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "from your Valentine."

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11

Groundhog Day

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays meteorologist Phil Connors. He travels to Punxsutawney, PA with his producer and cameraman to cover the annual festivities where Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog is the star.

A blizzard develops and forces them to stay in Punxsutawney. Connors awakens the next morning to find it is February 2 again, and his day unfolds in exactly the same way. However, he is the only one aware of the repetition. Everyone else seems to be living February 2 exactly the same way and for the first time. This pattern continues for many days, maybe even weeks.

I love the fact that many great Bible teachers seem to find analogies in every day things. Rarely does this happen to me. But this movie seems analogous to trials in the Christian life. It may not be the best analogy but it works for me.

When Phil Connors realized that the same things were happening everyday, he began to memorize events, so he could manipulate people and take advantage of his situation. Later when he begins to get tired of being stuck in Groundhog Day, he tries to fight against it but the repetition continues nonetheless. Finally when he examines his life and priorities and makes the necessary changes, Groundhog Day stops and he wakes up on February 3rd a better man. Lesson learned.

The analogy may be loose but it just reminded me of the trials we go through as Christians. Whether it’s a “blizzard” in your life or just a minor testing of your faith, trials are inevitable. God is doing a work in the life of the believer and He allows things to happen along the way to develop our character. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6

God allows trials in our lives because there is obviously something He wants us to learn from that particular situation. When we don’t pass the test it seems that God continues to bring that particular trial back into our life until we do pass the test...kinda like in the Groundhog Day movie.

Like Phil Connors sometimes we try to manipulate or take advantage of the situation we’re going through, other times we try to fight against it. But when we finally stop and examine our lives and priorities, then we pass the test and move forward. We learn and grow spiritually from the situation.

Many of us complain when we are tested. We pray for patience, and God allows us to be tested so we can develop our patience, and then we complain more. Our character is both developed and revealed by the testing of our faith. “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your patience has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3

It's not a matter of "if" the storm is going to come, it's just a question of "when". People have this idea that when you turn your life over to Jesus you won't have any more difficulties. Christians are not immune to difficulties and hardships but we are responsible for our reactions to the trials we encounter. The Apostle Paul probably suffered more hardship than any other Christian and yet he learned to welcome the trials. He said “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Romans 5:3-4