“What faith?”

Faith - complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

So many times we are asked how strong our faith in God is. The tragic but beautiful story of Rachel Scott (Columbine High School shooting) is told and we’re asked “How about you? Would you give your life and claim the name of Christ?”. This is a very important message to hear and something every one of us should be ready to do. What i don’t understand is why we are not challenged about making the same stand on a daily basis.

Complete trust or confidence is a tall order. An order that i think many of us do not understand. I know, unfortunately, that we are not taught what “complete” covers. Complete, in todays Christian society, seems to have become an idea isolated to only the part of our lives that we ration out. 

Mark 8:34-38 (NLT)

 ........... “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

When are we going to give God our undivided attention. My last blog focused on the selfishness that keeps us from God. Obviously, we need to “give up our lives”  for the sake of Christ and the word of God. What i have come to see is that we need to address our Faith first. So many of us don’t trust God to take care of us. We have been taught and believe that God can only use what we have and can get, instead of believing the He is our provider and supplies for all of our needs. 

Matthew 6:19-34 (NLT)

  “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

So what dominates your thoughts. Do you worry about things, maybe even your own selfish desires.  Ask yourself how you can do this and call yourself a Christian. How can you share the thoughts of unbelievers and claim the name of Christ? How can you claim to follow Christ, then ignore and even not believe the promises he has made to you? Where is your faith?

I have caught myself so many times saying “thank you God for your direction, i can’t wait to get on with your plan as soon as i get a few things in line.” What a load of crap!!! As soon as we bring ourselves or even our abilities into the mix, it throws faith right out the window. We have a God that has promised all of our needs. We need to claim this, believe it to be true and start being an example of a faith filled Christ Follower. Unless you turn from your selfish ways and take up your cross, you can not be a Christ follower. If you think anything other than this, YOU ARE WRONG.

Get in scripture and let the Spirit speak to you. Let the Spirit convict you and change you. Let God’s will for your life trump your own desires. What does your faith look like? Is your faith shriveled up, without growth, maybe even non-existent or is the foundation of your faith built on the promises of God and structure fashioned after the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Not only that, but we as believers have been blessed with the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. Are you letting the Holy Spirit speak into your life? Are you letting the Holy Spirit work in and through you? Is the Holy spirit even a part of your life? What does your faith look like?

‘What form of selfishness is keeping you from Christ?’

Matthew 19:21-22 (New Living Translation)

 21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Alright people, these are words straight from Jesus’ lips. It seems more than clear that Jesus is saying “Forget about yourself and try thinking about somebody else for a change.”  Now you might say, “well Brent, in that verse Jesus is specifically talking to the young, rich man.”  And to that i say “yep”. But lets take a minute and think about who we are. Just for the simple fact that you are reading this, would mean that you are rich.

“Computer ownership is now at about 4-5% of the worlds population. However with many social projects putting computers in villages in developing countries between 12-14% of the worlds population have access to a computer. Approx. 3-5 % of the worlds population have internet access. To put this into context only about 25% of the worlds population sleep in their own bed at night and only about 30% of the worlds population are rich enough to have a bank account!”

We are very much rich. yet even i catch myself complaining about things as absolutely trivial as not having money to go out to a nice restaurant and instead have to stay home and eat something out of my full refrigerator or cupboards. I have complained that i didn’t like the job i had or my car wasn’t as nice as i would like it. i’ve complained that my closet full of clothes were just too old and weren’t stylish. i’ve complained that my high speed internet access is too slow. Anybody catching on here. 

I have made myself literally sick when thinking about the amount of selfishness we as Christians show. We drive our cars, from our homes, dressed in one of the many outfits we could piece together from our wardrobe, to our beautiful church building that we keep up with the utmost pride, talk to our friends and family, send our little ones off to class to learn and do crafts, and sit through some music and talking so that we can get on to sunday lunch. What makes me the most disgusted is that those few moments of sitting through some music and talking is the closest that most “Christians” get to God in a week.

I am going to say something now that will either convict you or really tick you off. YOU are selfish. I could very easily try to cushion this, but hows about we be real. Most of our lives, even the times we give to church are most of the time for selfish ambitions.

Malachi 1:6-14

Unworthy Sacrifices

 6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!

   “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’

 7 “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.

   “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?[c]’

   “You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

 9 “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

 10 “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings. 11 But my name is honored[d] by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer[e] sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

 12 “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. 13 You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.

 14 “Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations!

Now ask yourself, If I were still under this covenant, would the sacrifices I make even come close to being good enough. At this point you may want to take a moment to thank Jesus for His perfect sacrifice that has covered you. 

Why do we think it is ok to put so much emphasis on self-betterment. All we do is think of ourselves from getting our hair done to working out to getting degree’s to retirement. All of these have become a form of masturbation, focusing only on self pleasure. Now as a small disclosure, before the comments come, i am not against any of those things previously mentioned, when we are doing them as necessity or to further  our ministry. We have sculpted out our lives that we go to school and then get a good job and then help our family do the same so that we can enjoy our retirement comfortable and quiet. I just want you to know that if this is your focus, you are sinning. Nowhere in that schedule is there a place for Jesus. 

But you say, Brent i help at the church all the time and i do my devotions and my family all love Jesus. But He calls you to do so much more than that.

Philippians 2:1-11 (New Living Translation)

Philippians 2

Have the Attitude of Christ

 1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

 6 Though he was God,[a]
      he did not think of equality with God
      as something to cling to.
 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];
      he took the humble position of a slave[c]
      and was born as a human being.
   When he appeared in human form,[d]
    8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
      and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
      and gave him the name above all other names,
 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus was our example of living a pure sacrifice. He gave up His “privileges”, so that He could be and show His obedience to God. This is what being a Christian is about. Are we willing to hand over all of our privileges to God so that we may become examples of Christ’s love and humility. 

I want to challenge everyone to reexamine what you think of as necessity and what you see as God’s work. Lets set our lives on Gods track and get rid of our plans all together.