Faith Is Belief

Posted on December 27, 2012 by dyuhas48

You’ve heard it said that seeing is believing, but faith is believing without necessarily seeing.

“Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

The Christian faith is not founded on a what (an ideology, a theory, or system), but a who: God Incarnate, Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

In whom we place our faith is of the utmost importance. An individual may put his belief in anything or anyone, but only the sovereign, Almighty God is utterly trustworthy and completely capable.

“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12, emphasis mine).

Faith is belief and belief involves trust, without which there is no true faith.

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!’” (James 2:19).

Faith is not based on circumstance. None of the Old Testament heroes of faith (described in Hebrews 11) received in their lifetime what God promised and in fact were mostly persecuted and killed, yet they committed themselves fully to the living God. Their faith was firmly founded on God, not circumstance. They didn’t say, “When God comes through on his promises, then we will believe.” Their belief was in the person and character of God himself, not his gifts and blessings. This is how they weathered the storms of life and heavy persecution.

Faith is trustfully believing God is good, no matter what. Faith is never like a fair-weather friend, but always trusts, always follows, always obeys. Faith is believing that what God says about himself and us is true. Faith is not only believing that God is intimately acquainted with each one of us, but cares about us deeply, so deeply in fact that He sent us Jesus.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

If you read this blog, most likely you already believe in God. But do you trust Him? Do you believe God is good, no matter the circumstance? Will you continue to trust Him throughout the mundanity of daily life as well as in the midst of pain, suffering, and death? This is the stuff of faith. This is belief. How will you respond to God today?

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What Is Faith?

Posted on December 7, 2012 by dyuhas48

What is faith? What does it mean to have faith? Is it a something we drum up within? Is faith a feeling?

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV, 1984).

Anything about feelings in that verse? No. Anything about psyching ourselves up? No.

Here’s the same verse in different Bible versions:

NIV: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

NKJV: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

NASB: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

KJV: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

JBP NT: “Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see.”

NCV: “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.”

From these various versions of Hebrews 11:1, we learn that faith entails:

surety
certainty
confidence
assurance
substance
evidence
conviction
knowledge

Faith is not a feeling or something we drum up from within ourselves. It is not dependent upon our circumstances, emotions, or whether we see the glass as half-full or half-empty. It never depends on our feelings. Faith is dependent on one thing in particular and that is the immutable, or unchanging, character of the sovereign God.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

The foundation of Christian faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the chief cornerstone upon which we build our faith with blocks like belief, trust, obedience, and surrender. These four building blocks are facets of the same gem – faith, in an unchanging God whose promises we trust because we know whom we have believed.

“I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

So what is it that we hope for and what do we not see? What is it we have entrusted to him until that day? Let’s back up a little to the tenth chapter of Hebrews:

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, ‘In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.’ And, ‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:36-39).

So we are sure of being saved and certain of the Lord Jesus Christ who saves us. This is stuff of faith. And because we have faith, we persevere in doing the will of God. We do not cringe or “throw away [our] confidence” in the midst of persecution and suffering, but continue to live by faith (Hebrews 10:32-35).

Friends, in what or whom have you place your faith?

Let’s pray: Father, we thank you that you who are true and unchanging sent Jesus Christ to the cross to die in our place, for our sins, to save us. Grant us faith to believe, trust, obey, and fully surrender to you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Have You A Flair For Despair?

Posted on November 29, 2012 by dyuhas48

Photo via dreamstime.com

Let’s face it. Sometimes life gives you lemons. The thing for which you’ve been hoping and praying was given to someone else on a silver platter. Your knight in shining armor turned out to have feet of clay, and smelly ones at that. Your friends all have wonderful, fulfilling careers, but you are just surviving from paycheck to paycheck.

Tell me, are there any lemons on your table right now?

We like to think we’ll simply get up on our feet and turn those lemons into lemonade, but too many times this doesn’t happen. Instead of making lemonade, we sit at the table staring at those lemons until they rot. They become a stinky, putrid mess and we grumble that life stinks-he stinks-she stinks-we all stink. Sound familiar? Left unchecked, this kind of pessimistic self-talk drags us down into a suffocating funk of self-pity.

“It’s not fair. Nothing ever works out for me. I’m such a loser. Why did I ever think I could do this/have this/be this? I don’t know why I bother to try; I always fail.”

Sound familiar? I suspect that you and I might have what I call a flair for despair.

When things go wrong, as they surely do, we don’t shrug our shoulders and move on. Instead, we get down and dirty, proclaiming war on ourselves. Our thoughts attack, reprimanding us not for not only failing to get what we want, but for even wanting the thing in the first place. We become depressed and want to give up. We go to our secret closet to comfort ourselves with food, chocolate, shopping, television, even books. We know this is wrong. We know this is not how God wants us to live, but we do it anyway.

Is there hope? Is change possible? God’s Word gives a resounding “Yes!”

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, emphasis mine).

This verse gives us several important clues to partnering with God for real change:

1. DO NOT CONFORM: We have a responsibility to desist the ways of the world. Instead of continuing to follow the dictates of our sin nature, we must choose to go against the grain and follow God’s will as revealed in his word. This must become the new pattern of our life.

2. BE TRANSFORMED: The results of obedience are in God’s hands. He is the one who brings about true metamorphosis. It is not sufficient to simply mend our ways. The sin nature is what it is, but when we put our faith in Christ, God gives us a new nature. Day by day God forms within us a Christ-like character. The result is love for God and others.

3. BY THE RENEWING: Our minds must be continually filled with the fresh life of the Spirit that comes through a consistent, daily pattern of intimacy and loving obedience. As we continue in the word and in prayer, loving and worshipping God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, our minds are made new and the pattern of our behavior follows.

4. YOUR MIND: It is said that the battlefield is the mind. The way we think directly affects the way we act. Garbage in, garbage out. God does not want us to engage in self-pity because he knows it leads only to despair and ultimately, death. We must place our hope in him, not in circumstances, other people, or ourselves. It is the mind, soaked and cleansed by the water of the word, that exchanges despair for hope. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

5. TEST AND APPROVE: Transformation results in a new pattern for our lives. As we learn to obey God in all areas of our lives (testing his ways) we begin to exchange self-love for God-love. His way becomes our way and God is proved true and faithful.

6. GOOD, PLEASING, AND PERFECT WILL: Love for God is expressed through obedience. Doing his will out of love becomes the cry of our hearts and satisfies the deepest regions of our hearts. The one who walks in God’s way is the one who recognizes there is no more joyful way to live.

Change of this nature does not happen overnight. We’re in for the long haul if we want to be rid of that old flair for despair. It begins and ends with the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5).

Let’s pray:

Father, we love you and desire your best for us. Please renew our minds and transform us into men and women of God who love, trust, and obey you each and every day. Amen.

For discussion:

What verse(s) do you find especially helpful in getting rid of a flair for despair?

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The Constant Sinner

Posted on October 18, 2012 by dyuhas48

Weed or Flower? Photo by Diane Yuhas

So I turned my back and as soon as I did, Ma, accidentally on purpose, tilted her glass and proceeded to pour its contents over her dinner, the table, and the floor. I say “accidentally” because if in fact, her brain were not bruised by Alzheimer’s, she would never do such a thing.

Yet she definitely did it on purpose. This was not a case of missing her mouth or knocking the glass over. She honed in on her water and carefully poured it over everything.

It’s just one of many things, heh heh and gritting my teeth, that she does that annoys me. There are others, like chewing her pills instead of swallowing them whole, getting up without assistance, tearing up tissues into little pieces and dropping them onto the floor, picking at her zipper until it breaks, and other behaviors that would qualify for the too much information label.

I wish I could say that I smiled sweetly, gently removed the glass from her hand, wiped up the mess, and thanked God for the opportunity to suffer for Christ, but I can’t.

I didn’t.

I’ve never been one to suffer in silence.

Unfortunately, my knee-jerk reaction was to completely freak out and shout, “What the HELL are you’re doing?” while rudely ripping the glass from her hand, and engaging in an all-out tirade full of sound and fury about all the extra work, waste of good food, and the interruption of my day while mopping up the mess with a gross eruption of arms and dish towels.

Yeah, you read it right. I used the *h word. I swear when I’m freaking out. It isn’t godly and I wish I didn’t, but I do. Despite my best and worst efforts, the tongue remains unruly.

I did confess and seek forgiveness from the Lord. I can confess until the cows come home, but my repentance wears thin rather quickly. In fact, it only seems to last until the next time something freaks me out. Thank you, God, that your grace and forgiveness are forever. By the way, my mom forgave me too. She’s a trooper.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Now here’s the thing: Those times when I’m really tired or cranky, it’s hard to rest quietly in God’s grace. My thoughts go straight from forgiveness to failure and I end up feeling like the constant sinner who only got in on a technicality: I prayed the prayer; therefore God had to accept me. I know that’s not true, but during those times, it doesn’t feel like it. Instead, it feels like God is just about at the end of his tether with me. I start waiting for the proverbial hammer to come down. I don’t want to be a sinner anymore, constant or otherwise. I wish I could sweep my bad behavior under the rug. I tend to forget that God got rid of my sin long ago at the cross. He reminds me:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Today, while waiting for my emotions to reach a more even keel, I’m going to flood my mind with truth because it is truth that sets me free (John 8:32).

“For it is by grace [I] have been saved, through faith—and this is not from [myself], it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For [I am] God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for [me] to do” (Ephesians 2:3-10).

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Thy Will Be Done

Posted on July 30, 2012 by dyuhas48

Sunflowers. Photo by Diane Yuhas.

Got dreams?

Something wonderful and good and godly? You’ve longed for its fulfillment as far back as you can remember. Maybe it’s a family, a marriage partner or a child of your own? Perhaps you dream of health and healing, deliverance, or the power and opportunity to change a piece of the world?

You pray about your dream again and again, yet your prayers seem to fall on deaf ears. You’ve journaled about it, cried about it, given it up to God and taken it back again. You’ve tried to bargain with God, but He’s not buying. You persevere in prayer, yet He remains maddeningly silent. You’re frustrated, angry, and despairing. You feel like you’ve done your part, so why won’t He do his?

“With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

You know God is able. But there are no magic words that will force His hand to do your will.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Do you believe that? I mean, really believe that He works ALL THINGS for our good? Even when He seemingly denies your heart’s desire? There are those things He gives you and those He does not.

“Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10).

Can you pray that with contentment? What if He leaves your dream in the dustbin and never brings it to pass? Or, what if He does, but takes it away again a short time later? Can you proclaim the following with your whole heart?

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

THIS is the stuff of faith. God requires that we trust and obey no matter what. Do not cling to any dream or desire, but cling to Christ alone. A life of surrender may or may not include the stuff of our dreams. You must be willing to live without it. Trust God to give you what you need. Persevere in prayer, but be willing to hear Him say no. Then get up and go live, fully live, the life He gives you.

Father, create in us a clean heart that desires Christ above all else. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

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12 Ways To Move From Regret To Rejoicing

Posted on July 24, 2012 by dyuhas48

Image via dreamstime.com

I know you regret some of the choices you’ve made in life. Haven’t we all?

We sin and are embarrassed by it. Not wanting our sin to be exposed, we try to dig a hole deep enough to hide it. Sometimes we manage to secret it away for lifetime, yet God’s Word says, “you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23b). Whether we have sinned secretly or in full view of the public eye, peace eludes us; regret happens.

Let it not be the epitaph on our graves, “She chose poorly.”

Instead, Let us be like David who, when confronted with his monstrous sin, chose well and moved from regret to rejoicing. His response is found in Psalm 51.

Image via dreamstime.com

My online friend, Sharon Rose Gibson wrote about Psalm 51 for an online Bible study of which we are both participants. You may also read about it here.

Psalm 51:
“When David was confronted with the way he handled the situation, he could no longer deny his sin. He gives us an amazing model to follow on how to handle our shortcomings, mistakes and sins.

12 Ways David demonstrates to move from regret and to making better choices.

1. He prayed. He immediately went to God to talk about what happened.

2. He asked for mercy. He threw Himself fully on the mercy of God. He called on the unfailing love and compassion of God. He reached out for those qualities in God.

3. He asked for his transgressions to be blotted out and to be washed away, cleansed. He wanted to be rid of the things in him which caused him to hurt others and himself because of his sin.

4. He took responsibility. He admitted that he sinned against God and had done evil. He grieves as he declares, “Against you alone have I sinned.” He knew He had broken God’s law of love, consideration and respect of the rights of another human being.

5. He recognized that God was right in His verdict and has the right to judge. God alone has the right to judge, not a culture, society or a belief system.

6. He acknowledged his inherent tendency to do wrong from birth, that he inherited a sin nature. This is an acknowledgement that he could not save himself and a recognition that he needed help.

7. David knew that God wanted him to know truth in his inner being and asked for God to give him wisdom in his inmost being. He knew as Proverbs says that wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men.

8. He entreated God to create in him, a pure and a clean heart. He recognized that He could not do this on his own but that God could. He recognized that God had the ability clean his heart of wrongdoing and David asked for it. He recognizes that God is the only one who can cleanse Him from his guilt of blood shed. Jesus Christ is the one who took the punishment for our sins by shedding His blood on the cross.

9. He acknowledges that he cannot make sacrifices which will make up for his sin. There is nothing he can do to perform or make up for it. David’s sacrifice is his brokenness and a contrite humble, spirit. He knows that is pleasing to God and He will not despise it. Psalm 34 says He is close to the broken hearted.

10. David asked to be restored to joy and gladness. Sin robs you of joy. David asked for the joy of his salvation to be restored and for God to give him a willing spirit. A willing spirit replaces the rebellious spirit which caused him to sin.

11. David commits to not only be cleansed himself but then to also teach other transgressors God’s ways. He recognized that his salvation, forgiveness and cleansing from God is not only for himself but so he can help others as well.

12. Then David declares he will sing of God’s righteousness and that he will praise Him.

When we follow this pattern and we move from stuck in regret to victory and a restored relationship with God . Not only that we will have the opportunity to redeem our mistakes and sins by helping others find their way.” -Sharon Rose Gibson

Image via dreamstime.com

How will you respond to the undisclosed sin in your life? Will you regret or rejoice?

Father, teach us your ways that we may run in the path of your commands. Amen.

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All This Time

Posted on June 13, 2012 by dyuhas48

All this time

To think you’ve had me on your mind

To live and breathe as you will

Your word in my heart

I think you’re grand

Always holding on to my hand

Your word to guide me, it is a dream

Walking with you

I want to dwell

Drinking deeply of your Spirit’s well

Grace is sufficient, all my days

Lord, help me walk

With you always and forevermore

Amen

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May You Know The Hope Of Grace

Posted on June 5, 2012 by dyuhas48

^“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19).

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.’

‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:14-21).

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That’s God

Posted on May 21, 2012 by dyuhas48

A woman was saved the other day,

A new creation,

Another sister in Christ.

No one that I knew, but forever more a part of our family.

Invited by a friend she came,

To Christ she came with all her sin and fear,

To gentle Jesus who alone welcomes the sinner into the fold.

Now and forever, saved by grace,

Through faith.

Oh the precious blood of Jesus shed

For her and you and me!

A privilege beyond price, beyond compare,

To be there at the hour of her spiritual birth,

To have participated in such a small way,

But that’s grace, that’s goodness, that’s God.

** Image via dreamstime.com

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When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

Posted on April 24, 2012 by dyuhas48

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh…’ “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-10).

**Moon Jellyfish

I’m not particularly fond of feeling weak. I prefer to feel in control, that the reins of the horse are firmly in my hands. I like to know I’m steering myself in the direction I want to go.

It’s an illusion, of course. Life happens, as they say, when we’re making plans. The marathon runner who experiences a heart attack understands this very well.

Ultimately, God is in control of life and circumstance despite the human penchant for deluding ourselves into thinking we’ve got the power. Human beings are completely dependent on God, whether we choose to submit or not. And God is no vending machine. He cannot be manipulated into doing our will. We can’t just put in a prayer to pull out a blessing. To know God is to love Him and to love God is to obey Him, not the other way around.

In all circumstances, we are to give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

As most of you know, my mind is hardly a steel trap; it’s more like a colander. Chunks of life stay with me, but the details run right out at the bottom. Indeed, there are holes, little ones, in my thinking and memory. It’s a daily reminder that I am not in control of my life.

MCI does not prevent me from functioning, but it does interfere to varying degrees, with how easily or how well I perform. It’s a weakness, a difficult circumstance that God has permitted in my life.

Take Bible Study Fellowship, the women’s group that meets monthly at my house. When I’m trying to teach the lesson, I find I have to backtrack constantly because I’ve forgotten where I was going. I forget what I’m saying as I’m saying it and end up stumbling over my own words while scrambling to remember. The result is that I repeat myself again and again. Even though the women in our group are patient and loving, It’s still a bit embarrassing.

That’s one of the reasons I’ll never be a speaker and why I strongly prefer writing. Blogging enables me to read and re-read what I’ve written, making corrections as I go and keeping myself on track. It does, however, take me all day to write a blog post. Gone are the days when I can complete a writing task in an hour or two.

But here’s God’s power at work in my weakness. While I grope my way through the Bible study by repetition, interruption, and disfluencies like ‘uh” and “um”, God’s message gets through. What He wants to say comes out, whether it is through my mouth or someone else’s. Sometimes it’s not at all what I’d planned to say and sometimes it is, but every time the group is edified, encouraged, and challenged to exercise faith through obedience. God’s grace proves sufficient every time.

And that, my friends, is why I crow about my weakness and difficulty, for when I am weak, then I am strong. My part is to persevere in the calling God has placed upon my life to lead and teach, his part the results. I am grateful for this thorny circumstance, because it has enabled me to trust and love Him even more. In the midst of struggles, I enter God’s rest.

It is the same for you. Concern yourself with obeying God in faith and leave the results to Him. Trust Him with your life and you will find rest for your soul. It is when you are weak that you will find He is strong and true.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

**Image via dreamstime.com

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