Are you struggling to understand faith? 

To understand faith I always have to put it in terms of a relationship.  When we speak of a Biblical faith, we are speaking in terms of having faith…trusting…based upon our relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ.

With that in mind…based on my understanding of Scripture…

Here are 10 considerations of understanding Biblical faith:

1. Faith is defined for us as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1-2)

2. Faith believes even when it makes no sense to believe, not because of the proof before you, but because of the trust you place in the object of your faith.

3. Faith is based on the will of that person in whom you place your faith, not my will. You can have faith that the person you love most will never hurt you, for example, but whether they do or not is up to their will, not yours.

4. Biblical faith is in a person, the person of God.  (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…they are One.)  Faith is not in me or my abilities, but on God and His abilities.

5. When Jesus used the illustration of moving mountains He was giving an example of the power of God and how we should place our whole faith in Him.  He was not talking about the power of my ability to have faith, but rather the power of the One in whom we place our faith.  If God’s will is to move a mountain, He will surely move it. You can even ask Him to by faith.  (Remember, Jesus also said, “apart from me you can do nothing”.)

6. When we talk about faith in God then, we are talking about His will, not our will.  That’s how Jesus taught us to pray….”Our Father, who is in Heaven…thy will be done…” Faith is based on God’s agenda, not my agenda. It’s not your ability to move mountains. It is God’s ability.   It’s not your will to move mountains; it’s God’s will.

7. Faith is based on the promises of God, not our hopes or desires. When you struggle with faith, you don’t doubt your ability; you doubt God’s ability. Sometimes we get upset that God hasn’t done something we think He should do, but God never promised to do it.  It may have never have been His will.

8. When you pray by faith then, you are praying that you trust God to do His will in your life, based not on your wishes or desires, but on what He has promised to do.  Some things we can always have faith that God will do, because he has promised to do them, such as “love you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3), “work all things for good” (Romans 8:28) and “never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). We can’t always know that God will heal every sickness, for example, because He’s not promised that He will. In fact, He promised we would have trials, but that throughout it all we could rejoice in our sufferings.

9. God is trustworthy…worthy of our faith. I love how The Message Version puts 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!” Do what?   His will. Faith in the person of God is based then on your trust that He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do.

10. When your faith lines up with God’s will, you can absolutely, positively, unquestionably claim by faith that God’s will be done. One of the reasons it is so important to know God personally is so that we will know His will, so we can know how to pray in God’s will. (Romans 12:1-2)

What would you add in understanding Biblical faith?

(This is a revision of a previous post.)

I was walking in the hall of our church building recently when I had to stop to let a classroom of children walk by me. We house a school in our building and an early childhood development center. It’s not unusual to encounter some of them on a daily basis. On this occasion, it was a class of what I would guess to be 4 or 5 years of age.

They were perfectly lined up by their teacher. They were behaving nicely. Their teacher was doing a great job with them. So cute.

All of a sudden. Out of nowhere. One little girl broke into meowing. Cat meows. She was good too. She didn’t know anyone else was around it seems. She simply started meowing.

I laughed. She didn’t seem to understand why. Her teacher told her to be quiet. She didn’t seem to understand why.

What is wrong with a little meowing anyway? Especially with such good pitch. I mean, it wasn’t a lion’s roar. That would be different, right? It’s a kitty cat. The cat’s meow.

But it made me think…

I want to be like that girl when I grow up.

Suddenly my mind reflected on another time in life…several years ago now…

When my youngest son was little he was often afraid at night. As long as he knew he could call and I’d be there…anytime at night…he was okay. He could sleep without fear. Without worry. And he tested that numerous times.

I want to be like that boy when I grow up.

I also want to skip and kick a can down the street and not worry about the effects on the environment. Just once. Random. I know.

I want to laugh more. Belly laugh. About things other people don’t even think are funny.

I want to enjoy my ice cream. All over my face, if needed. We can go to the bathroom later and wash it off. Or just go swing for a while. Whichever.

I want to climb a tree. A really big tree. Without a fear of heights or a fear of falling. I might even shout, “Look at me” from the top of that tree.

I want to take a run in the woods, jump in some puddles, and wear my play clothes all day.

Life is serious. Too serious. Very serious.

This world is a messed up scary place. Somedays it seems everyone is crazy. Doesn’t it? Even me. Who can I trust? Does anything make sense anymore? Anything?

But I know, I really do know, that my God is on His throne. He’s not moved. He’s in control. He has a plan. And, He loves me. He really does. He watches over me at night and counts the hairs on my head. All while making sure the stars are still aligned. And, I think He even laughs at my corny jokes. And at the cat’s meow of a little girl.

So when I grow up I want to trust more and worry less.

I want to enjoy life knowing someone else is in control. I want to laugh in the midst of sorrow knowing there is coming an answer. A resolution. Glory yet to be revealed. Knowing hope is here today. Not tomorrow. Today.

And, I want meow. Whenever I choose to meow. Life’s too short not to meow at will.

I can’t wait to grow up.

Job Series, Part 4 God Answers from ron edmondson on Vimeo.

Job Series, Part 3 Questioning God from ron edmondson on Vimeo.

And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Mark 15:34

The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

Two scriptures this Friday before Resurrection Sunday! Two scriptures to remind us!

You and I, the children of God, will never be forsaken by our Father God.

That’s why Jesus went to the cross!

While Jesus breathed His last breath; all of Heaven was on edge. Never before had there been such an occasion. The Son, loved and adored by all the angels, but especially by the Father, was about to give up His life.

At the hands of an angry mob, but under the will and direction of the Father, Jesus had been mocked, beaten, bruised, and hung on a cross to die. He had placed upon Him the sin of all the world. The Bible said the wages of sin is death; and Jesus’ death was unlike any other. I have often thought, He was more dead than any man had ever been; since His death was the result of all sins, past and present, which are ever committed.

Perhaps worst of all, God the Father; perfectly Holy, as was the Son; must then forsake His Son. Since God can allow no sin into His presence, and since Jesus had become sin, the Father must forsake the Son. God turned His back on Jesus to avoid looking at His sin.

God did forsake His Son, so that He would never have to forsake you and me.

Through the shed blood of Jesus, and through His bodily resurrection, you and I, by faith, by believing oh Him, receive the eternal, permanent commitment…promise…reminder…of His love and provisions.

He will never forsake us, because Jesus paid the price at the cross!

No matter what you are going through; no matter how tough life seems right now; no matter what your circumstances, no matter what you have done, if you are a follower of Christ; God will never forsake you!

That’s good news today! That’s a Good Friday!

Job Series : Part 2 from ron edmondson on Vimeo.

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Matthew 8:26

I wonder if Jesus often wondered, in His humanity, why the disciples just didn’t get it.

In fact, I wonder why I don’t at times. Sometimes it seems like an everyday occurrence.

There Jesus was, all along, throughout the storm, and yet I fail to recognize Him. I knew, at least in my heart, that God was still God, that the Holy Spirit was my great comforter and that Jesus was at the right hand of the Father saying, “Dad, I know what he’s going through. Let’s help him one more time.” But in the midst of a tempest…a storm…a trial…it often seemed like He was nowhere around.

Or, are you not like me and my disciple friends? Do you have perfect faith? Strong faith? BIG faith? BIGGER faith? Is your faith “mature”? More “perfect” than mine?

Sure, we should always grow in our faith. And, it is trials and storms of life that God uses so often to increase our dependency on Him; to teach us who God is and who we are not. But you and I, if we are honest, know that our faith often dwindles. We often try to take on the storms with our own abilities. It may be like flying a paper airplane in a hurricane, but we will put our all into being independent. As dumb as that seems in reality.

And then our plane crashes…

You’ve been there.

Suddenly, we have nowhere else to turn and we call upon the name of the Lord! Redemption comes! Then comes the real strength and power! Then comes the real solution!

Our faith…little as it may be…calls upon Jesus…and all Creation bows at His name!

When is the last time you knew God to be God…no questions asked?

Job Seies, Part 1 from ron edmondson on Vimeo.

“All I want is a reasonable answer —– then I will keep quiet.” Job 6:24

Job just wanted to know why.

Has that ever been your question?

If you know the story of Job then you know that he is the “poster child” of suffering in the Bible. Job lost everything; his children, his wealth, his health, and even the support of a loving wife. God allowed the Devil to bring suffering on Job to the severest point of pain, stopping only short of taking Job’s life.

That alone has a series of “Why” questions attached to it.

Job just wanted to know why. He simply wanted a sincere, reasonable answer.

You should know Job had lived a righteous life. He was one of the good guys.

Have you ever heard the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I am not sure that question didn’t originate with Job.

Job didn’t think sin had caused his pain. He didn’t believe that God was a harsh God. He also knew God as a loving God, so Job knew his suffering wasn’t a result of the meanness of God. As hard as he tried to understand and find answers nothing made sense. There appeared to be no reason.

The fact is, Job’s dilemma is often are ours. We can’t always understand the ways of God. We can try, but there will be situations and circumstances in life that simply will not make sense to us. We can know that God will work all things for good. We can know that He will never leave us nor forsake us, because those are promises He has made. We can even know that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

We may never know the answers to our questions of why.

Instead of trying to resolve the unanswered questions, I wonder if our goal should be otherwise. I wonder if our goal should be to trust in the God who does understand.

I wonder if the solution is not to question as much as to simply rest in the sufficiency of God. I know. That is hard to do, but over time, as we experience God more, our resolve through the trials of life should become more of repentance and rest and quietness and trust. This is where our strength will be found. (Isaiah 30:15)

Lord; grow us towards total dependence on You through times of life we cannot understand.

Have you ever been in a place where you had more questions than answers?

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 1 Kings 18:39 NIV

Elijah had placed himself in a delicate situation. He had challenged the people that he could prove who they should follow. He told them if Baal was God, then follow him, but if God, (The Real Thing) was God, then follow Him!

Elijah placed his own life in jeopardy, because they would have surely killed him had his test failed. He was the last remaining prophet of the Lord. This was an important day!

Have you ever been in one of those situations before, where your next actions could alter the course of your life?

I have….numerous times!

In those situations, what you do next will likely have lasting impact on the rest of your life. The next step is a big one…and it is the one you must take! You are in between two opposing outcomes and the future will be determined one way or another, beginning right now!

Have you ever been there?

Talk about pressure!

Elijah responded with strength, with zeal, but most importantly, with faith!

Elijah put everything on the line for God’s glory…even his very life! Rather than depend on his own strength or understanding, Elijah turned his whole being over to God. With confidence, Elijah trusted God completely.

And, guess what?

God came through! BIG TIME!

(Now is where you should say, “Duh”!)

God didn’t mess around! He came through with a God-sized blessing in Elijah’s life. He could have left Elijah standing there, but He answered Elijah’s prayer. Elijah was willing to lay down his life for God’s reputation, and God did not disappoint Elijah!

Not only did God bring forth fire to burn up the bull, but He burned up the wood, the stones, the soil….and the water in the trench! That was some fire!

But then He is an awesome God!

I don’t know what decision you are facing. I recognize that what you do next…the next step is huge. I also know you have a choice…faith in God or relying on your own strength. A and B is not an option.

Which will you choose?