The Faith of a Girl

  The faith of a Girl

“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  

“The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." 

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.  

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God....  

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-35,38.

When I read this I marvel at Mary’s faith. At the same time being human she must have been nervous. In fact Luke notes “Mary was greatly troubled...” 

Still there is no doubt her faith in God, that must have been cultivated throughout her life kicks in allowing her to accept what was about to happen to her.

Mary’s faith did not simply happen overnight. Mary’s faith did not come about because she seen an angel. Mary’s faith was already present in her life long before she met that angel. 

I’m certain of this because God would not have placed the life of His one and only Son to the care of just anyone. 

Mary was ready and willing to do what God wanted her to do.

That being said, I wonder how many of us who say we believe in God. Who say we believe in Christ Jesus, are ready and willing to do God’s will?

Please think about it.

Where is your Faith?

Where’s your faith?
The Apostle John writes,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17.
What John is saying here is what Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.
As believers in Christ we must decide who we will follow. We are either following Jesus or we are following the ways of the world. There is no middle ground.
Matthews gospel tells of this encounter between Jesus and a rich young man. It reads,
“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 
“Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’’” 
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Matthew 19:16-22.
Now let me make something clear here. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy. It is the priority you put on your wealth.
In the case of the rich man who came to Jesus it was obvious that he but his wealth first in his life. He was not willing to give it up and trust God to provide for him. Thus he left Jesus sad.
The decision this rich man had to make however is a decision we all must make. Are we willing to trust God to supply our everyday needs or in our wealth.
  Thus the question becomes where do you put your faith?
Please think about it.

Is your faith real?

Is your faith real?
Matthew’s gospel records this incident between Jesus and a rich man,
“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 
“Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’’” 
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 
  Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:16-26.
Let me make something clear here. Having wealth is not wrong. The apostle Paul wrote,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10.
Notice Paul states it is “the the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. Money in itself is neither good or bad it can be used for both purposes.
Jesus in the above incident is not telling the rich young man his money is evil. He is asking the young man what is his faith truly in, God, or his wealth. As it turned out it was his wealth because he was unwilling to give it up and put all his trust in God.
Jesus tells us,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.
Our faith needs to be entirely in God. Not our wealth. The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and 

that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                                  Hebrews 11:6.

The writer defines faith as,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and 

certain of what we do not see.”  

                                          Hebrews 11:1.

That rich man believed there is a God. He’d obeyed the law of Moses.  However he did not have the faith in God to provide for all his needs.
Question one: Do you truly have faith in God to provide for all your needs?
Question two: If God were to ask you to give up all your wealth and ask you to totally depend on Him, could you do it?
Please think about it.

Where are you?

Where Are You?
Matthews gospel records this parable spoken by Jesus,
“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.  
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 
  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  
He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:1-9
         Jesus interpreted his parables this way,
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  
The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  
But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.  
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  
But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:18-23.
What Jesus is saying is very typical of what happens in our churches today. There are those who hears the message but fails to fully understand it and quickly falls away without trying to look deeper.
There are others who receive the word but the moment persecution or hard spiritual times come, they fall away.
Then there are those who receive the word but have a lot of earthly baggage. They fall pray to the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth. their worries in this world taking precedent over their faith in God.
Then there are those who truly believe who go forth and take the gospel to those around them producing more believers.
Where are you in this spectrum of hearers of the word?
Think about it. 

Your Legacy

Your Legacy

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 
                                                                                                            Proverbs 22:6
Joshua Loth Liebman wrote
“Give your children unconditional love, a love that is not dependent on report cards, clean hands, or popularity.  Give your children a sense of your whole-hearted acceptance, acceptance of their human frailties as well as their abilities and virtues.  Give your children your permission to grow up to make their own lives independent of you.  Give them a sense of truth; make them aware of themselves as citizens of a universe in which there are many obstacles as well as fulfilments.  Bestow upon your child the blessings of your faith.  These are the laws of honouring your son and your daughter.  Out of these laws will be built the Declaration of Independence for the coming generation, a spiritual and emotional independence that, in turn, will make the world free, democratic, safe, creative.”  
                                          Joshua Loth Liebman
We as Christians need to bring our children up in our faith but not force it on them. I know of many Christian families that a lot of the time without knowing it force their faith on their children.
I know of families that will not let their children watch secular television or allow them to go to the movies. Who hit their children over the head with the bible. Correcting them with scripture.
As a result I’ve seen most of these children rebel and turn away from God at the first chance they get.
These children I have found over the years are hard to reach. They attend church they know “church speak”. In other words they know what to say when they pray, they know the music, they know when its appropriate to say Amen and Hallelujah. The thing is they do not know the Lord.
My wife and I are along way from perfect and over the years we were criticized by well intentioned friends for letting our then young boys watch secular television. They were horrified when they found out my young teenagers watched the Simpsons.
Yet the Simpsons was a chance for my boys and I to talk about various things. It opened doors for me to teach biblical truths.
The only rule we had when our boys were growing up was that they must go to church with us. We also encouraged them to ask questions about everything. Nothing, and I mean nothing was off limits.
My wife and I tried to put into action the words of Francis of Assisi who said,
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
                                                                                Francis of Assisi.
We encouraged them to try thing to do things for the Lord.
We were and are not alone. By enlarge the majority of successful Christian families I know had this same philosophy.
They didn’t bash their children over the head with the Bible. They didn’t try and isolate them from the world. Quite the contrary they encouraged them to watch the news, and yes the Simpsons also.
At the same time the parents were always there for their children to answer the questions and yes, at times to pick up the pieces of mistakes made.
As a result the children grew up to know and serve the Lord.
My boys today are in their late twenties and early thirties respectively. Ever since they were in their early teens they were helping around the church.
Today one volunteers at his church that ministers to the less fortunate in our cities downtown. While my younger son a carpenter, volunteers at another campus of the same church and during the winter months when his business is slow goes on short term missions trips for four to six weeks helping orphanages and schools overseas.
I had not realized how well respected they were until just recently at my Sons wedding when people came up to us and complimented us on how appreciated and respected both were.
It proved to me truth of Proverbs 22:6
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” 
                                                                                                            Proverbs 22:6.
Like I said my wife and I are not special. We know of a lot of parents who like us lived the Christian life in front of their children. Who admitted to them that we were along way from perfect. Who admitted they made mistakes and used it as a learning experience.
As Christians we have a great legacy to give to our children. What better legacy can we give than that of our faith and eternal life.
Billy Graham wrote,
“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”
                                                                                                Billy Graham
Think about it.