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Wandering in the Wilderness – Part 3

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Within our Wisdom Notes, last week we discussed explored part two of our three-part series wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

On this week’s trek, we will continue our focus on living by faith so that we do invest our time with purpose. This is part three.

The Faith That Saves

To have faith in our lives is of utmost importance. Faith’s importance to salvation is emphasized in Ephesians 2:8, where Paul writes, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Faith plays a role in the entire process until we enter the Kingdom of God. It is the sum of what God is doing in our lives and is written in John 6:29, “Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.’”

The faith that saves has its beginning when God, on His own initiative, calls us and leads us to repentance. He does this by His Spirit guiding us into all truth. Stirring up our minds to knowledge, His Spirit enables us to perceive from a perspective we never before seriously considered. This, combined with the confrontation that occurs with the carnal mind when we are forced to choose what to do with this precious truth, gives birth to a living faith, a faith that works, a faith that walks in godliness.

As miraculous and powerful as God’s liberation of Israel from bondage in Egypt was, even more so and of greater importance is the breaking of our bondage to Satan, this world, and human nature. This is why Ephesians 2:8 says the faith that saves is “the gift of God.” Israel’s release from Egypt was God’s gift too. Regardless of how much they cried out to Him, the Israelites would never have left Egypt without Him. If God had not been merciful and faithful, if He had not been trustworthy, they would never have been freed.

What did God lead us to that sparked this saving faith in us? He led us to His Word. We can glean a measure of faith from observing God’s creation, but this faith cannot save because it does not reveal His purpose. The seeds of faith in us are planted through the proclamation of his Word as Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” As Christ-followers, our lives should reflect the Good News in both deed and word.

Of course, this does not mean that all who hear the message will understand and accept it. Without the message, however, there would be nothing to believe in, nothing that one could trust to lead him to salvation. The evidence that our lives are properly reflecting the Good News is found in the fruit that our lives produce which is located in Galatians 5:20-22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Is your faith reflected by the Fruit of the Spirit?

We Must Choose to Live by Faith

We must learn the valuable lessons regarding faith shown in the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness because they have direct application to us. Romans 15:4 states, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” Also in 1 Corinthians 10:11, we read, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

The nation of Israel knew the history of their ancestors with whom God had worked, yet they chose to forget His graciousness to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. God demonstrated His presence to them, but the Israelites chose to disregard Him. They had the Good News proclaimed to them, and they chose not to believe it. They had among them the godly witness of men of faith, men in whom the Spirit of God dwelled, and the rebellious children of Israel chose not to follow them.

God has given us even more than Nation of Israel had. We have the entirety of God-written revelation to us. We would not even be in a position to read His Word had God not personally acted to stir our minds to understand things of His Spirit. He has given us His Spirit that we might know the things of God. Faith comes from hearing the Good News.

When we have faith, we trust God that what He has said and promised is true. Though we may at times feel all alone in the midst of a trial, we can take comfort that so did all those others who went before us. We have the full revelation of God through His Son (The Word). The faithful of the Old Testament chose to believe, even though they were waiting for the promises to be fulfilled in the future as is told to us in Hebrews 11:13, “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.”

Now the weight of responsibility for making choices grounded on trust in God’s Word has fallen upon us. It is awesome to think of ourselves as baptized into the history of the same spiritual company of those greats of the past, men and women of faith whose names are emblazoned in our memories. We must not forget either their standing with God because of their faith or Israel’s failure in the wilderness because they did not trust Him.

Remember the warning and advice God gave to Israel in the days before they entered the Promised Land, which is written in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

As we finish our third and final segment of the Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith trail, we learn that we must choose to accept and live by faith. On next week’s Wisdom Note, we will begin a several week trek that will cover several trails that are the Principles of Spiritual Growth. This information was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith – Part 2

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On our trek last week, we explored part one of our three-part series on wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please visit our blog to read past newsletters.

This week we will focus on living by faith, so that we invest our time with purpose. This is part two.

Living by Faith

How important is faith? In Hebrews 10:37-38 we learn that “…in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

“My righteous ones will live by faith” is both a statement of fact about the basis of a Christian’s life and a command. It is so important that this same phrase is repeated once in the Old Testament and three times in the New (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11). In each case, the context is somewhat different, but its importance to a Christian’s salvation is not lost.

The concept is not difficult to understand. Paul further clarifies it in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” A simple definition of “faith” in Webster’s New World Dictionary is “complete trust, confidence, or reliance.” At the end of the definitions, “belief” is listed as a synonym. “Belief” means “faith, esp. Religious faith; trust or confidence.” The dictionary definitions show that the two words are virtually synonymous. However, in the Bible and in the practical application a very wide difference separates merely believing and living by faith.

The practical application of faith is more than simply acknowledging the reality of God. Living by faith involves qualities that are better expressed by the word “trust.” This kind of faith produces loyalty or faithfulness expressed in the Christian’s life by works of obedience.

Do you think for a moment that the Israelites in the wilderness disbelieved that God existed? A few may have argued that the miracles they had experienced from the arrival of Moses in Egypt until they died in the wilderness were nothing more than natural phenomena. There are always some doubters and scoffers of that sort as is mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3, “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.”

The vast majority of Israelites could not deny to themselves God’s mighty acts on their behalf. They had heard the voice of God at Mount Sinai, had seen the wind from God part the Red Sea, and had escaped death on Passover while the Egyptian firstborn had died. But when God required a higher level of obedience to follow His cloud across the wilderness and depend on Him to supply their every need, the record shows they did not trust Him. Their loyalty dissolved, and they rebelled! They did not have it within them to live by faith.

Living by faith is an outward manifestation of an inward belief that everyone will see. Romans 13:13 put it this way, “Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.” And Ephesians 4:1 reads, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 10:3 reminds, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

The Israelites of the Exodus definitely lived according to the flesh, fulfilling the desires of their bodies and minds. Somewhere along the way, they lost the vision of entering the promised homeland. They forgot about settling on their own property and living free under the government and laws of God. Yes, that older generation literally lived in following the pillar of fire and cloud as it moved toward the Promised Land, but their manner of life under the bright fire and cloud corresponded to living in darkness. So, they never made it to Canaan.

The Right Kind of Faith

We can tell whether we have the right kind of faith. Hebrews 11:1 provides a definition, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” This confidence and assurance are the very bedrock of the Christian faith.

Paul is saying that, for Christians, faith underlies what is seen externally in the conduct of their lives. Underneath a building is its foundation, and in most buildings, the foundation is rarely seen. If it is seen at all, usually only a small portion is visible, but it is there. If no foundation exists, the building soon becomes crooked and warped. In most cases, it will collapse and be completely unusable. We understand that underlying the conduct of a Christian’s life is not merely believing that God is, but a constant and abiding trust in Him.

How much of what you do is really motivated by an implicit trust in God’s Word? This is how we can tell whether we are living by faith. We must be honest in our evaluation, though. We find it very easy to shade the truth through self-deception. We justify disobedience by rationalizing around God’s clear commands or examples, saying that our circumstance is special because . . . (fill in the blank). Remember when we rationalize we are telling ourselves rational lies that we choose to believe as truth.

The great examples of faith that are listed in Hebrews 11 were not perfect people by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, many of them had significant flaws in their lives. But in their cases, faith undergirded how they lived even when the going really got rough.

We like to think of ourselves as rising to the occasion when a time of great crisis arises. We all hope to emulate what the examples of faith did. But as great as they were, Jesus specifies what living real faith is in John 15:13-14, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.You are my friends if you do what I command.” Our obedience to God through loving Him and others is one sign of living by faith.

Matthew 22:37-40 also sums up a life lived by faith, “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus made it very clear that if we are His friends, we will show it in our obedience to His commands. But before we can obey, we must trust Him. If we trust in Christ, he is more than a friend, we are a close family. Matthew 12:50 says, “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Many in the nation of Israel did not trust God by faith and obey Him because they still considered themselves slaves, and not family.

As we finish part two this week, we explored living by faith and having the right kind of faith. Faith is required for all aspects of life even to the smallest of actions like having faith that the chair you sit in will not collapse. We must learn to live by faith, not by sight. We have the entire revelation of God’s Word in the Bible, yet many times we struggle with faith and obedience as well.

On next week’s trek, we will explore choosing to live by faith. Encourage your friends and family to join us each week in our Wisdom Notes, and then come along for our daily podcast.

Christmas Courage – The Story of Joseph

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In this note, we will diverge for a bit to bring you a story of Christmas during this special time of year. There is a story of courage that took place at the first Christmas. We often miss it because our focus is on a young mother and a baby. But the character I want us to focus on during this trek was in the story too.

He heard firsthand that his bride-to-be was pregnant, and it was not his child. This was difficult for him to deal with, but he wanted to handle the situation properly. As he thought about what to do, he experienced a personal message from God because of the extraordinary event. He stood by the manger where the baby was laid. He provided protection for the mother and child during the early years of the child’s life. The man’s name, of course, is Joseph.

What can we learn from Joseph? Let’s read his story from Matthew 1:18-25.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

1. God gives courage to ordinary people.

In the midst of the story of the miraculous birth of Jesus, we find an ordinary man by the name of Joseph. Many of us don’t view biblical characters as ordinary, do we? Many times we attribute to them almost super-human powers. But folks, that is not the case. They were people just like you and me. They had problems, fears, doubts, and worries just like you and me, yet God is able to use them. In fact, that is a major theme of the Bible.

“God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”

Look at how Paul states this fact in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

Joseph was an ordinary man, but He was a man God could trust to be strong in the midst of crisis. He was strong and resilient enough to protect his family. Matthew says it this way, “He was a good man.” In other words, he was a man of honor. Did he have concerns? Yes, but he was a man, as the Scriptures tells us, that was “good.”

Let’s read the first part of this passage again.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

Joseph was an ordinary man, yet he was a good man. What that means is that Joseph displayed moral courage. Joseph displayed the character of God in his own life. That’s tough to do sometimes, isn’t it?

In the movie Cinderella Man, we meet a man like Joseph. It is a story that takes place during the Great Depression. The father is a boxer who has lost everything, and the family is starving to death. His son steals a loaf of bread to help his starving family. The father rebukes his son and makes him apologize to the storekeeper. This God-fearing father may not have been able to fill his family’s stomachs with food, but he was able to nourish their spirits. Joseph was a man like that. He was an ordinary man but a man with moral courage.

As we reflect on Joseph, we see that he was ordinary but good. He was also a very courageous man that would have to remain good in the face of ridicule and slander. We should all endeavor to be like Joseph in our lives.

2. God gives us the courage to overcome our doubts and fears.

We can only imagine how Joseph must have felt when he found out that Mary was pregnant. His natural response would have been that she had been unfaithful to him. He knew the child was not his. She must have been unfaithful. What emotions do you think he would have?

Shock, disappointment, embarrassment, sorrow, anger…Probably a mixture of all. Yet Joseph’s character enabled him to keep a rein on his emotions. His love for God and for Mary compelled him to seek a way to protect her. You know the scripture says in 1 Peter 4:8, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

And also in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Joseph faced down his own emotions and courageously chose to protect Mary. Can you imagine rumors that must have spread through the community? The neighbors would have thought that they had broken the law. Obviously, the neighbors thought that they were having a sexual relationship.

Regardless of what others say or think, we must do what Joseph did. It is always the right time to do the right thing. God gives us the courage to face our own doubts and fears and also the rumors of others.

The third point I want to explore with you in this courageous story of Joseph is…

3. God gives us the courage to face the future.

It would take unrelenting courage to deal with the life that Joseph had to face. In the case of Joseph, he was given a vision – a dream to help reinforce his faith. He knew the neighbor’s opinion of him would change. He knew the rumors would be flying. But he also knew that God had spoken to him in a special way. The scriptures say, “As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”

Does God always give a vision to people? No, it does not appear to be frequent today since we have the full revelation of Jesus Christ in God’s Word. But sometimes He does. Sometimes God will give you a vision. Does God always give a vision to people? No, it does not appear to be frequent today since we have the full revelation of Jesus Christ in God’s Word. But sometimes He does.

Sometimes God will give you a vision. Sometimes He will speak to you in a dream. Sometimes He will lead you to a verse in the Bible and show you how that verse applies to your situation. He does not do that every time, but sometimes He does. But you know what He will always do? If you are Christian, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, if you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, He will never, never, never leave you or forsake you. He will always be there. That is a promise.

Hebrews 13:5 – Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

This fact gives me the courage to face the unknown as described in Romans 8:31, “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”

When we face doubts, when we face fears, when we face an uncertain future, we are tempted to avoid the wilderness. We like our comfort zones. If we are approaching an area of the unknown, we try to find another way around or to make a U-turn to avoid it. We are afraid of the wilderness. There might be Giants there. There might be bullies there. There might be rumors and teasing. There might be hardships and struggles. But it is only by a journey through the wilderness that we will reach the Promised Land. And if we make the journey, God will be with us. Think of what Joseph had to endure and remember, “It is only by a journey through the wilderness that we will reach the Promised Land.”

God gives courage to ordinary people like you and me and Joseph.
God gives the courage to face our doubts and fears.
God gives the courage to face the future.

Trust in God. Believe in Him. No matter what you are going through He will be there with you.

What a marvelous story of courage that we find in this ordinary and humble man, Joseph. Dare to be a Joseph. Dare to be ordinary, but good. We can be courageous and remain good in the face of hardships, ridicule, and slander. We should all endeavor to be like Joseph in our lives.

The Art of Captivating Story Telling Through Podcasting

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The Art of Captivating Story Telling Through Podcasting

I had the honor and privilege of being one of twelve speakers for the Podcast Movement Conference #PMx competition today. All of the speakers had excellent presentations. #podcastmovement #PM17 Click on the image below to watch the presentation on YouTube.

PMx Talk 2017
The Art of Captivating Story Telling through Podcasting