By Faith

Hebrews 11 says:

“BY FAITH Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous…” (4)

“BY FAITH Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death…” (5)

“BY FAITH Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household…” (7)

“BY FAITH Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING…” (8)

“BY FAITH Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age…” (11)

“BY FAITH Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act offering up his only son,” (17)

“BY FAITH Moses , when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” (24-25)

BY FAITH these followers of God prospered. They were reckless and relentless. I love what is said about Sarah in Hebrews 11:11…”she considered him faithful who had promised.” God, the one who promised that she would conceive even in her old age in Genesis 18:10, she knew to be faithful and therefore had faith. Still what I find interesting is Sarah’s first reaction. She laughed to herself saying what would be somewhere close to, “Ha…good joke,” in our day and age.

For some reason, I find comfort in that, because oh how I’ve done the same in my life! God gives a glimpse of who he would have me become or shared the great and glorious things he is capable of doing, and I respond with an internal, “yeah right” only to be received with a “Yeah I AM right.”

But the key thing is to understand what makes Sarah faithful rather than faithless:
“She consider him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11)

God’s not surprised by our human reaction to His awesome power, but what marks true faith is the discarding of the “sensible” and “logical” and taking hold of the promise. Faith is saying, “God said he would, so I believe he will.” This is regardless of what the world says, what my limited knowledge holds to, or what science or man-made logic claims to be true (science has failed too many times for me to place my faith in that). God has proven himself faithful from the beginning of time, and is therefore worthy not only of our belief but our trust. When push came to shove, Sarah trusted God. It was either trust God or miss out on the incredible things he had in store.

And this seems to be an underlying theme for all of these faith followers. Noah had never seen rain! EVER! Prior to the flood the vegetation of the Earth was watered by what could be classified as underwater hot springs (Genesis 2:6), but God hits Noah up and in my little paraphrasing says, “Yo I’m going to flood the Earth because of all the junk (sin) going down and I need you to build an ark and tell your fam to get in it and snag the clean animals too…male and female, 2 by 2, etc.” And guess what…Noah did it! He had no idea what God was talking about or how things would work, but he just believed and did what God told Him to do. Faith. And what happened next…one heck of a thunderstorm! (Genesis 7:10-12) But check it Noah and his family were rescued. Why? Because of Noah’s faith.

Faith seems to be the underlying theme here because it is imperative. It’s not just about believing in God. It’s about BELIEVING GOD.

Lord I pray I would have faith like these…trusting you always.

The Drop In

I have come to a place in my life where there are only two options.

1) Live a life like everybody else:
-Chained
-Stained
-Tamed

OR…

2) Live the life I was created to live:
-RECKLESS

If you know me at all you know the first is not even an option. I don’t believe it’s even possible for me to be satisfied with even one much less all of those characteristics characterizing my life. I was born to be reckless. In my heart of hearts I long for adventure…a battle to the death. I am “set apart”. But the funny thing is this…I’m not the only one. We all have a worthy walk…a divine destiny awaiting us, but unfortunately only few of us tap into the warrior within. We allow ourselves to be tamed by our televisions, and live vicariously through Jack Baurer never knowing that if only we opened our eyes we would see that J.B. ain’t got nothin on me, or better yet He who is in me.

You see the greatest lie every told is that the Christian life is boring. It’s meant only for old people who want to try to get into Heaven or for the whack job who doesn’t have the mental fortitude to muddle through their difficulties. If that’s what Christianity is I wonder what Bible I’ve been reading…I must have some how got the unrated version where men and women live passionately, fight zealously, and die without regrets (recognizing they will never die). Or maybe we’ve just been blinded for so long we’d rather settle for lies than grasp the Truth.

We are so good at being blind. We live life apathetically taking the hands dealt to us. Striving for freedom only to find chains. We think we’re in control, but at what point does the puppet realize the strings holding him back…or spy the pernicious puppeteer limiting his each and every move? When we look up. See the Light. Hear the Truth.

And all that leads me here…the drop in. If you’re familiar with surfing (which I wish I really was and pray I will be someday) there is a point at which the surfer is right at the peak of the wave and has a decision to make…go big or go home. At that moment you have the choice to fall back or drop in and ride the wave for all its worth. In life it’s similar you reach a point where you say will I fall back into the mundane and the mediocre or will I drop in and ride this wave for all it’s worth.

This is the drop in.