Faith and Sonship

A few weeks ago I shared about the journey I'm on related to a new understanding of my "sonship" and how I'm asking the Holy Spirit to teach and empower me to live more fully as a good daughter of a perfect Father.

In asking Him this, He has directed me to look at my older Brother Jesus, not only as an Example of how to relate to God the Father but also as the One who leads me to the Father, opening the way for me to know and relate with this perfect Father.

In this journey, my understanding of Jesus as my older Brother is growing a little. Yesterday I was in conversation with a friend in which we were talking about being prepared for the Day of the Lord when He will come and destroy all His enemies and establish His kingdom here on earth. The Scriptures call it a "great and terrible day" that will be so intense that many will die from fear alone; there's never been such a time in human history nor will there ever be again. Because of this, the Holy Spirit makes very clear in the Word that we must be prepared so that we aren't deceived when that day comes.

In the conversation, I was struck with how easy it is to shift, oh-so-slightly, into spending emotional energy on doing all the right things, such as prayer and fasting and studying the Word and serving, etc., in order to present myself before God as righteous and prepared, rather than expending energy on staying in the place of faith in the sacrifice of my elder Brother Jesus Who stands on my behalf to make the way for me to the Father and to prepare me for what is ahead.

Of course, to stay in the place of living faith in Jesus requires that we fast and pray and serve and search the Scriptures; the issue is one of heart motivation. Two people can be doing the very same things (such as prayer and fasting, etc.). One of them does it in the attempt to "get his act together" to present himself as acceptable to God, while the other does it because he knows that it is God's prescribed way of connecting into the life of His Son Jesus whose blood and righteousness pleads for him to the Father.

Living as a true son or daughter of the perfect Father requires faith in the one all-sufficient and perfect Offering of the life of our elder Brother. The fight (expenditure of energy and time in watchful prayer and fasting and obedience) in the Christian life is for faith in His blood and righteousness. It is a fight because of the massive pull in fallen humans towards seeking to be found acceptable in our own goodness.

After warning the Philippians of confiding in self-righteousness and then giving his own credentials for being accounted righteous because of his adherence to the law, the Apostle Paul says in Phil. 3: "But whatever gain (righteousness under the law) I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ...For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..."

The writer of Hebrews speaks of our confidence before the Father on the basis of the perfect High Priest Jesus, our Brother. And Jesus Himself said that no one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14).

Only the Holy Spirit can detect the slight shift into slavery and unbelief in me, and so I pray often for His ministry in my life to alert me when this is happening. So Spirit of God, thank You that You know so well the movements of our hearts and that You care enough to correct and realign in loving discipline as often as necessary. Come and show us Jesus and His perfect Offering on our behalf and strengthen us in faith as we wait in prayer and fasting and the Word for the day of His coming. Keep us fighting for faith in His righteousness and alert us when our fight has shifted to depending on our own righteousness. Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer!

Hebrews 11: Men and Women of Faith Living for Another Age

I received a response to last week's blog from a friend that I want to pass on to you this week. He wrote me the following short comment:

"I believe Hebrews 11:1 speaks that faith is living for the coming age. The whole chapter is testimonies of those who lived this way. Also, Romans 8:23-25."

So I thought this week I would simply give you this word and encourage you to go to Hebrews 11 and look at the list of saints there through the lens of what I shared last week: faith is giving priority to preparation for the age to come.

Just a reminder that the thing Jesus will be looking for among men and women on earth when He returns is faith, so it's imperative that we be people of faith now in the small daily choices in order to be ready to meet Him on that Day.

In the following chapter (Hebrews 12), the writer says that by pausing to consider that we are "surrounded" by such people of faith (people just like you and me with the same propensities and weaknesses) and that by continually contemplating Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith and His endurance of suffering and difficulty, we will be empowered to lay aside the hindrances (sins and weights) in order to run the same race of faith and receive the prize in the next age.

May the meditation on these lives and on Jesus Himself inspire faith and inner strength and resolve to continue to align our daily choices with the priorities of another age, devoting our resources and energies to that which will endure forever while trusting our heavenly Father to care for our needs in the present age.

God bless you and fill you with His joy this week!

Faith - Living for Another Age

This week I heard the phrase, "Faith is living for another age."

That, along with some truths the Lord is teaching me these days, has been very helpful to me related to how to live in faith in the daily arena of life.

If living by faith means to be living for another age (i.e., the age to come in which the Lord Jesus will rule on earth with the saints), then there are some obvious implications to this. I'll present one of them, but there are others that the Holy Spirit will quicken to you.

Living for another age ties in well with Jesus' words in Matthew 6 when He exhorts His own to make the kingdom of God and His righteousness our priority. Because the "kingdom of God" refers to the rule of Jesus on earth after this age, then Jesus was clearly saying that we are to be focusing on the kingdom to come and ordering our lives with that reality as top priority.

If it's true that in the age to come, we will be ruling with the Lord Jesus in His government on earth (and I believe Scripture is very clear on this), then all that we are about now should be to prepare for that rulership. Our own discipleship now, as well as the discipling that we do of others, is all about being trained for governing in the age to come; that training is basically a training in becoming like Him and operating as He does.

In Mattthew 6 Jesus speaks of two competing allegiances/masters: God and money. In essence, He is saying that His followers cannot be consumed with ensuring their temporal well-being in this age and be focused on Him and His kingdom at the same time. Someone recently defined "seeking" as groaning and interceding and seeking for living understanding of His kingdom. In order to really do that, we can't focus primarily on ensuring our financial future; there just isn't enough time and emotional energy to do both. Although we need food and clothing for this age, we are not to spend our energy primarily on getting those things and on trying to control our future. Jesus said that the "pagans" live that way but we are not to; instead He says that our heavenly Father, Who knows we have need of these things, will provide what we need in this age if we'll orient our life around preparing to rule and training others to rule in the age to come.

And so faith is to choose to give priority to God's kingdom, His rulership over the earth after this age. There are many practical implications to this in daily use of time and energy, and I'm finding that walking this way is leaving me with less and less control over my life. And that's the point: I can't focus on having my future under control and prioritize the coming Kingdom! Keeping my life in this age as my priority (under control) makes me near-sighted, opening the door to greed, and greed motivates me to protect myself; as a result, I can't function in faith and love as the Lord does.

I would encourage you this week to ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can be living for the age to come in practical choices throughout the day. He deals with each of us uniquely and wants to help us live with His priorities. He is the Helper! Holy Spirit, You Who are the very Spirit of Jesus who lived and walked in perfect faith and love, incline us to Your priorities; grant us the inclination to choose Your kingdom in the daily choices and the grace to start over again and again when we fail. Thank You, dear Lord, for Your great mercy and goodness!

Faith continued...

This week's posting is related to a simple quote from Corrie Ten Boom that is powerful in helping us exercise our "faith muscle":

Look within, and be depressed;
Look around, and be oppressed;
Look to Jesus, and be at rest!

The muscle of faith must be exercised in order to be strengthened; and exercise always means pushing against resistance.

When we remember this, it helps us to thank the Lord for the difficulties we face because they are the very servants of God to refine and train us in faith for an eternal assignment to rule and reign with Him.

Not only do sufferings strengthen us in faith (if we cling to God and focus on Him in our weakness), but they build a hope in us that is solid and true and that lifts us above shame: Romans 5:3-5 “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This hope is what gives us the ability to speak of what is to come even though we don’t yet see it manifested in the present. And the speaking out of the fulfillment of that for which we are believing God for in prayer is critical for the full work of salvation to take place, both in us as those interceding and in those for whom we pray.

And so again I encourage you to not lose heart but, like Corrie ten Boom, exercise the faith muscle and “look to Jesus”, the Author and Finisher of your faith. The turning of the eyes of your heart to look at Him (when tempted to look at others or at yourself) is done by many little things throughout the day, such as what I shared last week (meditating and declaring truth from His Word) or whispering His name or singing a song to Him or witnessing to another person about His goodness and greatness…

Every little glance from His child ravishes His heart so don’t underestimate how much you move Him when you turn your eyes to look to Him; as you exercise this "muscle", in time it becomes easier to use.

Holy Spirit, once again we ask for Your help, very aware that only You can love Jesus in and through us and that you delight to help us look to Him. Thank You!