Put Your Faith In Jesus

Everything in life has limits. We are taught from childhood to know our limits and to live with them. It can be hard to believe God isn’t limited. But when we enter God’s spiritual realm, we must remove all the limits. We must renew our minds with the truth that God isn’t like us. He can do anything.

 

We have an incredible God who is so powerful that we can't even grasp it with our limited minds. He created the sun, the earth, the moon, stars, and the universe. He made us, and nothing was impossible for Him. Yet, we often think our hardships are too complex for Him. We can't see how He can make a way when there seems to be no way. We are too limited by what we think and experience. 

 

“Behold,” the Lord declared to Jeremiah, “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

 

Jeremiah had just questioned the Lord’s wisdom in leading him to purchase his cousin’s field. He knew that the Babylonians would soon conquer the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and property ownership would be useless. In Jeremiah 32:27, the Lord countered Jeremiah by asking him if anything was too hard for Him. Of course, the answer was no! God would return the Jewish people to their land, and property would again be worth something.

 

God’s answer to us is also an indisputable, “No!” Nothing is too complicated for God! 

“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’” (Deuteronomy 7:17)

 

The Lord had promised Israel victory over all their enemies. Yet, in this verse, He said that if the people doubted, that would stop Him from fulfilling His promise. Doubt will keep us from receiving what God has promised us (James 1:6-7). We must cooperate with His Word through faith to reap its benefits. Without faith, you won’t receive (Hebrews 4:2, Ephesians 3:20).

 

Our unbelief is the only thing that limits God.

 

“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes,” Jesus told the father of the demon-possessed young man. (Mark 9:23)

 

Jesus wouldn’t accept the total responsibility for the miracle of delivering this young man. This father had to believe, too, so Jesus put the responsibility back on the father.

 

“And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’” (Matthew 29:28-29)

 

It wasn’t Jesus’ faith that caused these two blind men to receive their sight. They had to put their faith in Jesus to heal them. The word “according” means “in keeping with.” Their faith was sufficient, but they had never had a Savior in whom they could put their faith. "In keeping with" Jesus' faith, they were healed.

 

“If you have faith as a mustard seed,” Jesus said, “you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

 

Romans 12:3 in the King James Version states that God has dealt to every man “the” measure of faith. “The” is a definite article, indicating that we have all received the same amount of faith. What are we doing with that measure of faith? Faith can be as small as a mustard seed yet powerful enough to move a mountain. When our faith agrees with God’s Word, our faith is sufficient enough to provide God’s promises of salvation, healing, deliverance, blessing, and everything Jesus’ finished work purchased on our behalf. Jesus has restored us. If we believe, nothing is impossible.

 

Since Jesus is the author and the finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2), His Word is worth all your investment. Jesus is worthy of your confident trust. He isn’t holding back the promise of His finished work because it’s not His time. He’s waiting on you to believe He turns water into wine, sickness into health, and death into life. Your faith is sufficient! Move forward into the spiritual realm of God's promise and take possession of the undeserved, yet lavish, gift of His precious blood. He is your Savior in whom you can put your faith.

Holiness Is The Fruit of Your Relationship With Jesus

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

—1 John 1:7

 

According to 1 John 1:5, God is light. Walking in His light is walking in God. But it is not living a completely sinless life because we all have fallen short of God's perfection (Romans 3:23). If walking in His light was living a sinless life, then there would be no need for Jesus to cleanse us from all sin as I John 1:7 declares. 

 

Born-again Christians are one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17), but don’t instinctively walk in Him or live the way He desires. In Romans 8:5-9, Paul teaches about being in the Spirit and walking after the Spirit. He explains why only those who walk after the Spirit experience the righteousness of God fulfilled in their lives. 

 

Walking in God’s light doesn’t produce fellowship with Him. However, fellowship with God produces the ability to walk in His light. This is an important difference and one that is often missed. Our actions reveal whether or not we have fellowship with the Lord. But our actions do not cause us to have fellowship with Him.

 

Failure to understand that our actions do not give us a relationship with God has led many believers to try to earn fellowship with Him through what they do. When we do this, we are trusting in our own holiness. We are coming to God without trusting in Christ and His righteousness. When we come to God on our own merits, we are defenseless against Satan’s condemnation. God doesn’t accept us based on what we do. He accepts us based on our faith in Jesus. If we have faith in Jesus and fellowship with Him, holiness will come as a fruit of that relationship (Romans 6:22).

 

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5).

 

Romans 8:5 gives us a test so that we can determine if we are walking after the flesh or after the Spirit. We have to examine what we are thinking about. If we are consistently thinking about the things of the Spirit, then we are walking after the Spirit. If we are thinking about carnal things, then we are walking according to the flesh and are subject to our feelings instead of God’s truth. We must constantly renew our minds with God's Word. To be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

 

We are now new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and have a new identity, which is our spiritual man and not the flesh. But we will always be in the flesh until we put our faith in Christ alone. We have to put on the righteousness in which we have been reborn (Ephesians 4:24). We walk in His light by faith in Christ, realizing that within ourselves we are nothing. We can’t earn the righteousness of God. It is His gift to us in Christ. When we believe this in our hearts and submit to the new righteous identity Jesus has purchased on our behalf, holiness is the fruit of our relationship with God.

 

“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:10-11).

Set your mind only on the things of the Spirit. Keep walking after Jesus. Keep following Him. Keep sowing the Word into your life. Keep walking after the Spirit until you are walking in the Spirit. It is only then that you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). 

 

Holiness is not born of your works. Holiness is the fruit of your relationship with God in Christ Jesus. Holiness in you is only born of your relationship with Jesus, whose work was perfect. 

You reap holiness as a result of your relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

 

His Way Or My Way

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

—John 14:6

 

 

Have you ever come to a place where you realize that your way just doesn’t work? If we are honest, I think we can admit we all have. We search for answers and whatever else we need, and come up short. Then we finally get to the point where we just give up. 

Our search to find answers and help for whatever we need begins and ends with Jesus. He is the only way.

Choosing our way instead of the Lord’s is foolishness. We often end up going our way instead of His, even when we don’t mean to. It’s because we live in this fleshly body and a fallen world that shrewdly deludes us with options that appear to be good, but aren’t.

 

It’s easy to recognize the side of our flesh that is so obvious—the side of blatant, outright sin. However, there are sides of the flesh that aren’t so apparent. Some things are triggers that can subtly pull us away from the Lord’s way. 

 

One trigger is when we become everyone’s problem solver. I understand this subtleness of the flesh in my own life. Growing up, I discovered that I could easily see solutions to problems. I could see the steps to bring structure to chaos. When a problem needed a resolution, I could find a solution that I thought benefited everyone involved. However, this ability developed into perfectionism. I begin putting demands on myself to do things perfectly in my life and in my relationships with other people. I always had an unspoken pressure to do things right. Knowing I could correctly and efficiently get something done, I pushed on ahead. Others, instead of being inspired to help, became dependent on me. I found myself frustrated with them and with myself.  

 

One day, I heard the Holy Spirit. “You’re not the way,” He said. “You’re not the truth or the life. I am. You aren’t supposed to fix everything. You aren’t supposed to make everything just right. Trust me instead of yourself.”  It was a wake-up call that is a lifetime decision I consciously must make every day.

 

When you make people dependent upon you, you become their solution, and it hinders them from seeking God for themselves. When you have a mindset of  “I’m the only one who can do this,” you rely on yourself to the point that you end up burning out in frustration. When you believe your way is the only way and you’re the one to be sure it gets done correctly, you start getting anxious with people when they don’t measure up to your expectations. You expect something from them that you haven’t taken the time to share with them. They haven’t learned any skills to help. You have been too busy doing things for them.

 

Another subtle trigger to the flesh is the “agenda,” which consumes you. An agenda, which becomes your obsession, is greater in your life than anything else. It becomes your whole focus. Your perspective regarding situations and relationships is determined by your agenda. You cannot objectively see from someone else’s viewpoint. The ability to make fair and just decisions is lacking.

 

You may also have been inspired by God to do something specific. The flesh can come against you when you attempt to accomplish it in your own wisdom and timing. When your flesh determines the way to bring forth God’s work, you end up instructing God instead of Him instructing you. 

 

God’s grace is for us. But God’s grace is not for us in what we direct and control. Grace is received in humility. God cannot bless pride. When we take control, we follow our version of His way instead of following Him.

 

Being in control is a convenient way to get things done quickly. Things might appear really good because you see good results, but the truth is, when you are in control, you are only proceeding in your own way. The devil has his mark all over your efforts. He will let you taste success for a while, but that success won't last.

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life,” Jesus said. “The flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

 

We won’t experience the peace and joy God has for us when our flesh gets in the way. Our way is death, and the things we attempt to do our way won’t produce fruit. God’s work is alive. He is the truth, the way, and the life. Anything we receive from Him can only be fruitful. But that is only true if we carry out His purpose under the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

 

When the Lord says that His Words are spirit and life, this is our call to take notice. Our part is to totally surrender and listen to Him. In surrendering to Him, we keep our relationship with Him alive and fresh. When we walk in His Spirit, those triggers to our flesh become obvious. Our hearts become open to His way and to the Spirit’s leading. We receive the joy and peace of the Lord. We receive His very best and His power to keep the flesh from rising up to control us.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5).

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Not me.

 

The Ultimate Desire Of My Heart

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

—Psalm 34:1

Many Christians don’t know what the word “bless” means when they see it in the Bible. It has turned into a religious term. They have repeated “bless the Lord” until it has become a habit. They think that by repeating it, they are blessing God. 

 

When Scripture instructs us to bless the Lord, it’s not talking about simply reciting the word. Instead, it’s expressing our love for God and praising and worshiping Him from our hearts. This is what truly blesses Him. This idea is radical for many because it doesn’t involve any form of service. We crave acceptance, so we often serve God to receive love. However, this is not how it works with God; He desires our hearts. 

 

Humans are so work-oriented that we feel we must do something for God to please Him. We think that if we aren’t doing something for God, we aren’t worth anything to Him. We believe our worth to God becomes proportional to how much we can do for Him. This idea gives the impression that God loves us only for what we can do, and if we aren’t doing anything for Him, He certainly won’t love us.

 

Many people have a deep sense of obligation to earn God’s love. They feel they must “do" things to prove their love for Him. The emphasis is then on what they can do for Him, rather than on building a relationship with Him. Our service does not equate to direct intimacy with God. The purpose of praise is for us to minister to God, and this should be our priority. When we come to God only with our problems, the first thing we often do is stop praising Him. 

 

Don’t we love to hear others express their love for us? God is blessed by the personal expression of our love for Him. Serving God is an outward expression of our love for Him, but it is not an inward expression. We don’t need to “serve” God in worship. God didn’t give us His Son just to serve Him. God wishes to communicate with you, His new creation, in spirit and truth. 

 

God doesn’t bless us so that we will bless Him in return. If there is ever an example of unselfish love, it’s God. When I bless my children with something, I do it because I love them. I don’t demand their love in return. However, I would love for them to reciprocate that love and show me their appreciation. God feels the same way. That’s how we are made; we’re created in God’s image. Our desire to give love and to receive love reflects the likeness of God’s image. This divine attribute captures the heart of God.

 

If you believe that all the Lord wants from you is your service, you are sadly mistaken. He would love for you to continually take the time to “be” with Him and “bless” Him. Spend time with the Lord because He yearns to spend time with you; you are the desire of His heart. Let Him be the desire of yours.

When everything within me blesses the Lord, I continually praise Him. I’m completely surrendered to Him, and there is no obstacle or compromise. There is no one but Him. I'm crucified with Him so He can live in me. I love because He first loved me. I serve because He first served me. He is the ultimate desire of my heart. 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Psalm 103:1)!

Ears to Hear

In Mark 4, Jesus shared three parables illustrating that the Word relates to the kingdom of God as a natural seed does to a harvest. The first of these parables, the story of the sower, is essential for understanding the Word of God (Mark 4:13). 

 

Jesus said in Mark 4:3-9: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, yielding no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

 

The seed in this parable of the sower is the Word of God (Mark 4:14), and the ground is our hearts (Mark 4:15).

 

The first type of ground, or heart condition, that Jesus described refers to those who do not understand God’s Word. God’s Word must be understood before it can penetrate someone’s heart. If the Word is not understood, it will be like a seed scattered on hard ground. The birds will eat the seed, and there will be no fruit. 

 

The second type of heart condition described in this parable occurs when a person understands the Word and is excited about it, but doesn’t take the time to get it rooted deeply inside. The Word germinates but cannot produce fruit because it doesn’t have a sound root system.

 

Roots develop underground, hidden from view. Most people desire the fruit, yet they don’t want to cultivate the root system required to produce and sustain it. A seed germinating in shallow soil will direct all its energy toward growth above ground, as there is no other option for its development. That plant may appear healthy. However, when the sun begins to dry out that plant, there is no root system to sustain it. Consequently, the plant withers and dies. 

 

Many people dislike the time it takes to build a strong root system. They yearn to experience the tangible advantages of the Word in their lives, yet they do not have the patience and commitment to persevere in God’s Word. This prevents the Word from taking root and becoming firmly established within them. While we may see good results from listening to someone else teach us the Word, those results do not last because the Word is not rooted deeply within us. Only the Word that we have personally sown and nurtured in our hearts will bear fruit when challenges surface.

 

This third type of ground represents people who have received God’s Word and committed themselves to it. However, being preoccupied with the affairs of this life chokes the Word sown in their hearts, resulting in no fruit being produced. Just as weeds steal nutrients and starve the plants, so do the pleasures of this life starve and steal the benefit of the Word in us. If allowed to dominate our thinking, the pleasures of this life will hinder the fruit that the Word could have produced.

 

The church has consistently grown during times of persecution, and it is the same for us. When we experience hardship, we get our priorities right. We realize our life is in Jesus (John 14:6) and not in things (Luke 2:15), and we focus on the Lord. God wants to bless His children with things (Psalms 35:27, Matthew 6:33), but an obsession with these things will choke God’s Word and make it unfruitful. 

 

The fourth type of ground in the parable was good. It yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. But a good heart, like good ground, doesn’t just happen; it has to be cultivated. This is why only one out of four people in Jesus’ parable brought forth fruit. Being a fruitful Christian takes a lot of effort, diligence, and patience. Many just give up, finding that raising weeds is quicker and easier than growing ripened fruit.

 

In this parable, the Word of God produced fruit, and the ground just gave it a place to grow. If we put God’s Word in our hearts, protect it, and prioritize it in our lives, the Word will naturally produce fruit. Satan has deceived many into believing that they cannot be fruitful, but it is not us who bring forth fruit; it is God’s Word. When we safeguard the Word planted in our hearts, it will take care of the rest.

 

What is the condition of my heart, Lord? Its condition is crucial for good fruit to be produced in my life. Am I one of the three in the parable whose heart was unprepared, or do I continually cultivate my heart so that Your Word takes root and manifests in me? Lord, I can study the Word repeatedly, but if I don’t sow it in my heart until it becomes my Word and I own it, it will never benefit me. 

I have ears to hear, Lord. Let me hear.