Where's Your Faith?

The Holy Spirit calls to me this morning and His subject matter is Faith. 

The world is spirally out of  control and we are being tempted at every corner. The temptation we face as believers are not just in our flesh that seduces us at every corner.  In fact, we may well be victorious over the truly "sinful" things identified as flesh sins, such as adultery or murder, but fail to recognize the temptation toward unbelief due to a wrong perspective or spirit.

The Holy One has been speaking His grief to my heart over the last few months:  "When I return will I find faith on the earth?"  Luke 18:8.  I hear His anguish and I do not want to fail Him.

Today, I realize He has something important to convey to me and I am bracing for what that may be.

"Everyone is exercising faith in something or someone.  The question becomes, in whom or in what have you placed your faith?"  With that simple statement of truth and question, the swirling of my stinkin' thinkin' comes to a sudden halt, almost in mid-air.  He goes on to say, "You have been full of doubts lately.  Doubting me is really putting your faith elsewhere".

Oh how the rebuke stings.  Yet, I realize the undeniable truth in what He just spoke to me.  The liar, the devil, Satan as he is called,  has been making inroads into my mind. 

Lately, because of "circumstances" I have been in places of doubt. The lie of evil along with the "evidence" in the natural supporting the temptation toward unbelief is challenging my faith in the Divine power of Righteousness and Holiness to prevail. 

The doubts are about internal as well as external issues.  "Be Holy because I am Holy", the enemy says "that's not possible."  Evil is more powerful than your God", the enemy says, "just look at the world!".

The devil is working relentlessly to have us place our faith in him and his authority.  Even and especially as a believer in Christ, he attacks us to destroy the testimony of faith in our God.  When we doubt we are actually placing our faith in something other than our God. 

The test comes when all the "evidence" in the natural is supporting unbelief in God's Good Sovereignty.  Will we stand firm in our faith?

Our testimony is refined in the fires of adversity, when the flames of eminent death to all we trust in, licks at our feet.  Will we say, along with Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and He will rescue us from your hand O King.  But even if He does not, we want you to know O King, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."  Daniel 3:17-18

Will we say, even along with Job, "Though He slay me yet will I hope in Him".  Important to note that the end of their "test" became a testimony of the greatness and power of our God.

As we are all feeling the heat of adversity from the days and times in which we live, will we be faithful to the One who calls us to Himself? 

And when He comes, will He find faith on the earth?  In you?  In me?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear him? 

Into The Land of the Giants*

The Holy One calls me this morning.  Nothing changes our early morning conference calls, and for that I am so thankful.  The Holy One has called to me every morning for years. 

I am sure He was calling to me even before I recognized His voice or my need to respond.  That's the way it is with Holiness: He calls and then He waits.  Now I recognize His voice like a sheep does the Shepherd's and nothing is more important than listening to all He has to say to me.

The importance of our relationship has never been more clear than while my earthly husband was slipping away into eternity.  The Holy One never left me. In a supremely super-natural way, the Holy Spirit spoke to me throughout the dying process, and the one thing I could count on was His call to me each and every morning.....and then amazing grace for the moments flowed.

The last and most familiar season of my temporal life is over.  It ended when my earthly husband crossed his finish line and went to be with our  Lord.  Grief may last through the night, but joy comes with the rising of the sun, and the conference with Holiness at daybreak.

The whole earth is groaning with the need to see the return of our King.  He left here over 2000 years ago after having conquered the enemy of our soul.  Upon His resurrection and return to His Throne of Sovereign Authority, He released the power of His Holiness into the life of every person willing to follow Him into and through that death He suffered once and for all.

I am one of the grateful recipients of His gift because Holiness speaks to me.  Out of my thankful thoughts, He takes me to His Word and touches on the next phase of our journey.

The adventure now requires me to go on alone.  Not alone in the sense of no fellowship, but alone without my physical companion of 31 years.  Not alone in the sense of no direction or grasp of a plan, but without the other guy providing his vision and his leadership over temporal circumstances.

I confess there is some fear associated with my loss.  And that fear is the point of today's meeting. The Holy One wants me to address the fear of the future.

I believe that in every season, there is a symbolic "out-of-the-wilderness and into-the-promised-land" scenario.  I believe the Word includes all the details of how God worked in the nation of Israel and all those individual lives for our education in Holiness.  I believe that if we look close and be honest about our personal life experiences and compare them to those detailed in God's Holy Word, we would see ourselves on every page.

The fear of the future and even entry into the "promised land" poses a battle.  We must go into the "land of the giants" to take possession of all God has promised us. My lesson today finds me in Numbers 13-14 with the Biblical account of the exploration of the promised land and the reports that came back.

The Holy Spirit speaks to my heart and mind, "going on into the promised land after the wilderness was not only permissible, it was a command".  Wow, now that puts it into perspective.  The refusal of the people to move forward into the land of promise, into the land flowing with milk and honey was not only ridiculous from a historic perspective,  but it was rebellion in God's eyes.  Reading the account and report given by those sent to explore the "promised land", I understand why.

The faithlessness of 10 out of the 12 who were sent to explore the land, spread like a cancer among the people.  Fear replaced faith and rebellion ensued.  Joshua spoke into their rebellion words that we need to hear today.  Acknowledging that the land was "good", Joshua emphasized the fact that, in spite of the large inhabitants of the land, God was with them and God would lead them and God would give Israel possession of the land.

In Numbers 14:9, Joshua conveyed the point of the "test" for the nation then and for me today when he said, "Only do not rebel and be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up, their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.  Do not be afraid of them".  It is apparent that the real obstacle to the people of Israel for going forward was the "fear" that was  master over their faith.

We are told by the evil one that we are out numbered and out gunned when it comes to our taking possession of the land.  The obstacles are too big, and any attempt to move forward in God's Will would be a suicide mission.   Turn back, return to what is comfortable, the risk is greater than the reward.  Faithlessness has many expressions.

The Voice of My Shepherd speaks clearly, "If you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "move from here to there" and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."  "Only do not be afraid". 

The Holy One has made His point to me today.  I can move out and into the "land of the giants" confident that the Sovereign God of all Creation is with me.  Faith vs. fear.  The only question is, "will I go?"

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?