FAITH AND SPIRIT
FAITH AND SPIRIT I would like to speak today on the subject of faith, where it comes from, what it is, how is it characterized. As with all things, we must first define the term to find a base from which to discuss this intelligently. Since we are pondering on a divine and spiritual principal, the first definition must come from God who once said that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge". According to the written Word "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". That sounds a bit mystical, as it comes from the KJV, and might require some deeper thinking to make it understandable. Perhaps if we use a word picture, (something I learned about in our churches small groups), it will be clearer. Paraphrase by Fish; Faith is the basic belief, based on our teaching and instincts, that something exists, like air and electricity, the effect from an unseen cause, like a light shining and our chests rising and falling. Or maybe that's to simple; Faith is the foundation I use to explain the events I do not understand but can see that they are events that have happened never the less. Ok, that's the divine and the human interpretation, now the scholarly definition; "1. A confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea or thing. 2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence." Shall we use one more to further clarify it? The mystical definition; I have faith that I have faith (that can also be called the ambiguous definition). All those definitions have one thing in common, that is, the belief in something unseen. It would be foolish though to believe in something unseen if it was not evident in some other way. I can not see the air but I breath, I cannot see a photon but I can feel my sunburn, I cannot see God the Father but I can hear His voice, feel His Spirit, and view His creation. I was not there when He gave the words of the Bible to its writers but I know that the perfect cannot come from the imperfect (basic biology), (Cartesian philosophy}. I do not need faith to determine the perfection of the Scripture because, as a person with a scientific bent, I have used the principals set forth in them, I have seen the health, conservation, farming, social, et al, advice given there used by people today and confirmed by the users thereof that it is absolutely correct. Looking back at what I've just said it seems like babble, never the less I'll leave it said. The summary is that we all "have" faith and we all basically know what it is. Given that then we will discuss the magnitude of faith. For some Christians faith is a mystical thing that they don't understand, do not know how to get nor realize the importance of. Many of the churchgoers that I come in contact with have fallen into the Laodicean pit. They are comfortable and feel that their relationship with God is adequate, needing nothing from Him, desiring nothing from Him and cruising through life in their homogeneous affections. They acknowledge that sometimes they would like a closer relationship with God but "Hey, He's a big God, He's probably handling things for me". Trust me, God does not desire lukewarm Christians. He wants a close personal relationship with you and He wants you to seek him out for every question, doubt, need and plan you have. He wants you to Live! And not just survive. "Come, Let us reason together..." He has said. But suppose you really do want a closer, more active relationship with God. Suppose that you do have questions and doubts that you would like him to address. Are you tired of "playing church"? Are you ready to grow from being fed with milk and are ready for meat? Are you ready to get serious with God? He wants to get closer and more serious to you, that's always his plan. To begin your new path you must first ensure that you ARE a Christian. I'll not go into the steps here but I am going to attach a letter that I wrote to a friend of mine that will explain it to you. I pray that you will understand that it was written with the intent to save this mans life. I was dead serious when I wrote it. Next, you have to come to an understanding of how to get closer to God. It's simple really; Read His Book, talk to Him about it. It cannot be explained any clearer. The question remains though "How do I increase my faith"? The scripture says "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". Again, that's just as clear as it can be. The stumbling block for some though is that they are not sitting under teachers that concentrate on teaching the word of God but rather social ministries and other lessons that are on the periphery of The meat of the Word. If this is your situation then the hearing of the Word of God will have to be done on your own. Daily Bible reading and discussions with Christians who are also diligently searching for the truth will open new thoughts, ideas and revelations in your mind. I realize though that we do have the mortal mind, that no matter how close we are to the Father that doubt still creeps in and weakens our fellowship. I am reminded of the father who came to Jesus hoping for the Saviour to heal his son. When Jesus said to him "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth". The father, in tears said "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief". Yes, even the Apostles who walked and talked with Jesus daily had their doubts, so it is in us and there seems to be no relief from it. I will testify to you now of my own experience, strength and hope. I being a mortal human have, since age eight, had a close relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. I had taken Jesus as my Saviour but our relationship was not as close. In God the Father, I gained a father and he taught me. In God the Holy Spirit I gained a friend that walked with me, talked with me and told me things about the Father, the world, myself, people, ethics, truth and a legion of lessons that see me through even to this day. It is the Holy Spirit that communes with our spirit and bolsters our faith. It is the Spirit who translates the Word to us that all things may be made clear. It is the Spirit that empowers me to be the Christian I should be. Are you aware of the Spirit? He's there. Talk to Him, ask him questions, believe, even in your unbelief, that it is possible to touch the mind of God through Him. In summary, I will paraphrase an old AA saying; "Bring your mind, the spirit will follow". There are other, more material ways to get and strengthen faith. I will, in some future lesson, talk about them. They are in the realm of chance and serendipity and not on the main path the Lord has recommended for us to walk on. Father, I lift this lesson up to you now and pray that you will give the increase of it. I pray that you will allow this small effort to touch someone that they may grow closer to you and understand your mind better. Father if I have left anything out in these words I ask that you supply them to the reader. We thank you for the printed word, the electric word and the Holy word. May you continue to allow us the use of all of them. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. Robert L. Fish
