Work of Faith with Power

"Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

If I was asked for a prayer request of late, these verses convey it well.  Clear and concise, these words sum up my desire to walk worthy of God for His glory.  My heart is also in agreement with verse 10 because I desire for Christ "...to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed."  Man loves to be admired, but as a Christian I desire that Christ be admired in me.  Any admirable qualities I possess I do only by God's grace, for within my flesh no good thing dwells.

I do pray that God would count me worthy of this calling, that I would fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and this last part strikes me with renewed freshness:  that God would display in me "the work of faith with power" so that He would receive the glory and admiration.  I was thinking yesterday:  are all my words and deeds empowered by faith in God?  I can't say that God's power is so revealed in my lifestyle that people can only say, "God is awesome!"  An example of this work of faith with power is when Peter and John were heading towards the temple and they walked by a lame man who was begging.  The cripple looked at Peter, thinking to receive something from him.  Peter said:  "Silver and gold I do not have.  But what I have I give unto you:  in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."  The man was miraculously healed and entered into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.

This work of faith in power attracted the attention of the people.  Acts 3:11-16 relates, "Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. ¹² So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all."

I will someday leave this body in physical death, but the works of God endure forever.  We might not leave a legacy of miraculous physical healing or have thousands of souls for Christ attributed to our testimony.  The work of faith with power is not only displayed in dynamic events, but also in mundane routine.  It takes many days and weeks to slowly scale the great mountain heights, where rarefied air and freezing cold must be overcome with every upward step.  It is God who makes a man strong through faith and reliance upon Him.  Faith is no walking stick or crutch for a Christian:  it is our lifeblood.  In Christ we find life:  a life of love, forgiveness, grace, and yes - power.  God has granted us freedom to live a life girded by divine power so that Christ might be glorified in us and we in Him.  The dynamic power revealed in Christ resurrection is the same power that is infused into every Christian right now.  Pretty awesome!

Let us be ever thankful that God has given us all that pertains to life and godliness.  In Christ we find life everlasting and mercies that are new every morning, for great is His faithfulness!

The Pilgrim's Regress

I recently acquired a copy of a C.S. Lewis book I had never heard of:  The Pilgrim's Regress.  It is an allegorical cousin of Bunyan's classic, and I found it very interesting indeed.  As I read it cultivated in me a fresh appreciation of the literary skill and depth of thought of Lewis, and made me in turn wonder if my limited faculties have the capacity me to grasp all that he intended.  The book is honest and true.  In the preface on page 19 he writes concerning the suggestion of supplying a "key" to the allegory:  "It may encourage people to suppose that allegory is a disguise, a way of saying obscurely what could have been said more clearly.  But in fact all good allegory exists not to hide but to reveal; to make the inner world more palpable by giving it an (imagined) concrete embodiment."  This he does immaculately, and Lewis has few rivals.

I do not think it right to compare The Pilgrim's Progress to this work, and I don't believe C.S. Lewis wrote it for that purpose.  But it would be a worthy appendix because it puts in a different light the path of the genuine seeker of God and His eternal kingdom.  The pilgrim in Lewis' book, John, may take a path more often traveled than Bunyan's Christian.  Instead of a scrip in hand and a road stretching before him, John is without any direction.  He is confused with hypocrisy in the church and at a loss to know what he should believe.  The idea of God and hell bothers him, and the chance that God does not exist and therefore the lack of accountability is a great delight which quickly erodes into lust, loss, and pain.  His wandering leads him into all sorts of error.  He is confounded on every side, seeking as a phantom the Island he so desires.  Every philosophy and humanistic mode of belief proves empty and unsatisfying.  Though very prejudiced against Christianity at first, Wisdom, History, and Reason compel him to submit.  His view of everything is changed as he heads for home.  As he arrives at end of his journey, he realises he is right back where he started:  God was there all along.

It is a great irony that God gave men minds so He might reason with us, yet humans can be most unreasonable.  The very thing God provides is what Satan labours to prejudice against Him.  Of all creation, what is a more deluded and insensible creature than man?  Lewis quotes Bacon at the beginning of book four:  "Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like:  but it would leave the minds of a number of men poor shrunken things:  full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves?"  The world's philosophies are all from the same corrupt source, while the wisdom which comes from God alone revealed in His Word is eternal and without flaw.  Those with a prodigious ability to reason have a great scope of temptation to entertain vain philosophies which oppose scriptural truth and lead to eternal ruin.

Christianity is logical and reasonable.  A scientist will carefully cite his sources for his claims, and is not considered foolish for doing so.  It is actually proof he has studied.  He must exercise faith, trusting the data of previous studies.  Philosophers follow the rivers of thought which have been discovered and discussed since the very beginning.  Christians are not ignorant for choosing to follow Christ and believe the scripture, even as men sought the wisdom of Plato and Aristotle.  Darwin never claimed to be God - but Jesus did.  His claim of divinity and resurrection is what sets His claims apart from all other men.  The fact that He has confirmed them only adds to His credibility!  Christianity to you may appear like Mother Kirk did to John:  an old, plain woman.  For all of John's searching, he limited his search by his prejudices.  He would not consider taking Mother Kirk's hand unless he had no other choice.  Have you considered that the old woman may be right?  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Him.

When Walking Hurts

Yesterday morning God prompted me to go on an early morning walk.  I woke up with expectancy, believing God would teach me something.  It was chilly and dark as I set out around 5:30am.  Every time I stepped on my right foot, I winced because of sharp pain.  The day before I had strained or sprained part of my foot, perhaps while lifting weights.  It made walking very difficult without a pronounced hobble.  But I gritted my teeth and kept on, thinking the foot simply needed to be stretched out.  The pain was still there.  It grew to the point of being almost unbearable.  "I don't know that I can do this," I said to God.  Because walking hurt, I didn't feel like doing it.  I could only maintain a decent pace with great effort.

It was in this moment that it dawned on me.  Following Jesus isn't easy.  In fact, the Christian walk can sometimes be downright painful.  In the painful moments we face the temptation to quit.  We are not to tempted necessarily to quit believing in Christ, but to abandon tasks which seem to stretch before us for miles.  I found that when I focused on the pain, it felt worse and worse.  But when I thought about why I was walking - because God told me to - I was able to slowly walk through the pain.  When Jesus is our pursuit and passion, even the hurts of this life won't prevent us from pressing on with Him.  He won't leave or forsake me, and I've decided never to quit on Him.

My walk didn't last very long, maybe 10 minutes.  But in that time I learned something I hope to remember for the rest of my life.  The pain people experience takes many forms, and pain can be a big distraction that takes our focus from God and places it on ourselves.  Let us be moved with compassion for those who are in pain.  In a spiritual or emotional sense they are hobbling on, or perhaps even collapsed by the footpath in tears.  In their pursuit of Christ their pain has knocked them off their feet and they are confused and feel forsaken.  We do not lose valuable time in our race to lift them up with our hands, lend a shoulder for support, or offer a kind word of encouragement.  Let us not pass by those who are struggling for life, looking upon them with disdain as the Pharisee and Levite did in Christ's story of the Good Samaritan.  Do not be repulsed by what you perceive as weakness.  If we are strong then our weakness remains.  God's grace is sufficient for us:  when we are weak we are strong (2 Cor. 12:9-10).  When we bear one another's burdens we fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).

Are you in pain?  Keep on following Jesus.  Even as a good shepherd will notice when his prize sheep walks with a limp and will investigate for the purpose of treatment and restoration, so Christ does for us.  May we do so for one another, following the example of our loving Saviour!  Christ makes the blind to see and the lame to walk, leap, and praise Him!

A Clean Heart

Ever since custodial duties were part of my job, my eyes are drawn to things many don't notice.  I would find myself wiping down sinks, mirrors, and toilets without even thinking.  Having a background in construction only adds to my unique observations.  I suppose even how Jason Bourne in the "Bourne" films was able to instantly observe intricate details of people in the room, places to hide a gun, and exit routes, I walk into a room and I'm quickly looking at carpet, the condition of the wax, the brush marks in the casing paint, and that a few florescent tubes are dead.  Instead of thinking about how to kill people or survive, I am constantly thinking about how things can be cleaned, fixed, or improved.  It's far safer and a much more wholesome lifestyle than being an assassin!

Cleaning tile or carpet is kind of like a new haircut:  only a few people will notice it without prompting.  And when they do, it will be two or three weeks after the fact!  With the help of a friend I recently stripped and waxed the tile floor at church.  Since I had seen the project all the way through, I was well aware of the total transformation which had taken place.  Supplies were purchased, stuff moved out of the way, and a machine was secured.  Over many hours the floor was stripped and carefully cleaned.  After everything was totally dry many coats of wax were applied to the surface, resulting in a beautiful finish.  It never ceases to bring a smile to my face when people walk all over the floor without even noticing it.  But when the "different" floor is brought to someone's attention, their eyes light up with amazement.  The floor is such a static fixture that even a large change in appearance can easily escape notice.

We have two white cars which have been in desperate need for a wash.  After Zed's indoor soccer game on Saturday, the boys and I washed our two family cars.  Being white in colour, it is amazing how well dirt can be hidden in plain view.  It was not until I began washing the car that I realised how dirty the cars really were!  We rubbed off the grime, cleaned the rims, rinsed off the car, and dried the water spots.  Our labour was richly rewarded with a sparkling result.  I wiped down the interior and was pleased with the result.  I don't know about you, but it actually feels great driving a clean car.  It is almost like sliding into a well-made bed when the crisp and fresh sheets are still taut, without a single wrinkle.  I asked Laura after she drove her car, "So, what was it like - driving a clean car?"  "I really didn't even notice," she said.  I thought to myself, how could you not notice the difference?

I think the cleaning of floors and cars are similar to the cleansing of our hearts in many respects.  First, cleaning is often neglected.  Even those who are mindful of the condition of their carpets, tiles, and cars are aware that cleaning is often overdue.  Another similarity is that we often don't realise how dirty, grimy, and gross they are until we have done a thorough clean.  Only after the clean can we with great appreciation step back and say, "Wow!  That was so dirty!  I'm so glad I took the time to do that!"  Because cleaning is a job never done, we can grow weary of doing it over and over again.  But there is great reward in faithful maintenance:  it is hygienic, prolongs the life of the paint and finish, shows discipline, responsibility, and good stewardship.  We Christians live in a polluted, dirty world.  Filthy thoughts and ideas, foul language, and the folly of the flesh cakes onto our souls.  When we have unnoticed or unconfessed sin in our hearts, it can cut us off from the presence of God.  We may not even notice the burden of sin under which we labour until we confess it before the LORD and repent.  Once that weight is lifted from our hearts we say, "Wow, it feels good to be clean and free!  I had no idea I was even in bondage!"

1 John 1:9 reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Let's not neglect the cleaning of our hearts because it's been awhile since we did it last.  If we stay on top of cleaning, the job is easier to do.  If we keep careful watch over our hearts and minds by putting off the old man, being renewed in the spirit of our minds through God's Word, and putting on the new man, we will experience the victory Jesus has given freely to His disciples by grace through faith.  A man can clean up his deeds but cannot cleanse his heart.  Only God has the power to wash us in the blood of Christ and the water of the Word.  Only then can we be clean!  And what a difference!