Do You Have Faith?

 We had a one night mission last night. The speaker spoke of faith and what it means to have faith.

Do we have faith?

Most people when asked if they have faith will start spouting off all of the activities and programs they are involved in for God. I often fall into the same category. There are many out there who do a great many things for God. But often their faith is lacking. And maybe not lacking really but certainly put on the shelf for a while. We get caught up in doing and forget about being.

Faith must come from in intimate relationship with God. This relationship takes time. Not time doing for God but rather time being with God. All relationships take time and effort. 

Why do we think that our relationship with God would be any different?

Faith comes from absolutely trusting that everything that Jesus said and did is true. It is a trust that goes beyond the academic to the heart. 

As we knelt in adoration last night, I had a vision of Jesus there in our church with all of the many people sitting around. There were a lot of people there but in my vision, Jesus kept looking over at me from across the room and smiling. That smile that says I notice you and I love you. I can't wait to come over to you. 

I knew that he wanted to be close to me, an unworthy sinner. But that is what Jesus does, isn't it.

Jesus wants to be close to you also. Open the door and let him in.

Get Holy or Die Tryin'

A good friend of mine, on a recent trip, saw a tie that had the words on it, "Get Holy or Die Tryin'". This was surrounded by the names of all the martyr's who had died for the faith.

He said he saw the tie and thought of me. While I appreciate it and think the tie is very cool, does he think I am destined to become a martyr? I haven't had a chance to ask him that question yet.

Maybe this is a questioned I should be asking Jesus, instead. Maybe this is a question I should be asking myself.

This tie has given me cause to reflect on all the martyrs throughout the ages and to contemplate on what it means to be a martyr.

What does it mean to die for one's faith?

Does martyrdom necessarily mean physical death?

Am I willing to die for my faith?

Am I willing to be different, to do the things that are counter-culture?

• Living within my means
• Having more than 2.3 children
• Homeschooling
• Affirming a culture of life
• Say no to material 'rights'
• Not working on Sundays to keep the sabbath

We can all make our own list of what it means to be counter-culture. Will we be thought of as weird and out of touch with reality? Sure, but it is only a temporal thing, a tiny blip in our eternal life. We are setting the foundation for our eternal life. Let's be willing to do the things now, that may cause us to die to self. To let the old self die away and to be transformed into the new person in Christ. We are crucified with Christ. We die to our old sinful selves and are made anew.