Dennis Edwards
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”[1]
Apostle Paul is emploring the early believers to understand the reality of the all compassing love of God. We, as people of faith, know that God loves us. Knowing that God loves us, causes us to see things differently than those who have no faith. When we pass through life’s difficulties, we also have a special power, a special ability, that those without faith do not have. We have the Holy Spirit as a Comforter. The Holy Spirit helps us see the events of our lives through the eyes of faith and trust. As people of faith, we know that everything that happens in our lives is in God’s loving hands and He will use it for good.
“Let not your heart be toubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”[2]
In the Gospel of John chapters 13 to 17, we see Jesus ministering to his disciples just before He is to be arrested, tried, and finally crucified. Jesus tells His disciples to not be troubled. Why? Because they have a place in Heaven. Heaven is real place! He is giving them the heavenly vision. Death is not the end. We are pilgrims on a journey. We are students in school learning how to love God, and how to love others as ourselves. Our mission in life is to learn how to love, to forgive, to encourage. Therefore, we have a different way of seeing things.
We are also laying up treasures in Heaven.[3] We do not need everything here and now. We do not have a bucket list we must accomplish or experience before we die. We do not have that necessity to experience everything right now, like those who believe life is over when you die. We believe real life just begins when we die. We are living – now, for that other life - later. We are just passing through this life, learning to love and teaching our children how to love: to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Therefore, we are not troubled as others are, because we have faith in that which is not seen in the physical, but with the eyes of the spirit.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”[4]
Jesus tells us to love God and keep His commandments. Apostle Paul tells us God’s commandments are not grievious, not difficult to perform. We are to love God and love others and do unto them as we would have them do unto us in any given situation. If we keep Jesus’ commandments, He will ask His Father to send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will illuminate our hearts and minds, so that we see things with the eyes of faith & trust.
The Holy Spirit will, also, help to lead us to the truth in any given situation. But it is up to us to be looking and searching for the truth. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.”[5] He said we should hunger and thirst after righteousness, after goodness, after truth.[6] Truth is something we need to seek for. Since our minds are transformed by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t see things like the world sees them. We see them more like God sees them. But remember, we see through a glass, darkly, not face to face.[7] In other words, even though we have God’s mind, we still have a long way to go in our understanding.
When we memorize Scriptures and meditate on God’s word, and put God’s word into practice, we are putting on the mind of Christ. We are thinking and acting like Jesus would have. We are having our wordly perspective transformed into a Godly one, into a Romans 8:28 perspective: a perspective that tells us that all things will work together for good, because we love God.
We, also, have the heavenly perspective. The perspective that Jesus has indeed prepared for us a heavenly abode. We do not look for any continuing city here on earth, but one in Heaven. The present world is not our home, we just are passing through. We have our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. All the great men and women of faith, found in Hebrews chapter 11 in our New Testament, were able to face persecution and death, because they looked for that heavenly city, New Jerusalem. They kept their eyes on Jesus. Faith in God helps us to live our lives knowing our recompence is not here on earth, but with God in the Eternal Now.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”[8]
Jesus is speaking about sending the Comforter to His disciples. The Holy Spirit will lead us in our learning. Jesus, also, told us we should not be afraid. Why? Because, God is going to send us the Holy Spirit, which will supernaturally give us the peace of God that we need. God’s peace will supernaturally comfort us in any and in every difficult situation. Apostle Paul calls it “the peace that passeth all understanding,” which “shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”[9] The peace Jesus gives is not the momentary peace the world gives. It is a peace that lasts, a peace that endures, a supernatural peace that helps us through the difficult moments we face in life. In the Old Testament God says, “I will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Me, because he trusts in Me.”[10] Our peace of mind comes from our trust and faith in God and it is beyond our understanding or explaining.
When we know that God is in control of our lives, we can trust in Him. We are not going to react like Job’s wife who said, “Curse God and die.”[11] Job was being tested by God. Job had had his flocks stolen, his ten children killed in a storm, and at last his health damaged. Job’s wife cried out to him, “Curse God and die.” But Job responded, “Thou speakest as one of those foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”[12]
The Bible tells us, “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” In other words, he did not complain, but trusted. Later in the book, Job makes his famous declaration of faith, “Though He kills me, yet will I trust in Him.”[13] Faith to the death is the kind of faith we are going to need. Faith that gives us the power to face the difficulties of life with eyes of hope and trust. Different from those with no faith, many of whom end up with bitterness, hatred and cursing God; we shall say with Job, “Even if God kills me, I am going to trust in Him.”
The Bible has many other examples of how a person’s faith in God gives them resilience. The three young adults who were thrown in the firey furnace by King Nebuchadnezar of Babylon are another example. They refused to bow down before the golden image the king had set up. Everyone was obligated to bow down before the image to show alligence to Nebuchadnezar. However, the three young Isrealis refused. They would rather trust and obey God, than to disobey Him. They said, “Our God is able to save us from the firey furnace, but even if He does not, we still will not bow down to the golden image.”[14] They decide to obey God rather than men, and God delivered them. You can read about it in Daniel chapter 3.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”[15]
Apostle Paul says we are more than conquerors, or more than overcomers, through Jesus, who loved us and died for us.[16] In the above verse from John, Jesus would soon be leading His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew He would be captured and condemned to die a few hours later. He was preparing His disciples to face that difficult moment.
Later, after His resurrection, He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the infilling of the Holy Ghost. He promised them that the Holy Ghost would give them power to be witnesses of those things that had seen and heard to all mankind. When they received the Holy Spirit these men of little faith were transformed. Before the infilling of the Holy Spirit, these men of little faith could not even stay awake with Jesus as He prayed in anguish of soul in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest. They ran off at the moment of danger. They did not even appear at His crucifixion, but hid out until after His resurrection.
However, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were transformed from cowards into courageous and bold witnesses of the truth. They would no longer deny their faith, even if it meant death. They, too, would obey God rather than men.[17] Cowards became more than conquerors, and spoke the truth of God without fear in front of the whole world. With the transforming power of the Holy Ghost, we also can be more than conquerors. If we spend time with God in His Word, in quiet meditation, in prayer, and then in obedience; He will strengthen our souls. We can become those that know their God and are strong, and do exploits.[18]
Apostle Paul tells us, “Faith comes from hearing the word of God.”[19] If we do not listen to God’s Word, but rather we spend our time listening to the word’s of men; all we will have is fear rather than faith. If we fill our heart and mind with the daily new’s report, which says another wave of trouble is coming, then all we will end up with is fear: Fear, fear, and more fear! Fear is the opposite of faith.
However, if we listen to God, if we read His Word, we will see things differently. We will be able to face fear with faith. When fear knocks on our heart’s door, we will send faith to rebuke it. We will be able to see that fear is a liar. We do not need to walk in fear. We have the love of God and love casts out fear. God has promised to be with us in every given situation so that we fear no evil. Let us read and claim the promises in Psalm 23.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou annoinest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
Psalm 23 is the psalm of the Good Shepherd. Jesus said He was the Good Shepherd. He was referring to Psalm 23 – the Good Shepherd psalm. He was assuring His disciples, past and present, that all our problems will work together for good, that He would be with us through them all. The Good Shepherd will anoint our heads with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit our lives will overflow with the gifts of the Spirit. We will, then, have boldness to speak of God in front of anyone and everyone. Finally, one day we wll go to our heavenly reward. Our faith and our confidence in God gives us the resilience we need to pass whatever difficulty, whatever abuse, whatever persecution we will face, even to the point of death. Faith in God makes the difference. Faith gives us the resilience we need to be more than overcomers.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”[20]
We can do all things. We can pass through whatever difficulty, whatever problem, whatever life throws at us, through Jesus; who lives in us and gives us the strength, the love, the faith we need for any and every given situation. Jesus promises to, “…comfort us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”[21]
The comforting power of the Holy Ghost not only comforts us, but empowers us to be comforters of others. The power of the Holy Ghost gives us the resilience we need to be more than conquerors through Him that loves us. We can be confident that God who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ’s return.[22] Faith in God is the key to a resilient spirit, to an overcoming spirit. Faith in God is the key to victory!
[1] Ephesians 3:16-19
[2] John 14:1-3
[3] Matthew 6:20
[4] John 14:15-18
[5] Matthew 7:7
[6] Matthew 5:6
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:12
[8] John 14:26-27
[9] Philippians 4:7
[10] Isaiah 26:3
[11] Job 2:9
[12] Job 2:10
[13] Job 13:15
[14] Daniel 3:17-18
[15] John 16:33
[16] Romans 8:37
[17] Acts 5:29
[18] Daniel 11:32
[19] Romans 10:17
[20] Philippians 4:13
[21] 2 Corinthians 1:4
[22] Philippians 1:6
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