Miracles of Faith

A compilation

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To have faith can sound cliché. Like what does it mean and how do I use it?

A couple of months ago, I read through the book of Matthew and had my viewpoint on faith refreshed. Several stories stood out to me in such a dynamic way, including the story where Jesus is asked by a father to heal his dying daughter,1 Jesus’ encounter with two blind men that begged Him to heal them,2 and Jesus’ meeting with a Canaanite woman who sought healing for her daughter.3 It was as if I was reading them for the first time. In reading these stories, I noticed a common thread.

In each account, individuals were begging Jesus for healing either for themselves or for their child. They were saying, “Have mercy on us!” In other words, “Sympathize with us and heal us because You can.” But in each situation Jesus turns around and puts the ball right back in their court by telling them that He didn’t heal them because He could, but He healed them because they believed He could.

I like the story of the blind men in particular. In this story, the whole time these blind men are crying out “Have mercy, have mercy.” And when Jesus does address them, what does He say? “Do you believe that I can do this?”4 He didn’t want to heal them out of pity, it seems. He wanted to heal them because of their faith; He wanted them to know that. When He asked the magic question, they got the point. Yes, they believed He could do it. And because they believed, He healed. As simple as that.

That made me look at the story of the Canaanite woman differently. Jesus responded to her request for healing by saying that He had been sent to the lost children of Israel, and it wasn’t right to “take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs,”5 telling her that she was not fit to eat at the master’s table. But in reading this again, I wondered, Was He putting her down, or rather, was He giving her an opportunity to prove to Him that she had faith, an opportunity to gain a great reward for having faith at that critical moment?

He didn’t answer her request right away. He had her persist and prove that she had faith in Him before He granted her what she asked. Afterwards He told her, “You have great faith!”6 And at that moment, her daughter was healed.

In another story in Matthew 17, Jesus rescues the disciples from their failed healing attempt and explains why they couldn’t do the miracle. He said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have 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.”7

I love how Jesus makes it so simple. It was just a matter of faith. Did they believe not only that God could heal the boy, but more importantly that when they prayed, God would hear them, and answer their prayer? They knew Jesus could do it, but did they know that they too could do it?

He also gave them a size comparison—faith as tiny as a mustard seed is potent enough to receive a mammoth miracle. Think about that.

Jesus also said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.”8 In other words, “If you have the faith for it, you will have it.” Quite a promise.

All this talk of faith can make faith seem nebulous, like, “What is it exactly?” Here’s a simple definition of faith that works for me: Faith is knowing God can and will act according to His will.

After I read these accounts from Matthew, it made me stop and ask myself if there were any prayers I was praying that I didn’t really have faith for the answers. Was I expecting less from God than He was able to give? Was I confining Him to a tiny work space because of my tiny faith?—Joykie Walters
Faith for miracles

It took a miracle to put the stars in place.
It took a miracle to hang the world in space.
But when He saved my soul,
Cleansed and made me whole,
It took a miracle of love and grace.
—John W. Peterson

Listen to Martha Reed Galvin interpret the song below:

I cannot understand how anyone cannot believe in miracles, when the Bible contains so many accounts of miracles. Of course, you meet some intellectuals who contend that the miracles recorded in the Bible either never happened or can be explained scientifically, or if they did happen, such miracles are impossible today. Well, those miracles did happen just like the Bible says they did, and in every case it took two elements: the power of God and someone’s faith. The power of God hasn’t changed, so you can expect to see miracles today.

Faith in the Bible creates faith in the miraculous. The Bible not only reveals the acts of the supernatural God, but it also imparts faith to anyone who reads it with an open heart.9 The Bible has a miraculous, transforming effect on our lives, and that gives us faith for other miracles. Faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, faith in the Christ of the Bible, makes for faith in our everyday lives. That’s because real faith believes in the changeless Christ and His power.

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus promised, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”10 Then after His resurrection, when He appeared to His disciples, He said that signs (miracles) would follow those who believed in Him, and miracles did follow.11

It wasn’t long before others were saying of the first Christians, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”12 Those first followers and the ones who were to come had such confidence that the supernatural power of God was at their command that they dared to challenge the mighty Roman Empire and shook it to its very foundations.

If Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,”13 why is it so hard to believe that He, in answer to prayer, can do the same kinds of miracles today? Wherever you find real faith manifested, you will find miracles. If you live in His Word, if you dig out His promises and build your faith on them, if you trust Him to keep His word even when it seems impossible, you’ll see God at work in the realm of the supernatural.

“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”14

It’s been my practice for many years, whenever some desperate need arose, to trust God to work a miracle. I didn’t always get the miracle I was praying for, but He did send answers to prayer many more times than He kept me waiting or said no.

His compassion and love for you, His willingness to come to your rescue in times of need, and His faithfulness to His promises are just the same today. He longs to see faith and meet your needs.

The next time you are facing an impossible situation or need, claim this promise in utter confidence: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”15 His power is the same today, and God is still on the throne, and prayer changes things!—Virginia Brandt Berg

Published on Anchor October 2020. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.

https://anchor.tfionline.com/post/miracles-faith/

1 Matthew 9:18, 23–25.
2 Matthew 9:27–30.
3 Matthew 15:22–28.
4 Matthew 9:28.
5 Matthew 15:26 NIV.
6 Matthew 15:28.
7 Matthew 17:20 NIV.
8 Matthew 9:29 NIV.
9 Romans 10:17.
10 John 14:12.
11 Mark 16:17–18, 20.
12 Acts 17:6.
13 Hebrews 13:8.
14 Mark 10:27.
15 Romans 8:32.

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Faith in the Face of Fear!

Dennis Edwards

Yesterday I had a very interesting day. Our dog was dying and in great pain so my wife asked me to take him early to the vetenarian to put her down. Off I went, but in my hurry I forgot to take with me my devotional book and my Bible, which I usually read in the morning for a good 30 minutes or more.

When I arrived at the vetenarian, I thought I would listen to a part of the Bible on my phone app while I waited, as two other owners of animals were in front of me. But while searching for the Bible app on my phone, I happened upon my whatsapp page and clicked on it. I saw two new messages. 

Normally, I try not to read messages from people until I have had my time of prayer and devotion with the Lord. I want to love the Lord first and keep Him first in my life and not allow my ministry to others to conflict with my relationship with Him. "Love the Lord thy God first, and then thy neighbour as thyself."

However, seeing I had a message from a Pastor friend, who usually sends good devotional material, I decided to open his message. But, I was in for a surprise with what I was about to hear and see. Today, it wasn’t a devotional reading at all. It was a half hour vídeo of a German Christian explaining the history of Corona Virus and how the whole response mode which the world was following had been written up over eight years ago in a study by some world organization. The title of the message was something like “Corona Virus Planned by World Masters.”

After listening to the first message, I then opened up the second message which was from a woman firend who had been a missionary in Africa some years ago. She normally doesn't send me anything "heavy" or controversail. Today, she sent me a half hour áudio from a pastor in South Africa. 

I had already been disobedient to my normal plan of reading, because I had opened a message before I had had my personal time with the Lord. Now, I continued in my disobedience. Again, it turned out not to be a devotional reading, but another heavy message about the origin and cause of the Corona Virus outbreak. 

The South African Pastor was saying that the quarenteen would lead to an economic crash and an obligatory vaccine which would include a biometric micro-chip. He concluded that the vaccine/implant could very well be the "mark of the beast" spoken of in the book of Revelation.[1] God has told us that true believers are not to accept such a mark even if it is obligatory. God has said that the mark would really have a spiritual signifance. The Pastor was explaining that those that accepted the vaccine may very well be receiving the “mark of the beast” and in fact be adoring Satan.

Usually, I’m not affected by these things as I am a student of the Bible endtime events and have studied quite a bit about the various interpretations of Bible prophecy. However, today it was different and I was caught off guard. What I seemed to be able to handle on a normal day, when I had had my time in God's word, my devotional time with the Lord first, affected me today differently. 

Suddenly, I felt like Peter when he looked at the waves.[2]  I got my eyes off the Lord and all I could see was that the dark days of Bible prophecy were nearly upon us. I lost that perfect peace we have when are minds are stayed on Him and Him alone.[3]  I got my eyes off of Jesus and saw only the horrific events of the book of Revelation that seemed like a giant monster ready to devour me.

I ended up feeling attacked spiritually, and very anxious. Thankfully, I realized what was happening and called up a close friend of mine from a prayer group I am a member of to ask for prayer. He, too, was needing prayer and we prayed together and immediately we both felt better for it. 

But the whole incident made me realize what kind of the affect our words can have on others. I have a whatsapp group of fifty people whom I share material with every day. The event of the day made me reflect on what type of material I was sharing with my group. In my bid to teach them Bible prophecy was I over emphasizing the horrors of the “Great Tribulation” and not emphasizing sufficiently “the victorious coming of the Lord?”

If we dwell on the fact that the rise of the Antichrist is coming with the mark of the beast, and pose the question “what are we going to do,” then we lose sight of the fact that the Lord promises to keep us through all these things. The night before I had been talking to a friend of mine from Australia who was asking me about Bible prophecy. I answered all his questions and he commented that he agreed with everything I had shared with him. I ended up saying, “Manuel, during the tribulation the Lord will be trying to protect us from the evil if we stay close to Him.”

My friend responed, “Dennis, I agree with everything you said, except the word “trying.” He said, “Dennis, the Lord is going to protect us from the evil.” I thought, “Wow, he puts the emphasis on the Lord and what the Lord is going to do. But I’m putting the emphasis on trying, my trying to keep close to the Lord. It sounds like my self-effort is what’s going to save me.” But my friend said, “Dennis, I believe everything you said except the word “trying,” because it is the Lord that is going to protect us.”

I thought, “Wow, he’s putting emphasis on the Lord’s sovereign power to save and protect us. He’s showing faith and trust in God’s power, while I don’t seem to have the same level of confidence in God’s word. I don’t seem to believe that God is going protect those He seals, like He says He will in His word.[4]  I seem to be thinking it’s going to be my own effort that will save me.”

God promises that He will be with us to the end of the world.[5]  He says we will be more than conquerors through Him that loves us.[6]  Even if something bad happen to us, He is going to give us the grace to bear it or a way to escape it.[7]  Therefore, we don’t have anything to worry or to fear about. We, as Christians, don’t want to transmit worry or fear to our friends and aquaintences. We are in God’s hands and nothing will happen to us, but what God allows to happen. He won’t let anything happen to us that He doesn’t give us the grace to confront and pass through.

Please, make sure you are spending enough time in personal devotion with the Lord in praise and prayer. Spend sufficient time with Jesus by reading your Bible or a good devotional book.  Anchor, found at the link: anchor.tfionline.com, has a reservoir of articles on many different subjects which you might find beneficial to study during today’s uncertain days.  We need to continually strengthen our relationship with the Lord, especially in difficult times like these. We need to be reading our Bibles or other devotional material daily.

I apologized to my “Daily Might” group for having shared with them some articles that may have promoted fear. We need to make sure our words are promoting faith and not fear. God is ultimately in control. He’s going to care of us and He’s going to give us the faith for whatever we have to go through. 

Corrie ten Boom who spent time in the Nazi concentration camps during WWII confessed to her father one day. She said, “Dad, I don’t have faith for getting caught by the Nazis.  Dad, I’m afraid I’m going to deny my faith. I can’t face persecution. I can’t face what’s coming.”

Her family had been helping Jews escape from Holland. They had a secret hiding place in Corrie’s bedroom for six people. They also helped the members of the Dutch Resistance. Corrie later wrote about it in her best selling book The Hiding Place. 

But with Corrie’s confession of fear her father wisely replied. He said, “Corrie, when you take the train from Haarlam where we live to go to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? A year ahead of time, a month, a week, a day?” 

Corrie responded, “No, Dad, you give it to me when you drop me off at the train station, at the moment I need it.”

Her father continued, “That’s right, Corrie, and that’s the same with God. You might not have the faith right now for suffering persecution, but don’t worry. If the time comes for you to suffer in that way, God will give you the faith to face it.” Whatever we have to face in the future, God is going to give us the faith to confront it. He even says we are going to do mighty exploits in the face of persecution.[8] 

Jesus has told us He will be with us to the end of the world.[9]  He has told us that, yes, in the world we shall have tribulation, but He has also encouraged us to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world.[10]  Like Martin Luther wrote, “We shall not fear for God has willed His truth to triump through us.” 

Another friend of mine told me recently, “Dennis, you sound like you are worried because the days of the Antichrist seem imminent. But don’t forget Jesus is coming back. That’s where you need to keep your eyes. You need to keep your eyes on Jesus, not on the bad stuff.” Jesus even said, “When you begin to see these things come to pass, Look up, for your redemption draws nigh.”[11] I guess He knew we would start looking at the waves and forget about Him!

Remember, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.  But God has promised that His light shall shine upon us and we shall be His witnesses unto the ends of the earth.[12]  Whatever happens to us will be within His will and He will give us the grace to bear it, or save us out of it.  We will be overcomers like our forefathers in Hebrews 11 who were strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. They looked for another city, a heavenly one whose builder and maker is God,[13] where God Himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor pain, nor sorrow, nor sickness and the former things shall be passed away.[14]

Let us have a balance in what we share with others and not concentrate on the bad stuff so much that we discourage others and they run from us in fear. Bright days are ahead because Jesus is ultimately in control. He’s not trying to keep us, but He will keep us to the very end. If it is His will for us to suffer, He will be with us in our trial and give us the grace to bear it. Then we can say with Apostle Paul, “Oh, death, where is thy sting. Oh, grave, where is thy victory?... But thanks be to God who has given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.”[15]

---

[1] Revelation 13:16.17

[2] Matthew 14:28-32

[3] Isaiah 26:3

[4] Revelation 7:3

[5] Matthew 28:20

[6] Romans 8:37

[7] 1 Corinthians 13:10

[8] Daniel 11:32

[9] Matthew 28:20

[10] John 16:33

[11] Luke 21:28

[12] Isaiah 60:2, Acts 1:8

[13] Hebrews 11:13, 10, 16.

[14] Revelation 21:4

[15] 1 Corinthians 15:55, 56, 58

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“On Faith vs Works”

Dennis Edwards

Thanks for writing. Don´t worry about running. If all you can do is walking, then that is all you can do. And that’s fine, so stop comparing what you can do with what I can do. We often push ourselves too hard by trying in our own strength. It is just like with Salvation. Paul writes, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”[1] 

In Ephesians he says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”[2] In his letter to Timothy he proclaims, “Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”[3]

That´s why Jesus said, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”[4] If the yoke is too hard and the burden is too heavy, maybe it is not His yoke but your own or someone else's that you have unwisely taken upon yourself or allowed others to place upon you. 

Maybe you are trying too hard in your own strength to save yourself, that you are not letting Him do it. You are not believing in His word like you should be, but are trying to earn your salvation with masses, and communions, and prayers, etc. Not that these things are necessarily wrong. But if you are trusting in them to save you, then you are working your way into God´s presence, when all He asks is that we call upon Him with all of our heart. 

In Jeremiah we read, “Call upon Me and I will answer you.”[5] “Ye shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all you heart.”[6] Notice that He said with all your heart, not all your works. 

Later in Romans Paul says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”[7] This question of a second birth was even hard for Nicodemus to understand. He was the religious leader who came to Jesus in the cover of night to inquire more into Jesus’ teaching. But the truth is, we must be born again. That’s what Jesus said, “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.”[8]

Dear one, we can never earn our salvation through our own works of righteousness. In Isaiah we read, “Our own righteousness is as filthy (menstrual) rags.”[9] But God in His mercy sent us His Son to die on the cross that we might have the free gift of eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”[10] You see, salvation is a gift of God, but right from the beginning of time man has been trying to save himself through his own righteousness. 

Remember the story of Cain and Abel. Instead of offering a lamb as a sacrifice as God had requested, Cain offered the works of his own hands. God was displeased because He wanted obedience, not sacrifice. The lamb even there in the beginning of time typified the “Lamb of God which would take away the sins of the world.”[11]

Cain got so mad that he killed his brother Abel, whose simple faith and obedience had showed Cain up for the self-righteous religionist that he was. God does not want our religion, He wants our hearts. 

God has promised that if we open our hearts to Him and ask Him to come in, believe on Him by faith[12] that He was raised from the dead, He will come in and have fellowship with us and we shall be saved, or secured in His love and protection. 

In Romans Paul writes, “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[13] Notice he says that righteousness comes by belief, not by works.

 

That’s why Augustine in his Homilies on the Gospel of John wrote, “Understanding is the reward of faith: therefore, do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.”[14] So we see that faith comes before a proper understanding. In other words, faith is the key to a proper understanding of things here and now and here after. Solomon wrote, “ Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”[15] But in order to get that wisdom, we need faith. Not a blind faith, but faith built on reason and experience. That's why Peter tells us to give a reasoned defense of our faith, and Paul tells us to study that we might be approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Paul also talks a lot about the importance of faith in both Roman’s chapter four and Hebrews’ chapter four. By believing in Jesus we enter into rest through faith. We no longer struggle to save ourselves or to keep ourselves saved but rest in Him, believing on His word and precious promises. Remember that Mary, the sister of Martha, chose the good part and sat at Jesus’ feet to be ministered to by Him, while her sister Martha continued to serve. And the Lord chided Martha when she requested that Jesus make her sister go back to work. He said, “But one thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.”[16]

In the book of Revelation Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me.”[17] Pray this little prayer with me or something like it and have your sins washed away once and for all. 

“Dear Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God and died for me and have taken upon Yourself the sins of the world including mine. Thank You for dying for me. I now accept You into my heart for eternity. I believe You rose from the dead and I trust in You for eternal life. Please forgive me for my sins and self-righteousness. Help me to rest in You and in Your love and mercy and freedom. Grant me an infilling of Your Holy Spirit so I too may have the power to walk with You. In Jesus name, I pray.” 

If you have sincerely prayed this prayer or one similar from your own heart you are saved. The fight for your eternal soul is over and you can rest in Jesus knowing that you are His for eternity. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father´s hand. I and My Father are one.”[18]

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Notes:

[1] Titus 3;5
[2] Ephesians 2:8-9
[3] 2 Timothy 1:9
[4] Matthew 11:28-30
[5] Jeremiah 33:3
[6] Jeremiah 29:13
[7] Romans 10:13
[8] John 3:3
[9] Isaiah 64:6
[10] John 3:16
[11] John 1:29

[12] There are strong and reasonable arguments that support the claims of the disciples as the best inference from the evidence at hand, i.e., the empty tomb and the fact that neither the Jews nor the Romans produced a dead body to disprove the resurrection event, and that none of the disciples, who were eyewitnesses and knew the truth of the situation, recanted on their beliefs even in the face of severe persecution and martyrdom. Martyrdom does not prove truth, but it does prove sincerity. But the fact that the disciples were in a position to know the truth of the resurrection lends toward the conclusion that the resurrection was in fact true and not a myth developed later by them. 

[13] Romans 10:9-10
[14] Augustine, “Homilies on the Gospel of John” 29.6
[15] Proverbs 4:7
[16] Luke 10:42
[17] Revelation 3:20
[18] John 10:27-30

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Does Christianity Stand on Faith or Evidence?

By Dan Delzell, Christian Post, Oct. 23, 2011

I had an interesting e-mail exchange with an agnostic this week. He wrote: “If there were good evidence to corroborate the Bible, would you need faith? Correct me if I am mistaken, but faith lies at the core of the Christian worldview, not reliance on evidence.”

That is an excellent question and one that I suspect lies at the heart of why many agnostics and atheists have yet to seriously evaluate Christianity. If they only knew that the core of the Christian worldview is actually evidence rather than faith, many of them might finally look at the evidence with an open mind. It is only after one is presented solid evidence that he is invited to place his faith in the facts of the Gospel. Christian faith stands on something permanent and proven.

I am talking about mathematical and statistical evidence that any jury would hear about if the Bible was put on trial. The Bible can be judged as being either miraculous or man-made.

There are over 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The statistical probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even 8 such prophecies would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.It is impossible that the Bible did not come from God. No scheme of man could have pulled it off over those many centuries. In order to reject the Bible, a person must have a strong predisposition against it from the outset. Otherwise, the evidence makes it a “slam-dunk case.”

To tell you the truth, I don’t think it takes very much faith to believe that “all Scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16) How much faith does it take a jury to come back with a verdict in the midst of overwhelming evidence? What if a jury had 300 pieces of evidence that all pointed to the same person the way 300 biblical prophecies all point to Christ?

Skeptics will say, “You are using the Bible to validate the Bible.” True. But we are really dealing with 66 books written over hundreds of years. There is no dispute among scholars regarding the historical accuracy of the Bible. William Albright was a biblical and archeological scholar who mastered more than 26 ancient and modern languages. Albright wrote, “The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain phrases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.”

I love the way Charlie Campbell lays out 10 solid reasons to completely trust the Bible. He goes into detail on each one, but here are the basic categories:

1. Fulfilled Prophecy

2. Archaeological Verification

3. The Bible’s Internal Consistency

4. External Verification

5. The Bible’s Amazing Scientific Accuracy and Foresight

6. The Manuscript Evidence

7. The Bible’s Forthrightness about Its Author’s and Hero’s Failures

8. The Willingness of Jesus’ Disciples to Suffer

9. The Bible’s Transforming Power for Good

10. The Testimony of Jesus, the Son of God

Christianity stands on facts. It stands on evidence. Christianity is entered into through faith. It is not a blind faith. It is faith in the facts. It is faith in something concrete. Christianity builds on past events and believes for the future fulfillment of all of God’s prophecies and promises. Without the Bible, we would only have mystical experiences to rely upon. How trustworthy would that be?

You will never find evidence like what we have in the Bible. Try to find one “holy” book of any other religion that has even ONE fulfilled prophecy. Where is the mathematical evidence in any of those religions? Where is the statistical and mathematical certainty to stand on when stepping out in faith for future events and for the eternal well-being of your immortal soul?

The order is for Christianity is: (1) Evidence; (2) Faith; and then (3) Assurance. Christianity stands upon evidence. It is personally received through faith that Jesus died for your sins on the cross. It brings comforting assurance to those who have stepped out in faith to trust Christ. You will never have the true assurance of salvation until you take a step of faith based on the evidence. Some non-Christians have a false sense of assurance without Christ, but in the end it tragically disappoints. Their assurance is not based on solid evidence, but only faith in someone or something other than the Jesus of the Bible.

God made you as a rational human being. God has given us rational reasons to know that He is trustworthy. Just look out into the universe. It is rational to believe that only God could have created such majesty. “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (Psalm 19:1) Are you listening to His voice in the heavens? Are you evaluating the evidence reasonably?

There was a once a man whose religion stood on faith rather than tons of evidence. His name was Abraham. The Bible tells us, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (James 2:23) What history did Abraham really have to go on before he was asked to trust God? What prophecies had been fulfilled? What evidence did he have to stand on? Very little compared to what you and I have been given over the past 6000 years of biblical history. Abraham was a man of tremendous faith.

If Abraham could believe God with little history to go on, you can certainly do it once you have studied the evidence for the Bible with your rational mind. God can be trusted. He always comes through and does what He says He will do.

Original article found here: https://www.christianpost.com/news/does-christianity-stand-on-faith-or-evidence.html

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"Where Hope Grows"

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How Moving to Kenya Made Me a Less Fearful Parent

Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, C. Today, Aug. 12, 2016

Things shifted when I noticed my preschooler handles daily life in Africa better than I do.

Just four days after my family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, I was ready to jump on a plane back to California with my young son.

I spent the day with him at his new preschool, attended almost entirely by local children. My introverted and cautious child behaved exactly as I expected. He clung to me, refused to participate in activities, and looked terrified whenever someone spoke to him. When his teachers finally pried him off of me and kicked me out of the classroom, I could hear his wails from the other side of the school.

Later that day, I lay down in the fetal position and decided I was a horrible mother. What had my husband and I been thinking, asking a three-year-old to simultaneously adjust to a new country, culture, and school?

Over my son’s protests and my own fears, I took him to school again the following day. And the next. When I dropped him off on the third day, he said goodbye to me with a smile and ran off to find his new friends.

As many other new parents have experienced, I was stunned by the quick adaptability of my child. I was still struggling mightily to adjust to life in Kenya, but my pint-sized offspring had already hit his stride on a new continent. Perhaps coming here hadn’t been such a bad parenting decision after all.

When I was growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, my parents sheltered me as best they could. They carefully shuttled me from school to home to church and back again. We stayed in communities they knew, with activities–such as Cantonese-language school and church fellowship meetings–they were familiar with.

As immigrants in a foreign land, my parents wanted to protect me from anything that might cause me harm. But the message I internalized was that the world was a scary place. I grew up believing I couldn’t handle the different and the unfamiliar; avoidance was my best option.

When, later on in life, I found myself in new environments, I realized how poorly equipped I was to adapt. All that sheltering had not prepared me for the challenges of adulthood in these new contexts.

Recent psychology research has demonstrated how stress can be good for us. Stretching ourselves beyond what we’re comfortable with actually builds resilience and self-confidence. We’re tested in new ways and find that we are okay, that we can do more than we realized.

As Christians, challenges help us discover that God is more present and faithful than we previously grasped. Our trust in him grows when we put ourselves in situations that force us to depend on him. It’s not always easy to recognize this when I’m in the midst of hardship. But God has shown up so many times when I’ve been in extremely stressful situations that I now have a long record of his mercies and his provision to encourage me when I feel overwhelmed.

The younger we are when our circumstances stretch and shape us, the better off we may be. Children who experience tolerable levels of distress develop brains that are better at managing fear, improving impulse control, and increasing positive motivation. While parents may be tempted to put off overseas living or other adventures while their children are elementary-school-aged or younger, there are good reasons not to wait if the opportunity presents itself.

Allowing our kids to be pushed in their everyday lives, beyond even what we as parents are comfortable with, gives them the opportunity to gain new tools, skills, and levels of fortitude.

While the desire to protect our children from distress is a positive thing, it’s possible to shelter them so much that we do them a disservice. In the bestseller The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, clinician and educator Madeline Levine explains how children who grow up in privileged homes, where they are well protected and challenged only in their academic and athletic endeavors, often struggle when they enter adolescence and young adulthood.

“While many of these teens are verbal and psychologically aware, they don’t seem to know themselves very well,” Levine writes. “They lack practical skills for navigating out in the world; they can be easily frustrated or impulsive; and they have trouble anticipating the consequences of their actions.”

When faced with a trial–academic or professional failure, relationship troubles, or lack of meaning and purpose–these young people can slide quickly into anxiety, depression, or self-harm.

Jesus modeled how to intentionally place ourselves in unfamiliar and challenging contexts, regularly traveling into hostile territory and interacting with people from vastly different backgrounds.

He sent out his disciples to preach the gospel with this stark warning: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard…” (Matt. 10:16–17). There is no question that he loved his followers dearly, and yet he knowingly sent them into danger and guaranteed them hardship and suffering. He knew the courage, strength, and faith that such experiences would provide them, preparing them for even greater ministry after his ascension to heaven.

In the nearly four months since we moved to Kenya, my son’s maturity and self-confidence have grown in leaps and bounds. The same little boy who used to hide behind me every time someone said hello to him recently gave a short speech about his career ambitions (to be a soccer player) in front of a group of 60-plus adults.

Even more importantly, my son recognizes that almost everyone here is different from him, but they are not to be feared or avoided. His teachers, his classmates, the colleagues in his dad’s office, and our fellow worshipers in church all have brown skin and speak with different accents. But they are his friends and his neighbors, people he trusts and enjoys being with.

Our children will experience hardship no matter how hard we try to protect them. They will encounter people who are very different from them no matter the communities we try to keep them in. So while they’re still young, and while we as parents can still offer guidance, support, and a safety net, why shouldn’t we give them the opportunity to be in environments that stretch them?

As a preschooler, my son has already experienced many of the daily realities of the developing world. We have regular power outages in our home; hot water does not come instantly from the tap; our favorite foods regularly disappear from grocery store shelves for weeks at a time. My husband and I, as adults who grew up in the US, feel burdened by these inconveniences. Our child takes them all in stride, excited to use a solar light, turn on the water heater, or try a new food item.

I know that living overseas is not an option for every family. But we can each choose to bring our children to places that expose them to new people and new cultures. We can befriend others that are different from us and take our children with us when we serve those in need.

Such experiences will shape the adults they become. By adolescence they will have already learned that God is faithful and they need not fear the world or the people in it. They can live with courage, emboldened by the experiences they have already had, wherever they end up going.

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Foley’s Faith

A letter from James Foley to Marquette

James Foley, Marquette Magazine, Summer 2014

Marquette University has always been a friend to me. The kind who challenges you to do more and be better and ultimately shapes who you become.

With Marquette, I went on some volunteer trips to South Dakota and Mississippi and learned I was a sheltered kid and the world had real problems. I came to know young people who wanted to give their hearts for others. Later I volunteered in a Milwaukee junior high school up the street from the university and was inspired to become an inner-city teacher. But Marquette was perhaps never a bigger friend to me than when I was imprisoned as a journalist.

Myself and two colleagues had been captured and were being held in a military detention center in Tripoli. Each day brought increasing worry that our moms would begin to panic. My colleague, Clare, was supposed to call her mom on her birthday, which was the day after we were captured. I had still not fully admitted to myself that my mom knew what had happened. But I kept telling Clare my mom had a strong faith.

I prayed she’d know I was OK. I prayed I could communicate through some cosmic reach of the universe to her.

I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.

Clare and I prayed together out loud. It felt energizing to speak our weaknesses and hopes together, as if in a conversation with God, rather than silently and alone.

Later we were taken to another prison where the regime kept hundreds of political prisoners. I was quickly welcomed by the other prisoners and treated well.

One night, 18 days into our captivity, some guards brought me out of the cell. In the hall I saw Manu, another colleague, for the first time in a week. We were haggard but overjoyed to see each other. Upstairs in the warden’s office, a distinguished man in a suit stood and said, “We felt you might want to call your families.”

I said a final prayer and dialed the number. My mom answered the phone. “Mom, Mom, it’s me, Jim.”

“Jimmy, where are you?”

“I’m still in Libya, Mom. I’m sorry about this. So sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Jim,” she pleaded. “Oh, Daddy just left. Oh … He so wants to talk to you. How are you, Jim?” I told her I was being fed, that I was getting the best bed and being treated like a guest.

“Are they making you say these things, Jim?”

“No, the Libyans are beautiful people,” I told her. “I’ve been praying for you to know that I’m OK,” I said. “Haven’t you felt my prayers?”

“Oh, Jimmy, so many people are praying for you. All your friends, Donnie, Michael Joyce, Dan Hanrahan, Suree, Tom Durkin, Sarah Fang have been calling. Your brother Michael loves you so much.” She started to cry. “The Turkish embassy is trying to see you and also Human Rights Watch. Did you see them?” I said I hadn’t.

“They’re having a prayer vigil for you at Marquette. Don’t you feel our prayers?” she asked.

“I do, Mom, I feel them,” and I thought about this for a second. Maybe it was others’ prayers strengthening me, keeping me afloat.

The official made a motion. I started to say goodbye. Mom started to cry. “Mom, I’m strong. I’m OK. I should be home by Katie’s graduation,” which was a month away.

“We love you, Jim!” she said. Then I hung up.

I replayed that call hundreds of times in my head—my mother’s voice, the names of my friends, her knowledge of our situation, her absolute belief in the power of prayer. She told me my friends had gathered to do anything they could to help. I knew I wasn’t alone.

My last night in Tripoli, I had my first Internet connection in 44 days and was able to listen to a speech Tom Durkin gave for me at the Marquette vigil. To a church full of friends, alums, priests, students and faculty, I watched the best speech a brother could give for another. It felt like a best man speech and a eulogy in one. It showed tremendous heart and was just a glimpse of the efforts and prayers people were pouring forth. If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.

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Stand to Reason- What is Faith?

by Greg Koukl

Faith & Wishing

I don’t like the word “faith.”

It’s not that faith isn’t valuable. True biblical faith is essential for salvation. But faith is often deeply misunderstood in a way that hurts Christianity and harms Christians.

Some think that having a level of certainty about the truth of Christianity makes “belief” unnecessary or irrelevant. That kind of knowledge undermines genuine faith and offends God.

The reasoning goes something like this. We all know God wants us to have faith. In fact, without faith, it’s impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). However, gathering evidence for God and Christianity leaves little room for faith. After all, how can one have faith in something he knows is true? Faith, then, is opposed to knowledge. Therefore, apologetics undermines the faith project and thus displeases the Lord.

On this view, faith is believing the unbelievable, clinging to your convictions when all the evidence is against you. Faith is a “leap,” a blind, desperate lunge in the darkness. When doubts or troubles beset us we’re told to “just have faith,” as if we could squeeze out spiritual hope by intense acts of sheer will.

This view of faith reduces Christian conviction to religious wishful thinking. We can hope, but we can never know.

But this will never work. Someone once said, “The heart cannot believe that which the mind rejects.” If you are not confident the message of Scripture is actually true, you can’t believe it even if you tried.

The “I just take Christianity on faith” attitude can’t be the right approach. It leaves the Bible without defense, yet Peter directs us to make a defense for the hope that is in us. (1 Peter 3:15)

Also, the biblical word for faith, pistis, doesn’t mean wishing. It means active trust. And trust cannot be conjured up or manufactured. It must be earned. You can’t exercise the kind of faith the Bible has in mind unless you’re reasonably sure that some particular things are true.

In fact, I suggest you completely ban the phrase “leap of faith” from your vocabulary. Biblical faith is based on knowledge, not wishing or blind leaps. Knowledge builds confidence and confidence leads to trust. The kind of faith God is interested in is not wishing. It’s trust based on knowing, a sure confidence grounded in evidence.

The following biblical examples suffice to make my point.

Blood, Boils, Frogs, and Flies

Israel’s exodus from Egypt was depicted in a clever animated film called “The Prince of Egypt.” After seeing the movie, my wife and I spent time reading the original account in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Though I’d read this passage a number of times, something jumped out at me I hadn’t seen before, a phrase God kept repeating over and over.

Reading the encounter with God at the burning bush, we sense Moses’ reluctance to be God’s deliverer. And it’s understandable. Why would Pharaoh, the most powerful leader in the world, submit to a renegade? Why would two million Hebrew slaves follow a murderer and a defector?

“What if they won’t believe me, or listen to me?” Moses demurred. “What if they say, ‘The Lord hasn’t appeared to you’?”

What God didn’t say in response is as important as what He did say. He didn’t say, “Tell Pharaoh he’s just going to have to trust you on this one. Tell the Hebrews they’ve got to have faith.”

Instead God asked, “What’s that in your hand?”

“A staff,” Moses answered.

“Throw it on the ground.”

So he threw it down, and it became a serpent.

“Stretch out your hand,” the Lord said. “Grab it by the tail.”

Reluctantly, Moses did as he was told. When he grabbed the snake, it became a staff again.

“Do this,” God said, “and then they’ll believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, has appeared to you.”

More signs followed that got the people’s attention: the river of blood and frogs covering the land; the gnats, flies, and locusts; the boils and the pestilence; the hail, the darkness, and finally the angel of death. All for one purpose: “That they might know there is a God in Israel.” This phrase is repeated no less than ten times throughout the account. (Cf., Exodus 6:7, 7:5, 7:17, 8:10, 8:22, 9:14, 9:29, 10:2, 14:4, and 14:18)

What was the result? “And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31).

Note the pattern: a powerful evidence (miracles, in this case), giving the people knowledge of God, in Whom they then placed their faith. Knowledge –some level of certainty—went before belief in each of these cases.

God didn’t ask Pharaoh, the Hebrews, or even Moses for mindless faith, blind leaps, or wishful thinking. He demonstrated His power, giving them good reason to believe, resulting in obedience. First, Pharaoh and the Hebrews were given good reason to know. This then grounded their investment of faith (active trust) in God. (Of course, Pharaoh’s “faith” was not expressed in humble surrender leading to salvation, but in obedience under compulsion. The point is, he was compelled to act based on the unmistakable evidence of God’s power.)

In the animated feature, Miriam sings a song of deliverance which includes the refrain, “There can be miracles when you believe.” But the reality was just the opposite. Miracles didn’t follow belief; they preceded it. Acts of power led to knowledge, which then allowed faith to flourish.

Taking the Easy Way Out?

Fast forward to the New Testament and you’ll find the same pattern in the life of Christ.

In Mark 2, we encounter Jesus speaking to a group gathered in a home in Capernaum. A crowd blocks the front door, keeping a paralytic—being carried by his four friends—from gaining an audience with the Healer. The only way in is from above, so they dig through the earthen roof and lower the deformed man down on a pallet.

Jesus is impressed. Seeing their faith He says to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

His words offend the scribes, though, who grumble among themselves at such an audacious claim. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” they whisper.

Jesus, aware of their complaint, puts a question to them. “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Arise, take up your pallet and walk’?”

How would you respond? If you were in Jesus’ position, would it be easier for you to claim to forgive sins or claim to heal paralysis? The correct answer is it’s always easier to boast about something no one can check up on than to claim to have supernatural powers and be put to the test.

Jesus knew it looked like He was taking the easy way out, until His next remark: “But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then turned to the paralytic—”I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” Then, in the sight of everyone, the paralytic got up and got out.

Jesus gives us the same lesson we find in Exodus. He proves something that can’t be seen—the forgiveness of sins—with evidence that can be seen—a dramatic healing. Jesus heals “in order that you may know.” Once again, the concrete evidence allows the doubters to know the truth so they can then trust in the forgiveness Christ could give.

The Apostle Peter

On to the book of Acts and Peter’s dramatic sermon on Pentecost. The crowd is both amazed and bewildered at the manifestations of the Spirit they see with their own eyes.

Peter takes his stand before the throng. It isn’t intoxication they witness , he tells them, but inspiration, prophecy being fulfilled in their midst by the hand of God. He recounts that Jesus—even though attested to by miracles, signs, and wonders—had been murdered at the hands of godless men. Death couldn’t hold Him in the grave, though. He has risen. Not only did King David himself foretell such a thing; Peter and the rest of the disciples had witnessed the risen Christ themselves. The promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, was now being poured out in a way that Peter’s entire audience could see and hear.

He closes with a statement tailor-made for all those who think that certainty somehow diminishes genuine faith: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)

When the crowd hears the evidence—the miracles, the fulfilled prophecy, the witnesses of the resurrection, the powerful manifestations of the Spirit in their midst—the people are pierced to the heart. They are convinced of their error, they know the truth, and thousands believe, putting their trust in the Savior.

Hear, See, Handle, Believe

The Beloved Disciple brings it all together for us in 1 John. He opens his letter with the evidence of his own eyewitness encounter with Christ. Notice how many senses he appeals to:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also….

Then he closes his letter like this:
by Greg KouklAnd the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

To John, faith wasn’t a blind leap. It wasn’t wishing on a star. It was grounded in evidence that led to knowledge. It was certain.

The record is clear from the Old Testament, to the Gospels, from the very beginnings of the early church, to the epistles of the apostles: Biblical faith isn’t wishing, it’s confidence. It’s not denying reality, but discovering reality. It’s a sense of certainty grounded in evidence that Christianity is true—not just “true for me,” but actually, fully, and completely true.

Spiritual growth involves increasing our knowledge and our certainty of God. So there are two things here: first knowledge, and second confidence in what we know.

How do we increase confidence? Wish harder? Hope against hope? Stop our ears to the sounds of the critics without, and ignore the doubts of the agnostic within? This will never work, because confidence cannot be fabricated. It must be earned. As you gather substantiating evidence, your confidence grows automatically and your faith is deepened.

Faith is not about wishing, but about confidence, and the facts make the difference. You get a hold of the facts, you study, you learn—even a little—and you’ll realize you’re not just wishing on a star about eternal things. You’ll realize Christianity is really true.

And that changes everything.

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