Pray and Never Give Up

Luke 18: 1 - 8 (NIV): Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off ? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

     This is a rare parable in the Bible because Luke tells us what it's about before Jesus tells it. Perhaps this is because God really wants to make sure we understand this one. God would rather us pray than anything else. We were created to have a relationship with him and prayer is how we do it.
    Too many times we pray once or twice, then give up if we don't feel we have our answer. Jesus told this story to show us that we must never give up. When we keep asking we prove that we really do have faith. We give up so quickly because we don't believe he really will answer. I firmly believe that God allows situations in our lives for the sole purpose of keeping us in prayer. He wants us to depend on him instead of ourselves.
    If you are praying about something and feel you need a boost of power or faith, try adding fasting. Fasting humbles us before God and shows him that we are serious. The hunger pains remind us to pray and allow us to sacrifice, identifying with Christ. So keep praying and never give up. Show God that you believe in what he says. And like the widow in our story, keep asking until you get your answer.

When God Says No

2 Corinthians 12: 7 - 9 (NIV): To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

    Something was causing Paul great pain. We don't know what it was, although some early church fathers said it was headaches perhaps caused by malaria. This is interesting because it means that Paul had physical troubles, just like we do, and yet God chose not to heal him. Paul said God would not heal him because he wanted him to depend on God and not become full of pride because of the revelations he had been given.  

    But didn't Paul have enough faith to be healed? Of course he did. Paul even healed others. Doesn't God want his children happy? Of course, but mostly he wants us mature and like Christ, and that comes through trials, suffering and perseverance. God's answer to Paul was that his grace was sufficient to sustain him through life. Sometimes God heals us and sometimes he gives us the grace to endure. But everything is for a reason and God is always up to something good.

    But if we are righteous enough, won't God always say yes to our prayers? No, consider Jesus in the garden. God said no to him and believe me, Jesus was righteous enough. God told David no when David wanted to build God's temple. God had another plan in mind. Jesus told James and John's mother no when she asked if they could sit beside him in his kingdom. Jesus said she was off base in her request. James says God tells us no when our motives are wrong. 

     We must remember that God is God. We ask and we ask believing, but we leave the results to God and depend on him no matter his answer.

Being Joyful in Trials

James 1: 2 - 8 (NIV): 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

    What if the Bible said we would never experience hardship once we became followers of Christ? We would know it is not true. But, instead, it says we will face trials and have trouble. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). 

   James tells us here that the trials we face are for a reason: They make us mature, they make us like Christ. I wish there was a shortcut to maturity, but there just isn't. Jesus was familiar with suffering and we will be too if we belong to him. God allows trials because they increase our perseverance and our faith. This is why we can be joyful, even in hard times, because we know we are becoming more and more like Christ. It's painful at the time, but it is reassuring to know that everything is working for our own good, even if we don't understand it at the time.

    Wisdom is the practical use of knowledge. Being wise will take us far in life and we get wisdom from God. James says to ask God for it and we will receive it. But it takes faith to believe God will answer. The stronger our faith, then, the more we will be able to ask from God and receive it. This is why we can be joyful when God is building our faith.

Go for the Gold!

1 Corinthians 9: 24 - 27 (NIV): 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

    Paul is not talking about earning our salvation or keeping it by works, he's talking about being the best Christian we can be. Pushing ourselves to be more and more like Christ. He uses the illustration of a race. It takes hard work to win a race and it takes hard work to push ourselves to be the best followers of Christ we can be.

     I have enjoyed watching the remarkable athletes in this year's Winter Olympics. They do things I didn't know were possible. I didn't know a person could jump backward off of a ramp going down a ski hill, then continue to the next ramp backward and jump off of it too, spinning in the air and landing perfectly upright and backward. I would kill myself if I tried that. And they do get hurt at times, but they are dedicated. They train and practice hour after hour, over and over again. They are disciplined. They get up and keep going. Paul says in Philippians 3, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize.”

     The winner may only beat his competition by a milli-second, so he must push himself. He must be focused on the prize and not get distracted. And he must know the rules and follow them so he is not disqualified. Jesus says we are wise if we hear him and do what he says. In your walk with Christ, don't be ordinary. Go for the gold!

The Goal of Your Faith

1 Peter 1: 3 - 9 (NIV): 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We've been born again. Peter says God has given us a living, dynamic hope that carries us each and every day. It's a hope that we will be resurrected, just like Jesus was. It is a hope that this life is not all there is. We have glimpsed paradise, but we know we are not there yet. Because of God's mercy and Jesus' sacrifice, we will reach paradise again. And it is kept safe by God's power. He's not going to lose us or forget about us.

    For now, though, we have to suffer sometimes. Peter says these trials make our faith stronger. Faith isn't faith until we use it. If we never needed faith, how would we know it was real? And if we never used our faith, it would never get stronger so we could handle more and more. Faith is like a muscle; we have to use to make it stronger. And a strong faith brings glory to God.

    Peter undoubtedly remembered Jesus' words, that we are blessed if we believe in Jesus, even though we don't see him. That's what faith is. Peter got to see Jesus, but he realized we didn't. He said we are blessed if we believe based on the apostle's testimony and our own faith. And one day we will receive the goal of that faith, salvation.

The Fall of Man

Genesis 3: 4 - 7 (NIV): 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

  Why didn't God just make everything wonderful from the start? Why all the suffering, death, frustration and separation? He did. He created us to live in paradise, but paradise was lost. One day it will be restored, but for now we live in a fallen world.

     God knew all along that we would choose knowledge over blissful ignorance. We had to. We had to because God didn't create us to be puppets, robots or pets, he created us to be his children. But the knowledge of good and evil cost us our innocence and it caused a lifespan of suffering, mixed with moments of great pleasure and satisfaction. We live with the hope of paradise - and with tastes of it, but the knowledge that we are not there yet.

     Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they fell for it. He attacked them where they were most vulnerable and that's what he still does. He never fights fair. Adam should have protected his wife, but failed to do so. Notice the passage says he was with her. Eve should have obeyed what God told her and not listened to temptation. They were equally guilty and they were both cast from the garden of paradise. 

    I'm glad the Bible doesn't end here. Instead it tells us how we can return to paradise by allowing Jesus to remove the curse and restore us to fellowship with God. The serpent struck Jesus' heal, but Jesus crushed its head. Paradise is ours for the taking, but we can only go back to it by faith.

The Lost Sheep

Luke 15: 1 - 7 (NIV): 1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

    This story tells us a lot about God's character. He loves everyone. He isn't judgmental, but instead, goes after those who are lost from him or who have strayed from him. He, like any good father or shepherd, wants us to be found and safe. The Pharisees thought Jesus should shun sinners if he really was the Christ, but they were wrong. Jesus said he came to save that which was lost. 

    He told this parable to show how God feels about sinners and lost people. A shepherd would actively seek after one lost sheep. The shepherd, Jesus said, would in fact leave the ninety-nine and search for the lost one. That's God's attitude -- he doesn't want to lose even one person. And it thrills his heart when a lost person comes to him and is saved. God's heart is for evangelism and always has been. Ours should be too. We should be concerned about people all around us who have never found Christ, or who have strayed away and need to be found again.

    Jesus wasn't tempted by the "sinners" who came to hear him, instead he had compassion on them. He loved them just as they were, but he loved them too much to let them stay that way. He wasn't celebrating their sinfulness, but was calling them to repentance. That's what pleases God and it should please us too.