Faith Cometh By Hearing

Romans 10:17 is a very significant verse that we dare not limit or narrowly bind its implications.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

When I used to read this verse, an image of pews and podium popped up into my mind.  Teaching may be a part of this process of hearing, but the idea here is much bigger than that. Teachers do not all teach the same thing and that can be troublesome to the extent that people get discouraged trying to get to know God. I know from experience.

The key is in understanding the word 'hearing'. The fact that it is used twice in an almost melodious way is beautiful. The word 'hearing' is translated from the Greek word 'akoe'. In Hebrew it has the sense of hearing to hear. It implies attentive hearing to the word of God.

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5

Asking for help from God brings great rewards. Instead of praying for specific needs, try praying to understand the truth about God and his son. Prayer involves listening.  It is two-way. You cannot trust anyone unless you first listen attentively.  Your brain must receive information and process it.  Faith is not mindless. True understanding can only come when we are actively engaged in learning what God is all about. Everything else will fall into place.

A good understanding about the gift of holy spirit is also important. The holy spirit is key in teaching us God's Word. Christ and the holy spirit are tied together. That is also how Christ is tied to us. He is the way to God.  God who is spirit (John 4:24) is over all.  God's spirit is with Christ and that spirit has been made available to us.  We are one with God as Christ is one with God.

9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

Several of the earlier Greek texts translate the 'word of God' in this verse as the 'word of Christ'. The context of this chapter in Romans and the book of Romans in general,  explains what God has done through his son Jesus Christ:

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me John 17:21

18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:18

We need to understand who Jesus Christ is if he is to be our Lord. The subject of the Bible is Jesus Christ.  He is foreshadowed in the Old Testament and his record as he walked this earth is in the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  His resurrection and what he is doing now and in the future is recorded in the rest of the Bible. This is the 'word of Christ'. How can you make Jesus Christ Lord if you don't get what he is all about.

When this all works together it is powerful but it takes trust on our part to benefit.  The more we learn about God and Jesus Christ accurately will build trust and we will see the results of that trust. Faith is not blind.

Power, Love and Sound Thinking

There is no power that is completely sure, reliable, and 100% efficient other than the power of God. The power that God gives is quite different from any other power on this earth.

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I Timothy 1:7

God's power is accompanied by love and sound thinking. God spells out all three in his Word. The Word provides the basis for what is truth.  Truth brings us to power, love and sound thinking if we so choose.

Our world is filled with contradictions to the truth of God's Word. People adapt things that they like to believe, instead of seeing the heart of God and trusting in his infinite wisdom. Truth is what God is; love is what God is and the Word is God:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Contradictions are everywhere. Contradictions are always interlaced with truth. Recently in the news there were some blatant examples of this in regards to life after death. Honestly I have no idea where purgatory, limbo and other unsubstantiated beliefs come from except out of the minds of men. The Word is pretty simple on this topic:

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent(go before) them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

According to the Word of God, 'Aunt Sally' who died  a while ago, is not sitting on a cloud awaiting others to join her. Aunt Sally is 'asleep' awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians explains what will happen to Aunt Sally when Christ returns someday in the clouds. He will give a shout (!) and there will be the trumpet of God and good old Aunt Sally will awake and be joined by all other Christians to be with the Lord forever. (I Corinthians 15 sheds more light on this) This is the genuine comfort of God in knowing the truth. It is power, love and sound thinking.

God's Word is the true comfort of our lives:

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth 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.

There's Love and Then There's Love

It is easy to say "I love you", but what does that mean? You could ask a variety of people and it might get a lot of different answers. There are all sorts of theories about love. Human love has a variety of colors and shades.

You could also ask God since he is the author of love.  God's love is talked about in detail in the Word of God. There is no mistaking the love of God when one experiences it first-hand. It is very different from the world's conception of love:

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. I Corinthians 13:1-3

Wow, there are some statements in the verses above that sound very loving! This whole section is talking about the love of God as it permeates people's hearts. The love of God has a recognizable set of tools:

4 Charity suffereth long (King Jimmy language meaning ''having a long fuse') and is kind (not a gossip, nor mean, snarky or a busybody); charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself (lifting oneself above others), is not puffed up,

Each of us have our own individual qualities, we are not to compare our lives with others. To do so  denies the very essence of what God is all about. When we size ourselves up by others, all hell abounds!

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly (stay in one's lane), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (does not lay guilt and shame at people's feet); 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity ('aha I gotcha', but rejoiceth in the truth (truth is an integral part of love); 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

Everything else is false love. The worldly kind of love ultimately brings people down. It may carry expectations that might herald guilt and condemnation and the pointing of fingers down the road. God's love brings people up and empowers them.  It lifts us up and out of the mud and darkness. Worldly love has potholes and traps, that trip people up. God's love is freedom and peace. It never disappoints:

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

We are constantly growing in our lives and we mature as we take on values that are sure and unfailing. If we continue to look to God for our answers, he is ready, willing and able to provide them.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 

When you see it you will know it.

Exclusion and Significance

There are two ways that the world wears down people in relationships.  People can either feel excluded (feel like they don't belong) or if included, shamed and relegated to an insignificant position. God does neither. It is important to understand that when a person feels either way in their relationship with God, something is amiss.

Nobody gets missed by God in John 3:16:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Nobody is diminished in God's eyes either. We have release from condemnation and guilt :

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption (sonship), whereby we cry, Abba, Father.16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

'The Spirit' bears witness to our 'spirit'.  Those who have believe Jesus as Lord and all God provided through His son, receive the gift of holy spirit. We can no more be pushed around if we clearly understand what this means:

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6

This where our significance really lies. It is our confidence. We no longer have to bow to the current tide of human error and culture as we look to God who so richly supplies.  We can be lifted in a good way to reflect the goodness of God and love others in the same manner. They may not recognize that kind of love right away because it runs counter to the world, but God's love produces results, it does not return void.

Freewill Choice Again

In I Samuel 8, God told Samuel to listen to the people that were asking for a king to to rule over them. They had specifically said, " Give us a king to judge us." (I Samuel 8:6). Samuel prayed to God and God said they were rejecting him and not Samuel. They didn't want God to reign over them. Additionally, God wanted Samuel to warn them what would happen if they had a king:

10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” I Samuel 8:10-18

The Hebrews had decided that the 'king' system was what thy needed. They moved away from a theocracy (being governed by God)  and put their trust in the the way the nations around them functioned. That kind of power usually corrupts. Money power and prestige lures rulers away from what's best for the people. They start living for themselves. It was not so for Samuel. Samuel told them what would happen and they answered:

19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

God had Samuel lay it out before them and gave them the opportunity to choose. The results were not God's fault, the blame squarely lay on the shoulders of the people.  God gave them freewill choice. There is no blaming God for any misfortune; nor was Samuel to blame. God loves his people and does not want them hurt and forgives them when they are sorry, but if people don't listen, there is nothing he can do.

Listen, Stretch Out and Keep

Proverbs 4:20-22  My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

The word 'attend' in this verse is pretty straightforward.  It means simply: to listen. God wants us to listen to his words and sayings.

In the book of first Samuel, the children of Israel did not always listen to God.  God spoke to them through the judge Samuel. In the Old Testament that is the way it worked. People did not have the spirit of God working in them and so often they did not recognize God's workings. When they were frustrated by the Philistines attacks on them they went to Samuel for help:

8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. I Samuel 7:8

Samuel spoke the word to them and sometimes they listened and carried out what was necessary to defeat the enemy.  When they succeeded in thwarting the Philistines, Samuel set up a monument and called it Eben-ezer or 'stone of help' as a reminder of what God can do for his people. Reminders are always good if we want to pay attention to them.

The word 'incline' means to stretch out, extend or bend.  There is some effort involved in getting to know God's words. God's victories just don't drop out of the sky. However, his words energize the right actions in our hearts to apply to any situation.

In I Samuel 8:4-8, Israel decided they needed something else other than a judge (oops) to rule over Israel. They decided they wanted a king like all the nations around them:

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

Under the new agreement with God in the New Testament we have the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord.  We are connected to him via the spirit. He isn't literally seated at the right hand of God, he is figuratively at the right hand of God. 'Figuratively' is a metaphor to make a point.  He literally is the Lord of the people called out in Christ. He is not just sitting up high on some cloud waiting for some future event. He is God's right-hand man. He is at work in us, with us and among us. He is building his church, but his church is not a building made out of mortar and brick. It's the group people who love God. It is his church (singular).

When Israel followed the examples of the cultures around them and acquired a king, they rejected God. Today we push aside the gods of the culture (and there are many) to follow Jesus Christ, through the Word and with the connection line of the gift of holy spirit. That is the way God has set it up. To understand how this works we need to attend and incline our ears to God's Word. We have all the resources to do that.

FaceTime with God

When you really savor the words of the Lord's Prayer (sometimes called the Our Father), you realize its beauty.  It is actually recorded in scripture in two places (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4),  and therefore is special:

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread.12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

I remember being in one church and praying the Lord's prayer  where the 'Amen' was after the word 'evil' and then being in another church where the 'Amen came after the for ever.  Sometimes people use 'trespass' instead of debt, some use 'heavens' in one place instead of heaven.  Regardless, looking at the heart of what is being said in this verse, we can see that Jesus was teaching people how to go face to face with God in prayer (prosuche in Greek). We are to approach him as a Father and he is a Father that knows everything we need before we ask him.

'Hallowed' means special and holy; we approach our Father respectfully. We don't have to complain or murmur. God not only is able to bless us, he is willing.

 In the Greek translation, the first 'heaven' is actually plural. The heavens include the earth. The earth is suspended in the heavens.  God is not a distant God.  Many people view him that way but he is as close as our breath. He is all around us. We are engulfed in his creation.

Just as manna was provided for the children of Israel in the wilderness, God provides for us today, spiritually as well as mentally and physically. For all that he give us in these categories, we probably should owe him, but he has forgiven our lack or debts in all three categories. That's a lot to shout about and realizing it keeps us tender towards others.

Verse 13 has come into the theological news lately.  For many years people downplayed the devil and his role on this earth. Evil exists, BUT God doesn't lead us into it!

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: James 1:13

He delivers us out of evil as we pray. It is an important aspect of prayer that we need to recognize.

This prayer taught by Jesus was not supposed to be memorized and repeated over and over. (look up verse 7 to see the context)  It was an example of how people could talk to God in prayer. This is how we do FaceTime with God.

I Samuel 6

I Samuel 6
After the Philistines took the ark of God, they moved it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. It was set in the house of Dagon, a Philistine god. I guess they thought "the more the merrier'. According to the text, they sat the Ark right next to Dagon. The next day they found Dagon flat on his face in front of the Ark. The day after that, the same thing happened, only worse. Poor Dagon broke in various places and people were then afraid to visit the house of Dagon.

Wherever the ark went problems occurred so much so they decided to give it back to the Israelites. They kept the ark of 7 months and even when they decided to give it back, they still wanted to leave the option open to keep the trophy. They concocted a plan to find out if the things that had befallen them were punishment by God or just coincidences of life. God is all good and no darkness exists in Him at all.  These idolaters reaped the consequences of their own doings in my opinion.  Evil is as much punishment in and of itself.

They got two oxen who had never been yoked and who had just had baby calves. They made a cart for these oxen to pull and loaded the ark of God up on it. They sent the oxen on down the road. The calves were sent back to their pen. They reasoned that if the oxen went toward a certain Israelite town called Beth-shemesh; then God was returning the ark and they were under the judgement of God.  If the oxen naturally turned back home towards their calves then it was just the happenstance of life.

The oxen went towards the Israelite city. There was still trouble when the ark arrived in the Beth-shemesh.  The people there sent the ark on to Kirath-jearim, which was farther away from the Philistine border. There it remained for 20 years. The people of Israel cried out to God. Why were they constantly being attacked by idolaters?

 In I Samuel 7: 3-4 Samuel speaks to them about what needed to be done:

3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.

Not only were the Philistines having problems, so were the Hebrews. Samuel speaks about strange gods like Baalim and Ashtaroth. The Hebrews had mixed it up with pagan religion and adopted some of the beliefs of their pagan neighbors. Because of this, they didn't have the clarity and strength to believe that God would deliver them.

This is a great lesson for today. People seek justification of their ways similar to the oxen test. If people who love God start going along with beliefs and practices that are contrary the words of God, they water down their believing, become comfortable with and accept misery as a happenstance of the coincidences of life. The way out of this type of watering down is simply sticking with God by focusing on Him.

Proverbs 4:20-22My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

This is the only way to live a victorious, powerful life. Yes, life happens, but it is our response to it that determines what comes of it. The more we go to God the greater the results.

The Philistines and Defeat

As Samuel was continuing to hear  from God, the Philistines decided to attack Israel. The elders of Israel decided that they needed to take the Ark of the Covenant to war with them, thinking they were carrying the Lord of Hosts with them into battle. The Ark was not magical or a lucky charm. They didn't need the Ark to have God in on the battle.

3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. I Samuel 4:3

"It MAY? save us"?? Did these guys ask God? What about Samuel? The elders decided what to do. In addition, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were with the Ark. In chapter 2:12 the word describes these two guys:

12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial (worthless and lawless); they knew not the Lord. I Samuel 2:12

The name for God, Lord of Hosts, describes God as the head of his spiritual armies.  It implies God's protections, care and oversight. The moves of God in this world do not automatically bring peace. They often rile up those who would rather not have God involved. God-sent armies, however, are always successful. After the Ark was captured, the Philistines considered it a great battle trophy.  Without humility and and the desire to listen to what God has in mind, the Ark was just an Ark.

By the same logic, a church is just a building without a humble, truthful, respectful love for God (church). Symbols, icons, images, religious practices mean nothing in and of themselves. The relationship we have with God is one of the heart that rests in truth.

Sense of Justice

The Lord of Hosts (Sabaoth) is used twice in the New Testament: Romans 9:29 (where it is a quote from Isaiah 1:9 ) and in James 5:4.  In the Old Testament, this name of God is used the most frequently of all the names of God. It describes God as the Lord of armies, heavenly and earthly. It symbolizes protection for God's remnant. It implies justice and defense of right.

We can have innate knowledge of justice because of the spirit of God that lives within us. We can sense injustice and foul play.  Our response should be deferring to the wisdom of God as he knows all the ins and outs of what is going on  and how it all works together.  There are a lot of things we just don't see. Things can be quite complicated and interwoven. God truly can sort it all out.

Have you ever been walking in the woods and found yourself in the midst of a garden of poison ivy. It is not an event that you should thrash your way out of or by stomping all over it to beat it down. This kind of dilemma requires thought and wisdom to effect minimal contact with the toxic leaves.

When our sense of justice is aroused, we must cling to the wisdom of God as our extractor. Our best line of defense is to do as Hannah did when she was dealing with a miserable environment.  She prayed. The septuagint uses the Greek word 'proseuche' for prayer and it is a common word for prayer throughout the Word of God. 'Pros' refers to a 'face to face' encounter and 'euche' is a 'speaking (out loud or in the mind) a desire'. The Greek word illustrates beautifully the remedy to any situation of oppression. We talk face to face with God.
Philippians 4:6-8:

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer (proseuche) and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Today's world is full of injustice.  It rattles it saber at us all day long in one way or another.  There are times we are called upon by God to deal with it (like I Samuel 17 and David) and there are times to wait (Hannah)and we do that in peace. Whether we act or wait, we fly snuggled under the wings of the Almighty for he is the Lord of Hosts.

Happy New Year!