A growing faith

Faith by itself is insufficient.  Before you pass out or hit the escape button let me explain.  Whether my blog or someone else’s is followed, or a thousand sermons heard, or one reads through the Bible a hundred times, if action is not put into our faith it will be insufficient.

How can I say this?  Peter said the same thing when he wrote, “In view of all this*, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Prior to those verses Peter reminds his audience, *“God has given us everything we need for living a godly life by his divine power when we come to know him.  He has given us great and precious promises that enable us to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”  (2 Peter 1:3-4) 

Faith was not meant to be a onetime experience, it was meant to be lived daily which equals action.   I, as well as you, have heard people say, “I wish I had faith like____.”  I can almost guarantee the ones being admired for their faith have had occurrences in their lives upon which they have had to add to their faith with what Peter suggests.

Faith will never grow in a vacuum.  Each supplement Peter talks about requires action and interaction with others.

A growing faith looks like this:  “The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:8)

A dormant faith looks like this:  “But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9)

Which faith will you choose today, growing or dormant?

Solid foundation

“Honey you just got the rug pulled out from underneath you.” As a little girl I used to think this was a rather strange saying. How could someone pull a rug out from underneath me while I was standing on it?

As I grew up and lived life I realized the meaning of this saying: the unexpected will come into our lives and unless our footing is secure the very foundation we stand upon will be pulled out from underneath us and usually without warning.

When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” could Jesus have been saying the same thing? Peter’s answer, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-20) Peter was declaring the very foundation he would be standing on from that day forward. At times, he didn’t understand it, maybe didn’t always live it, but the foundation was being built with every word, every experience, everything he witnessed walking alongside Jesus.

Verse 21 says, “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many terrible things...” Jesus couldn’t tell them the horrendous things he was about to experience until they had discovered for themselves the foundation they would not only stand upon but lay their very lives down for. That foundation was and is today solid and unwavering; nothing can destroy or change it.

The same question begs an answer from us today. Who do we say the Son of Man is? Our answer becomes the foundation upon which we stand during good times and what supports and keeps us from falling during rough times. Any foundation that is not solid, not built upon the truth of who Jesus is, will collapse at the first tremor. There is no storm the truth of God cannot weather yet remain solid through.

Paul gave witness to this foundation. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
(2Cor 4:7-9) Isaiah said, “In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure.” (Isaiah 33:6)
These are truths we can stand upon.

So, who do you say the Son of Man is? Who or what is the foundation you stand upon and is it safe?