12/23/2018
How do you believe? Do you believe because you have leaned on your own understanding, and reasoned Jesus Christ to be true, or do you believe because your heart has led you to him? Faith and belief that flow from our own reasoning places God in the realm of man, but faith and belief welling up into us out of the depths of our hearts is delivered from the realm of God through Jesus Christ. Who rules your faith?
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
John 16:13 ESV
In the Garden of Eden we chose knowledge over life, and from that moment to this reason has ruled us. It has ruled us to such a degree that it had to be brought into submission before we could be saved. God reasoned with us, He presents us with two alternatives... submit to His will by obedience and live, or keep a firm hold on the world, man’s reason, and die.
“"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."”
Isaiah 1:18-20 ESV
Jesus called His disciples without reason... He said...
“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 4:18-20 ESV
No debate, no reasoning, just the welling up from their hearts. I have heard sermons preached that say there was just something about Jesus which drew the disciples, and that is true... life... as exhibited by the Holy Spirit that surrounded Him. Listen to this thought by Andrew Murray...
“When truth enters the heart of man, as God desires it to, it becomes the life of the human spirit. If it only touched the outward life - the intellect and the reason- it becomes nothing more than human argument and wisdom that never really influences the life of the spirit.” - Andrew Murray
Jesus still calls us the same way today. We aren’t meant to know God by our own understanding, but to be taught of Him by Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Listen as Jesus calls out to us, and promises to teach us. First comes His life within us... then we learn.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Jesus never engages in a verbal argument as to who He is, and when pressed on the point He simply says that we should know Him by what He does in and around us... if we can’t do this, if we can’t believe based on what we hear and feel, then we are not His. Listen...
“So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”
John 10:24-26 ESV
What I am saying here is that we can’t come to faith by our intellect... we must clear it from the path that our heart is attempting to travel. Even C.S. Lewis had to move aside the roadblocks of his intellect before his heart was free to believe... to grasp life. Some think we are reasoning faith, but we can’t reason what we can’t see, we can only clear away the obstructions that keep us from feeling it.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV
Are you still wrestling with the roadblocks in your life that bar your way from knowing God, from believing that He sent His Son Jesus to redeem us, from accepting the Holy Spirit into your being? Perhaps you have, by your own intellect and reason, declared God to exist through archaeology or some other form of human knowledge... but have you opened your heart and met Him? Have you answered the call of Christ because there is just something about Him... something intangible, and unable to be weighed? Keep wrestling until you realize that you are grappling with vapor, and that all that you have reasoned to be so firm was simply mist. Then lay all those things aside and follow Him.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 3:5-7 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to redeem me. Thank you for rescuing me from the understanding of you that Adam and Eve felt they could possess, and that would make them as you are. Thank you for revealing through your Son, that the true strength in the Garden was the tree of life, and that even if we were able to set aside the fall that came from eating of the knowledge of good and evil, we made the wrong choice. Thank you for sending life in Jesus to defeat the sin in me, and to place the knowledge of the world that I have so diligently pursued in its proper place. Thank you for the heart within me that longs for you, and my spirit that cries out in groans and utterances guided by your Holy Spirit, which was breathed upon me. Jesus is the life that once stood in Eden, help me Father to throw off the poor choice that was made all those years ago, and to follow Him back to you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who has never let go the love He has for me. Holy is your Sin Jesus who calls out to my heart and soul to follow, and leads me to you. Praised be your name Merciful Father, for great is your grace through Christ my Lord.
“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."”
John 14:6-7 ESV
Rich Forbes