04/25/2018
We begin our journey with Jesus by believing in God because if we have no faith in the Father then how could we possibly believe in His Son? Then, as our faith in God increases, and we believe the scripture is His Word regarding our existence with Him, we see the prophesy of the coming Messiah and find the promise of Christ. Every Jew in the day of Jesus made it this far, but it is here that they were separated; some believing that the scriptures were alive, and some that they were at best stagnant, and that they would remain in eternal expectation of a Messiah who, although prophesied, would never be accepted by them to have come. In what state is your faith? How far has your belief come? Where is it going?
“to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'”
Acts 26:18 ESV
These are the words that the apostle Paul spoke to King Agrippa as he defended his faith, mission, and life. He argued that the Jews who wanted to kill him desired to do so because of his belief that the very thing every Jew trusted as truth had come to be... the Messiah had arrived. Today we must make that same leap of faith. We must take our foundational belief in a creator, in God, and extend it into the scripture, and then into the truth that His Son has come to redeem us, and once again deliver man in purity to God. It is by this faith we are sanctified... made Holy by the Father.
So we must each do exactly what was being done in the time of Jesus... we have to determine how far into the journey of our faith we are willing to go before we say stop. Do we believe in a creator? Do we believe in the scripture? Do we believe God had a Son? Do we believe His Son suffered and died that we might live? Do we believe in Grace? Do we believe all of this was done because God love’s and has a plan for us? Do we believe in these things enough to make them the focus of our life?
On the road to Damascus Paul went from believing in God, and in the scripture to realizing in a flash, that knocked him to the ground, that the God he had long believed in had a Son, and that this Son was Jesus Christ. He now believed that his Jewish faith was not stagnant and that the Messiah wasn’t a perpetual hope or dream... but had come.
“"Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”
Acts 26:19-20 ESV
On the road to Damascus, Paul came to the belief that his faith was alive, and that the Messiah had come in the form of Jesus; he also believed that it had’t reached its conclusion on the cross at Calvary. He began living his life in the midst of a faith that was vibrantly alive, and continued it by breathing in Jesus fresh each day!
So here is the question we face, and it is the same one that confronted Saul of Tarsus (Paul) on the road to Damascus... and every other Jew of that time... is our faith alive? If we continue this reasoning then we must determine if our journey stops with our belief in the redemption of Jesus, or if we walk through Calvary, and past our own Damascus. Are we living and breathing Jesus fresh each day?
Where in faith am I? Am I like the Jews who jeered Jesus on the way to the cross thinking that the Messiah had not come? Am I reading the prophesy of the second coming, and the book of Revelation over and over again, but not really believing that my hopes are alive, and that today is the day Jesus returns? Is my faith stagnant, and perhaps dead? Could it be possible that before my next breath I will see the clouds part, and Jesus descend... or is this all just faded scripture, and a prophesy I speak of but am never really committed to in my faith? How far has my faith come, and is it alive and continuing the journey?
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for fulfilling in Jesus the prophesy of the coming Messiah, and for showing us all that the story of our faith continues to live and breathe. Thank you Father for the hope and anticipation I have in my prayers today, and encourage me as I long for your Son Jesus to return once again to claim me. Holy Father, thank you for the breath of my faith that is always fresh in me, and the pilgrimage I am on through this life... each step bringing an affirmation of life to your Word. Lift me up Father, and through your Holy Spirit teach me righteousness in Christ. As I take each step let me hear the sound of it, and know that My faith is alive. Help me to trust in your Word, and in my understanding that it is indeed alive, and has breath within it. Never let me slip into apathy, but strengthen my anticipation and let joy rule my life of faith for eternity. You are my God, and your Son my redeemer... now, and forever more. Praised be your name as it thrives eternally.
“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isaiah 57:15 ESV
Rich Forbes