simple faith – Page 6 – Alaska Bible Teacher

No Doctor Could Heal Me

A woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all she had on doctors and yet could not be healed by any, approached from behind and touched the end of his robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.”

Luke 8:43-45

(Matthew 9:20-22)

I just had to touch Him. I had to reach out and somehow get His attention. It was no longer an option. I bled all the time and it wouldn’t stop. It was constant, and it had been 12 miserable years. No one or nothing could cure this, no doctor, no medicine. I was so desperate. It had to stop, you must understand, I was dying.

I had spent so much money on so many doctors.

I had nothing left. Each doctor promised a cure and my hopes were always dashed. But then I heard about a teacher named Jesus, I was told He had the power to raise the dead and heal every disease He encountered. I don’t really know why, but instantly I knew only He could heal me.

I had an issue of blood, that meant I was ritually unclean and all that I touched became unclean. The temple was off-limits to me, I had been cut off from sacrifice and any kind of personal forgiveness for my sins. In my darker moments, I really wondered if God really had forsaken me? Was I damned?

After all, it had been 12 long years.

What I had to do must be done secretly and quietly. I knew I just somehow had to touch this man. I would have to wriggle my way through the crowd to get close enough. I would be violating ritual law and if I got caught and I’d be harshly censured and condemned. I was unclean and I knew only He could change that.

And I was always tired. Sometimes I barely could walk without feeling faint.

The crowds were packed all around Him, but honestly, I knew all I needed was just a simple touch. I knew Jesus had the power. I just knew it. I needed somehow to get close enough; I knew that everything depended on me somehow connecting with Him.

So I waited and watched. I tried to jockey myself and get in the right position. The crowds were tightly surrounding Jesus, I had to push, drive and squeeze. Sometimes I had to get on my hands and knees. But in that split second when He passed, I just managed to grab just the very outside corner of the tassel of His head covering.

And immediately the flow stopped. Just like that! I felt it inside, and immediately knew what happened. Finally I knew, deep down, I had been healed! I was clean.

_____

Please understand dear one, only Jesus can free you. If you can only reach out and touch Him, He will change you– forever.

“Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease He cannot heal; no sin He cannot remove; no trouble He cannot help.”

James H. Aughey

Walking With Him in The Garden

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“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the manand his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.”

Genesis 3:8

I honestly have never had the wonderful experience of strolling a lush garden with my Father. At least not totally. But when I’m engaging the Word, pressing in to comprehend a passage, it’s as if I’m truly walking in His orchard with Jesus.

But there is something more to this.

This word “pardes” is also an acronym. The rabbis taught that there are four levels of understanding as we peer into a passage.

P’shat–the surface or literal meaning of a verse or passage.
Remez– the symbolic or applied reason of the Word. How it connects with my daily life.
Drash–how it fits into other parts of the Bible, forming a purposeful teaching.
Sod–a hidden meaning that resides “underneath” the verse. This seems when the Holy Spirit gets really involved in the way I live. (Some would say “mystical.)

Now I’m not sure that every passage reaches the “sod” level. (Maybe we’re not really aware?)

When we truly study God’s Word it’s as we walk in the garden. He reveals Himself to us. The Genesis story shows us where we can find Him. The important thing I suppose is trying to hide from God’s presence. We can’t.

We must come to our Father, and learn to walk with Him. The Bible is the best way to fellowship with Him.

“Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:9

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If You Really Want to Worship, Use a Knife

In Biblical hermeneutics, the ‘Law of First Mention‘ is used. Essentially it means that the first time a word or a concept is mentioned should go on to determine the way it needs to be understood throughout scripture. It is a guiding principle more than anything, but a good one at that. Genesis, being the first book, is a blessed repository for many of these ‘first mentions.’

In Genesis 22, we have the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah.

Abraham has tied up his son on an altar to offer him as a sacrifice in obedience to God’s direction (v. 2). This is faith being tested to the ultimate extreme. And Abraham shows us how to enter in.

“Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

Genesis 22:4-5

This is the first time that the word “worship” is used in the Bible.

It sets the singular tone for all the scriptures on this subject. I guess what is interesting is there were no musical instruments involved. There was just these needful things:

stones,
wood,
rope,
fire,
a knife,
and Isaac, (the would-be ‘lamb.’)

When the Hebrew word for ‘worship’ was used for the first time; it is interlaced with the idea of an incredible sacrifice. Abraham is the first ‘worship leader’ and he has no guitar. No piano, or drums either. No musical instruments whatsoever. No overhead lyrics to speak of.

Just a handmade altar, and a knife.

In the end, Abraham raises that knife, and then suddenly, to the relief of us all, he is stopped. His faith has withstood the test, and he has truly ‘worshiped.’

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Gen. 22:11-12

Principle One: There really can’t be worship without sacrifice.

Recovering this truth concerning worship would be beneficial. It seems we delegate ‘worship’ to a select few who are talented and gifted. We probably don’t do this deliberately, but sometimes we feel it makes a better presentation. We all want to look good, even Christians. (Perhaps this is more substantial than we know.)

Principle Two: The first worshiper didn’t use a guitar, but a knife.

This difference keeps the idea of sacrifice in its definition. There isn’t worship without sacrifice. The knife thrust that he was ready to wield wasn’t backed up by drums or piano. Yet Abraham understood worship every step to Moriah with the knife in his belt.

“The Scriptures include or allude to just about every approach to worship there is: organized, spontaneous, public, private, simple, complex, ornate or plain. Yet there is no comment anywhere about any one way being preferred over another. Rather, it is the spiritual condition of the worshiper that determines whether or not God is at work.”

Harold Best

“So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service.”

Romans 12:1

Ultimately, we must realize our sacrifice is the Lamb of God. It’s His blood on God’s altar for our sins. As believers, our faith firmly rests in this spiritual fact.

We of all people have cause to really worship.

Catching Men

“The Morning of the Fisherman,” Valentina Kostadinva, oil

“And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon,

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Luke 5:10

Fear is an ugly thing, it turns men into timid cowards who cannot really trust God. Simon Peter is promised courage. Throughout his life this will be a constant battle for him. It seems like Simon Peter will always struggle with what people will think about him. He is ‘crippled’ and he needs Jesus to intervene. And He does.

I remember Jody and I were sent out by a pastor to do “door-to-door” evangelism. I was terrified. We knocked on a door and then I sort of freaked out, I left her on the porch and hid behind a tree. Witnessing scared me. She shared Jesus while I ran away. How ‘Peter-like’ I am.

“Catching men” is a reference to Peter’s occupation as a fisherman. Jesus speaks so Peter will understand. He expresses evangelism in a way that describes the work of the Kingdom. Fishing describes the main task of the believer. All too often we’re ‘fixed’ on self-improvement, and our vision becomes blurred. Evangelism is to be our work.

“Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.”

-Elton Trueblood

Your Heavy Load

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. ²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls.”

Matthew 11:28-29, Amplified Bible

He is inviting us.

Jesus requests our presence in one simple statement, “come to Me.” This phrase must be our starting point. It’s how you begin daily. If you’re His disciple, it’s imperative that you obey. But this concept is nuanced, it has profound meanings.

“All who are weary.” Each of us carries a heavy load. Sin has weight, whether we believe it or not. When I start to see this, I really begin my discipleship. Apart from Jesus’ invitation I will try to carry this heaviness on my own. This is called “religion,” and it’s a bad thing.

“My guilt overwhelms me—
it is a burden too heavy to bear.”

Psalm 38:4

“I will give you rest.” It’s His gift, given to each believer. It isn’t earned, you don’t deserve it. His heart is for you to “rest.” The original Greek word often means “to refresh, or to cease your work.” Every true disciple knows this, and understands that Jesus rather laying a terrible burden on us, takes it off.

We must understand our calling.

Another burden (His own burden), is now given to us. It’s Jesus’own weight shared with believers. But it’s a restful burden that gives joy and peace. There are no longer sweaty religious rules, but authentic rest. Real discipleship is now based on love, not duty.

To follow Him in obedience is the happy delight of every disciple. When you are in love with Him the rigors of obedience have little weight.

“It never cost a disciple anything to follow Jesus; to talk about cost when you are in love with anyone is an insult.”

Oswald Chambers

“For I am gentle and humble in heart,” is His nature. He always acts this way, it is who Jesus is. This is how He behaves to each of us. It becomes the very essence of how He relates to human beings, always gentle and completely humble. Sometimes we add things that obscure this, and we see Jesus in our own particular image. (Maybe that’s a way of defining idolatry?)

And finally--“and you will find rest for your souls.” Again, the Greek here is quite instructive: rest, “cessation of any motion, or labor.” My walk, following Him, isn’t working harder, but being in a joyful rest. God’s saints aren’t called to sweat, but walk in the sureness of the presence of Jesus inside them.

Life can be awfully hard. Trials come and we get overwhelmed.

The joyful rest is only a slice of what heaven will be like. If joy and peace are a wonder now, just you wait, our future holds promises of a continual awareness of Him in our new bodies. This fallen world will be completely remade. Sin, sadness and Satan will be no more.

“And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I’ll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.”

Psalm 17:15, MSG

Leaving Your Boat Behind

²⁷“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,

“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

²⁸And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.”

Matthew 14:27-29, (context, vv. 22-33)

Jesus is full of surprises! You can never guess the things He will do next. He is Lord after all. To walk on water is totally impossible. But Jesus does it. He walks on it as if it were a concrete sidewalk. When they see Him they freak out. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

Jesus wants to reveal to His disciples His true nature.

They had just seen Him multiply fish and loaves, He fed five thousand plus just a few hours ago. Wasn’t that a miracle enough? It seems that Jesus doesn’t think so.

For some inexplicable reason, Peter wants to insert himself into Jesus’ miracle. Oddly, he has decided he’ll join Jesus, and leave behind the security of the boat–for the insecurity of the impossible! He truly believes that Jesus can hold him up somehow. Perhaps this alone is the most amazing part of this passage. Can a man duplicate the walk of Jesus? Can we walk like Him?

Peter really wants to leave the security of the boat, for the insecurity of the impossible.

It seems to me that we’re constantly doing the “Peter thing.” It’s true our walk of faith really is intensely supernatural, and yet we somehow forget this. And face it, we’ll never generate the “fruits of the Holy Spirit” on our own. Our most sincere efforts will never turn water into something solid.

We will never walk the disciple’s path without faith in the Master who calls us to come to Him.

I think Jesus wants us to join Him. Our faith in Him is the key. We believe that we can walk with Him, we believe we will see the impossible. Without question it’s Jesus’ power that holds us up. Our faith in Him is the ignition point in all of this. Our mustard seed faith, combined with Jesus’ power. becomes the true walk of the disciple.

We must bravely launch ourselves into the purposes of God. Jump when God puts opportunity in your path.

To merely sit in the boat is hardly faith. When Peter steps over the gunwales, he steps into the world of the amazing. The water holds him, and his trust in Jesus solidifies like the water he walks on. He is now doing the impossible. He’s now becoming very much like Jesus.

Our walk seems terribly weak at times, we can easily list our sin and weaknesses. We’re not quite convinced that the blood of Jesus covers all our sin–and therefore we can’t step out of the boat. I think it’s Peter’s faith in Jesus’ power that holds him up.

When his faith falters, he does the “rock thing,” There is something about his circumstances–the wind, and the waves that begin to frighten him. (But I must believe Jesus was pleased.)

To really understand, to obey Jesus is to step out of our boat in faith; when we do we’ll start to see miracles happen.

“Christ will always accept the faith the puts its trust in Him.”

-Andrew Murray

Under the Knife

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:2, ESV

“Dead wood is worse than fruitlessness, for dead wood can harbor disease and decay…God removes the dead wood from his church and disciplines the life of the believer so that it is directed into fruitful activity.”

Merrill C. Tenney

In order to become fruitful we must accept the knife.

It takes a sharp eye and a sharper knife to do the Father’s work of cutting. He slices to the quick, and all that is not useful falls to the ground. The vine must produce grapes, and every bit of “grape-energy” needs to be used productively. Fruitlessness will be cursed, sterility is condemned. This is a hard choice to make.

I want to encourage you though–fruitless believers can possibly become fruitful ones.

Understand, the vine dresser isn’t attacking the vine with his knife. He is not malicious or vengeful. All that He does is for the good of the vine. He is motivated to produce fruit. That is what He thinks about as he cuts away the dead branches.

Pruning and fruit are concepts that we vacillate over, some days we understand and other days we don’t. After over 40 years, I’ve heard every “John 15 sermon” known to man. And most of the time I turn down my spiritual hearing aid. That is tragic–I listen, but I don’t listen.

I need to grapple with this imagery. If I don’t, bad things are bound to happen.

For years I have asked God to “show me His ways.” I’d like to believe that this understanding of pruning has changed me. I would like to think that I have attained a clearer view of wisdom. This pruning business is all well and good. But being sanctified by the knife is decidedly unattractive and uncomfortable.

I grew up in the northwoods of Wisconsin and wondered if the trees that were designated with a ‘red X’ understood that they were the ones to be cut down by the lumbermen. I wondered if these trees that were marked with spray paint understood what was up? (Maybe they felt special with their new found prestige?)

You will be pruned!

I completely and absolutely declare this to you. (It’s one of those “thus says the Lord” moments.) Pieces of your life are earmarked to be lopped off. You will probably not understand why and you will chafe at what is coming.

The Christian life is as much about subtraction as it’s about addition.

He will cut you and you’ll think you’re dying. But I assure you, Jesus loves you, and all that He does is for your good. He trims you to bring you true life.

There is simply no other way He can work.

“And if it be painful to bleed, it is worse to wither. Better be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.”

John Trapp

Finding the Pearl

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

Matthew 13:45-46

A different perspective.

The central issue seems to be of value. The pearl was magnificent. This merchant had never seen one like this. It gleamed in his hands, and he knew he must have it. It wasn’t an option, he had to buy it. His response–sell everything to the highest bidder (of course) and buy it.

The Lord Jesus loves each of us intensely.

Rather the people who make up the body. He loves everyone, but he’s crazy about his people. I have a shirt, and I’ll wear it sometimes when I feel like it could touch someone, it says “Jesus Loves You, but I’m His favorite.” I know it’s funny, but maybe it’s true? I know that he loves me–crazy-like. And I love that He loves, even me.

We’re His pearls.

His blood, and His cross was the purchase price. That’s what it took. When we truly believe we acknowledge that we are His now. He paid for us, completely.

Jesus sees, and he must have us. So he comes, and pays the price, he sells it all just to possess us. He now owns us. We know that there is nothing remarkable about us, for we understand our own sinfulness, we really see that we’re spiritually evil all of the time. The theologians call it “the depravity of man.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3; Job 15 :14-16; Matthew 15:19).

But our faith in Him changes everything! We have been bought off the slave block of sin. We have been chosen.

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect.”

2 Timothy 2:10

We realize that we are the elect as believers when we put our faith in what Jesus did for us. Believe me, that’s not what I feel or sense about myself. But it’s what He sees, and He desperately wants me to be his own–and I don’t know why he would do such a thing. It makes no sense to me at all.

God’s love has reasons which reason cannot understand.

Needing His Cross Daily

I confess that peace has never been really high on my list. Love, joy, kindness, and even goodness are clear priorities. Peace… not so much. Until I find out it’s not there. And then I get frantic by its absence and scrambling look for it with bewilderment.

Sometimes I don’t understand why God still loves me. At times like this anxiety eats at me. I beat myself up by my last failure. The guilt of my latest sin grows until it looms larger than the blood that saved me. Sometimes I suppose, religious people seem to have the most neurosis.

I’m afraid that we are taking the ‘present tense’ out of the Gospel.

The past tense is preferable to us as we find it easier to ‘manage’ our Christian life. We like to make check marks on our list. [Church attendance– check. Baptism– check. Bible study– check.] I think it gives me a definite feeling of ‘maturity.’

But these things matter little without intimacy with Jesus Christ.

I certainly haven’t arrived, and it seems at times I’m still the hideous sinner I always was. I cannot pretend otherwise, even with a spiritual truckload of cosmetics at my disposal. I know, I’ve tried. And I’m still ‘ugly.’ I do know forgiveness, and I do walk in its wonderful light (by grace).

I read Luther 30 years ago. (And Bonhoeffer would say something similar.)

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Martin Luther

This is the first of his 95 Theses nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. And there is a present tense here we can’t ignore about these declarations. I don’t just repent over smoking, beer drinking, fornication, or hypocrisy, once and done. But my entire way of living is to be one of repenting. To repent everyday opens the door to a true grace-filled discipleship.

“All of the Christian life is repentance. Turning from sin and trusting in the good news that Jesus saves sinners aren’t merely a one-time inaugural experience but the daily substance of Christianity. The gospel is for every day and every moment. Repentance is to be the Christian’s continual posture.”

John Piper

Luther’s last words, on his deathbed, was found written on a scrap of paper stuck in his coat, “We are beggars! This is true.” Even after thirty years, he was only echoing his first thesis.

It seems dear ones, we are to live at the foot of the cross.

The Seed Must Grow

²⁶And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Mark 4:26-29

From a seed to a plant. We have no idea how this happens, it just does. This is a “kingdom” parable, one of several that explain what God’s realm is, and how it happens. In this particular story, we’re told how the Holy Spirit works. It also explains our role in this (which isn’t a whole lot).

The farmer puts the seed in the ground—and that’s it.

He’s done his work, there’s nothing more he can do. He doesn’t do anything else from this point, and honestly he can’t. And yet the soil needs to be prepared—plowed, fertilized and tilled again. You might say he creates the conditions (that’s what makes a good farmer, I guess) for something to happen.

He doesn’t massage the seed, coaxing it to grow.

He doesn’t sing to it, or tell it about the wonders of being lush and green. He does zero. The seed grows on its own. He goes to bed, and gets up. After several days, bingo! That seed turns into a plant—something green and alive. He doesn’t do a thing. Life occurs without his work.

The point is this. God’s work is done invisibly within us (and that’s a relief)!

“The secret of growth is in the seed, not in the soil nor in the weather nor in the cultivating. These all help, but the seed spontaneously works according to its own nature.”

Robertson’s Commentary

God’s kingdom works pretty much like this. The farmer doesn’t cause the seed growth, all he does is go to bed! He sleeps and waits and watches. It grows and he hasn’t the slightest. It’s a complete mystery. He has done everything he can, and God has done the rest. He “shares” in this amazing transformation, but the father has done it all.

We trust in a process we cannot see, or really understand.

We don’t dig the seed up every morning to see what’s happening. We just let the (super)natural happen. And it does!

The farmer has faith in the process (after all, he did plant the seed), but that’s it. There’s a verse in 1 Corinthians that should be considered. It gives us confidence and a definite trust in this process of growth. The Apostle Paul understands this “principle of growth.”

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

1 Cor. 3:7

We must trust God completely to grow. We’re responsible for tilling and planting. But you need to understand what happens after that is up to him. The kingdom of God is supernatural. It’s exactly how the kingdom happens—and we must be very patient and incredibly wise.

“There is nothing more important to learn about Christian growth than this: Growing in grace means becoming like Christ.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson