Faith in God Versus Faith in Faith (Part 2of 2) by Allan Turner (http://allanturner.com/faith.html)
More About Faith
Phil Hayes had a dream. He wanted to earn a lot of money, buy a schooner, and sail around the world. Phil was no idle dreamer. He was the kind of guy who could seemingly do anything he set his mind to. His wife described him as the only man in the world who could walk on water.
Faith in himself was one thing Phil had an abundance of. And Phil's faith got results too! He was a great success in business and was soon on his way to fulfilling his dream.
It wasn't long before Phil was able to purchase the 52-foot schooner "Astrea." With a crew of four he set sail on a "shakedown" or trial run cruise to Mexico. But things began to go sour. There were mechanical problems with the schooner and Phil did not conduct himself in a way that inspired confidence on the part of his crew. They eventually deserted him and his wife, also, lost confidence in her husband's ability to sail around the world.
But Phil had faith! A four-year, round-the-world cruise was in his grasp, and he was not going to let it slip away. He recruited a new crew and sailed for Tahiti. Phil and his crew were never heard of again, even after a long and intensive search by the Coast Guard. Seven years later Phil Hayes was declared to be legally dead. Those of you who like a mystery might toy with the idea that Phil is still alive and living comfortably somewhere far away from the humdrum of modern life. Chances are you are wrong! More than likely, the remains of Phil Hayes and his dream lie at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Of this one thing you can be sure: We will never hear about Phil Hayes from the cheerleaders of Positive Thinking and the modern-day pied pipers of Faith in Faith. All the positive thinkers, faith healers, super salesman-types, politicians, pop-psychologists, and preachers can't "juice" people up with a Phil Hayes story. Phil's story is negative and these charlatans aren't selling negativism. They're selling The Power Of Positive Thinking, which, according to them, is right up there with apple pie, motherhood, and the flag! To these swindlers, The Power Of Positive Thinking is the greatest consumer product since popcorn.
Now don't get us wrong. We are not against positive thinking. We know there is an advantage to having the right frame of mind. If we think we can do something, there is a better chance we will actually do it than if we think we can't. We are not ignorant of the advantages of positive thinking. But neither are we ignorant of stories similar to that of Phil Hayes. In Luke 12:16-21, we read the following: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, `What shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Here was a positive thinker who believed in himself. Notice how many times he uses "I" and "my." He visualized what he wanted to do; nevertheless, things didn't work out exactly like he intended. Of course, this is another story you will never hear at a Faith in Faith seminar.
What Is Biblical Faith?
Biblical faith (i.e., saving faith) is not belief in self or some vague faith in faith. Biblical faith is belief, trust, and reliance in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Faith in God is more than just believing that He exists, it is a willingness to exercise confidence and trust in His promises (Hebrews 11:6). The pied pipers of Faith in Faith tell us that the object of our faith is, for the most part, irrelevant. On the other hand, the Bible tells us the object of our faith, in order to be pleasing to God, must be God Himself. The Bible tells us that Biblical faith is a conviction of and confidence in the absolute authority of the Sovereign of the universe (cf. Hebrews 11:1,2).
Biblical faith, then, is belief in an objective authority. Jesus Christ is that objective authority! In Matthew 8:5-13, this point is made quite clear. A Roman Army officer approached Jesus to plead for his paralyzed servant. The Lord says, "I will come and heal him" (verse 7), but the servant replies: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, `Go,' and he goes; and to another, `Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it" (verses 8 & 9). This Roman soldier believed Jesus had authority to heal his servant. He believed Jesus could just say the words and his servant would be healed. The Bible tells us that the Lord marveled at this Gentile's "great faith" (verse 10). This, friend and neighbor, is the faith we should all learn to emulate. This, the Bible says, is the kind of faith that will allow us to be saved (Romans 5:1,2 & Ephesians 2:8,9). Why? Because, Biblical faith trusts in God's absolute authority and acts upon His words (Hebrews 11:1-40). The faith that saves is not taught in Self-Esteem seminars and Faith in Faith lectures; the faith that saves comes from hearing God's Word (Romans 10:17). Save your money and your soul by avoiding those who would make merchandise of you, and by faith give yourself over to the one who loves you, and proved it by dying for you on Calvary's cruel cross.
Remember, Bible lessons on faith do not teach us to have faith in faith or faith in ourselves; on the contrary, they teach us to, "Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22).
Happiness by Randy Harshbarger (devotional@biblical-insights.org)
"Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!"
(Psalm 144:15 NKJV).
The quest for happiness seems to be the consuming, continuing, relentless pursuit of mankind. Especially is this true in our culture. Our blessings are so plentiful and our opportunities so unbounded that we have come to believe that "being happy" are our inherent right. After all, the Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Happiness is our birthright! Philosophers debate the meaning of happiness. Does happiness mean the same thing to you as it does to me? Is the sometimes arduous task of finding happiness a real possibility? Can happiness be achieved in this life, or do we wait for the life to come?
Outward circumstances cannot produce true happiness. We find ourselves saying: "If I only had this or that, then I would be happy!" Those who make the acquisition of things the most important endeavor in this life will ultimately be disappointed; most of the time, you do not have to wait until death to realize what a poor trade you made (cf. Eccl. 5:10). The successful farmer in Luke twelve realized too late that he did not "have it made." To pursue mammon is to fall into a snare (1 Timothy 5:6ff). The Apostle Paul, writing from a Roman prison, said: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). Did Paul enjoy the dark, dank living conditions of imprisonment? No! Was he content? Yes! Did he have to learn that hard lesson? Yes, and so must we. He found strength in the Lord. Was he happy? Yes!
Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit...Blessed are those who mourn..." (Matthew 5:3-10). The word blessed is sometimes translated happy. The man that is blessed by the Lord is happy or fortunate; he seeks to shape his heart into the likenesses expressed in Christ's beatitudes. Right character produces true happiness, not outward circumstances. The Pharisees in Christ's time needed that lesson; so do we!
Happiness is the byproduct of a right relationship with God. Yes, we can in this life, rejoice that we are His children. When we obey His will, we can "go on our way rejoicing." The merry heart provides a continual banquet (Proverbs 15:15). From the midst of our own prison cells, we can have peace and contentment. There are many good benefits to be derived from a happy outlook of life. It is the peace that passeth all understanding that sustains us for a while in this life and enables us to look beyond to the joys of heaven. There will be no tears, no sin, nothing ugly at all in heaven. But happiness will be there!
More Things I Am Thankful For… (Contributed by L. Dillinger)
ONE MORE THOUGHT
Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads.
No man is wise enough, nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited
power. --Charles Caleb Colton (See Acts 8:14-25 - The Sorcerer's
Sin)
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MONTHLY BIBLE READINGS: Genesis chapters 4 - 15.
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