1-13-2016

Good Morning All!!   

         1 Corinthians 2:5; “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

    Maybe you are old enough to remember Tug McGraw as a pitcher and not just as the father of Tim McGraw.  Tug McGraw was one of the colorful players of baseball.  He was a left handed relief pitcher who was one of the primary reasons that the New York Mets were in the 1973 World Series.  The Mets were in last place on August 30^th but went on to win the National League East, then the National League championship only to lose the World Series to the Oakland Athletics in seven games.  Most of his teammates credited Tug for his unwavering confidence in his team and his teammates.  When he wasn’t pitching, he would be cheering his teammates on, “Ya gotta believe!”  He would yell this over and over. Soon, because of his cheering and his own pitching acumen, his teammates did believe and many claim that is why they went from last place to nearly a World Series victory.  They simply believed.

    We as Christians use the same lingo.  You have to believe.  So what do we mean by that?  Believing is the active verb, the “action” word that we attach to faith.  Believing is putting faith into action.  We have faith, it is a thing, it is something to possess.  Faith is a gift from God.  Faith is simply the desire to trust in God and his promises.  This desire is placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit when we hear the Gospel of Jesus.  This is why we say faith comes from God.  It is the correcting, the re-curving of our desire.  Rather than look into ourselves, the Spirit aims us toward God.  The Spirit instills in us the desire to trust God.  There have been more than a few times when someone has told me, “I wish I could believe that.”  The Spirit is working, the desire is there, perhaps weak and undernourished, but there; that is faith at work.

    God gives us faith so that we may act on it and rely on God for our needs.  God gives us faith so that as we look back at what God has done for us, we can look forward with hope that he will continue to do these loving acts in the future.  Faith tells me to trust in that hope.  Believing gives me the comfort to trust, the confidence to trust and the wisdom to trust.  Ya gotta believe!

     By believing, by trusting the Spirit-led faith that we possess, we will have peace with God.  We can know, with perfect certainty, that nothing will detach us from God and his love.  By believing, we can rest safe in his arms knowing that his plans are to prosper us and that prosperity is eternal life in a paradise place that is greater than we can ever imagine.  The writers of Scriptures did their best to help us understand.  It will be a time of great feasting, great joy.  There will be no sorrow, no pain, no death; there will be no separation from God or from those whom God loves.  We will be united with all those whom we love; all of our family and friends but also all other believers, Paul, Peter, even Jesus himself will be there with us at all times.  Believe and you will be saved and given peace.

Gracious Lord, lead me to believe in your great promise.  Lead me to act that I may ever follow you.  Separate me from doubt and sorrow.  Guide me by your Spirit of truth.  In your name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret