Faith Hope and Charity

          I have a few ideas rattling around in my brain right now. Normally, when I get a new idea, insight, or revelation, I like to sit on it for a while to let it all condense into a more intelligible whole, and in case there’s something more to it that I might have missed the first time it occurred to me. Recently however, I have been receiving insight after idea, one right after another, and I have to start writing them down and sharing them before my brain starts to get them jumbled up.

          This one will be about the following passage in the Bible.

          And now abides faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, preferably that you may prophesy. (1 Cor. 13:13 – 14:1)

          Prophesying is not all about predicting the future, although that could come to be a part of it. It’s really about professing the gospel of Christ, sharing God’s truth with others. And the way into that place of prophesying is through faith, hope, and charity. First let’s look at faith.

          Now faith is the confidence in things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen… without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him out. (Heb. 11:1, 6)

          The main things I want to bring out of that passage are confidence and conviction. Without these things you cannot (and will not) diligently seek God. Believe God exists; that’s the confidence. And be convicted in the knowledge that you won’t get those ‘rewards’ if you don’t earnestly seek God.

          Now let’s take a look at one of my favorite scriptures for describing how to seek out God.

          Blessed is the man who considers the counsel of the godly, and stands for righteousness’ sake, and never shows disrespect or dishonor. And his delight is in the law of Jehovah; and in His law he meditates by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree planted beside rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season, his leaf shall not wither, and everything he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

          This scripture describes a God-fearing man who is diligently seeking God. And it describes his state of being comparing it to a very well situated, fruit-bearing tree. And, for those of you who don’t know, these are the fruits of the Spiritual man.

          The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

          So that, simply put, is what faith is and what it produces. But where does it start?

          Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the declaration of Christ (prophesying). (Rom. 10:17)

          Hearing the word of God, the truth, is what produces faith in a person. Because, as we all know, in the fruit of a tree are the seeds needed to grow more trees like it. And right here is where I’d like to insert a bit about the Word of God and how to handle it.

          The word of God is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the parting of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a judge of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

          That describes how powerful the Word of God is. And take a look at this next scripture.

          Therefore seeing we have this ministry, according to the mercy we have been shown, we are not weary. But we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor. 4:1-2)

          I would like to highlight the part there that says, ‘nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves.’ One can use the word of God for evil ends, and without sharing the actual truth about God with others – this often happens, truth be told. Obviously, we should not be doing this.

          Thou shalt not answer against thy neighbor with false testimony. (Ex. 20:16)

          Thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:39)

          The word of God is not just sharper than any other sword, it is a sword.

          And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is a declaration of God. (Eph. 6:17)

          And remember that the word of God is compared to other two-edged swords. Interesting fact: a two-edged sword has two edges, and each edge has its own name; as you’re holding the sword, the edge facing your opponent is called the true edge, and the edge facing back at you is the false edge. Be careful not to cut yourself with the word of God!

          Now, I think we should move on to hope, and how it works.

          Everyone who has this hopeful expectation in God purifies himself, even as God is pure. (1 John 3:3)

          Hope isn’t like some pie-in-the-sky daydream; it’s a real thing that spurs us on to action. And this hope we can have in God causes us to become pure.

          Whereby shall a young man cleanse his way? By keeping Your word. With all my heart, I have sought after you: O do not let me wander from Your commandments. In my heart I have stored up Your promise, that I may not sin against You. (Psalm 119:9-11)

          Again we see mention of seeking after God, with our whole heart. And in our hearts we should hold onto the promises of God. These will keep our hearts and minds pure and free from sin. The following is one of the most dramatic and just plain amazing promises God has given us.

          Have faith in God. For I tell you truly, that whoever says to this mountain, ‘ Be picked up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, whatever he’s spoken, it shall be done. Therefore I say unto you, all things you ask for in prayer, if you believe that you have received it, it shall be yours. (Mark 11:22-24)

          We believe from the heart, because that is where we should be storing God’s promises. The best way to illustrate this is actually to go to the negative side of things, because everybody is familiar with living with the selfish carnal nature.

          It starts with fear, rather than faith, produced in us by the falsehoods we have been taught throughout our lives, promises of evil things rather than good things. Next we start to imagine in our hearts what our lives would be like when we’re subjected to the fulfillment of these promises; this is most commonly known as worrying. We picture all these bad things happening in our lives, and to varying degrees, we actually believe them, even if they haven’t really happened yet. We know this when our blood pressure increases, our pulse is racing, we start to sweat, and our guts start to tie themselves in knots. Our physical bodies actually feel anxious about something that hasn’t even happened, and may never happen. Why? Because our hearts are telling them that it’s real. Afraid of losing or missing out on so much we end up behaving quite selfishly. This fear-worry-selfishness pattern is the exact opposite of faith-hope-charity.

          I’ve often heard charity referred to as selflessness and perfect love which is clearly true. Charity allows us to clearly prophesy (speak the truth) into other people’s lives and plant those seeds of faith rather than fear. This is, in point of fact, how perfect love casts out fear as it says in the following scripture.

          And we know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. In this is love perfected in us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as God is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear brings punishment. He that lives in fear is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:16-18)

          We know (faith) and believe (hope) the love God has for us. That’s what allows us to grow fully into charity and produce all that wonderful Spiritual fruit that everyone can enjoy. One last scripture to demonstrate the faith-knowledge, the hope, and the complete lack of fear one can have in the love of God.

          Should this actually happen, our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, you should know, we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)

          This is a powerful statement of faith, given by these three Hebrew men (not children) before the narcissistic king Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fiery furnace. They know GOD CAN DO IT, they also believe HE WILL DO IT, but no matter what happens THEY WILL NOT BE AFRAID. Many people will tell you about what God CAN do, not ever really graduating up to the hopeful He-WILL-do-it level of faith which creates true, pure charity. And that is because they still hold fear and doubt in their hearts.

          Let me reassure you, all those miracles you read about in the Bible, God can do them for you, in fact, He wants to. He wants to heal your diseases, help you out with your finances, and give you a chance to buy that newest latest cool thing before they’ve all sold out. He wants to bless you, in ways you cannot even imagine. But you cannot be afraid and have doubt in your heart. Ask, seek, knock, and then do it all over again; seek God with your whole heart and you will find Him.

          You may worry about your sins and your faults and your weaknesses. Don’t. They are nothing before the power of God. As a matter of fact, the more messed up you are, the more glory God will receive when He finally moves in your life. So forget about those things that are wrong in your life; all your baggage will sort itself out if you seek out the things God has promised you for the new life you can have in Him.

          That’s all… for now. I hope it was edifying. God bless you!

The Story of the Land of Nathan

            Usually, I write about whatever things God’s been showing me recently. But today, I want to write a post all about myself. Why? Because people don’t know me; it’s like I’ve been trapped in a state of adolescent enigmatism. I am constantly surrounded by people who love me and would do anything for me, but – it happens so often – when they would actually move in and try to do something to help me, it blows up in their face. While I appreciate the subtle irony of the situation, I cannot and will not let this continue. So, let me explain myself to you (as best as I can on my blog).

            First, I’ll set the stage. The modality I have chosen to use in my attempt to explain me is the Flag Page. The Flag Page is a wonderful program developed by Larry Bilotta, a relationship counselor, and Mark Gungor, a Pastor in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They discovered that the key to helping someone succeed in life is to focus on what’s right about them, not what’s wrong with them, despite its obviously anti-mainstream approach. But considering the horrific failure rates of counseling nowadays, something that flies in the face of the current convention could very well be exactly what we need. And the Flag Page has had great success for those who’ve taken full advantage of the program. Couples have used it to save their marriage; parents have used it to save their kids from depression and even suicide; Special Forces units of the army use it to acutely understand their teammates for when they go out on their assignments and they have experienced amazing results.

The Flag Page is all about understanding yourself and helping others to understand you and what you need from them. As such, it is THE BEST TOOL for assisting you with your dysfunctional relationships. Now I have heard it said (by ignorant people with deplorable listening skills) that the Flag Page is just a personality test, it doesn’t mean anything, and that it isn’t all that accurate anyway. These are people who (like I said, are terrible listeners) need to delve deeper into the program, and not just stop after the ‘taking the test’ part of it. Most people are blown away by the accuracy of the test itself, but even if you’re not, it’s still something you can use to learn more about yourself. To purchase Mark Gungor’s book, Discovering Your Heart with the Flag Page, or to take the test (it’s not very expensive, I’ve bought snacks that cost more) go to flagpage.com. You can also go to markgungor.com to find more helpful resources from Pastor Mark.

            Now, on we go to the mysterious topic of me. I am going to start with a certain part of the results of my own test, one that is more extrapolated and inferred by the computer program and is therefore more likely to not be entirely accurate. For me, however, I think it hits the nail right on the head. Greek philosopher, Hippocrates, discovered that there are four kinds of people in the world. The Flag Page explains the four people as Hippocrates did in his writings. To keep it simple, it uses the analogy of four Countries. Because just as different countries have differing languages, beliefs, customs, and values, so do people from the lands of Control, Perfect, Peace, and Fun. The country I scored in most heavily is referred to as my ‘Home Country’ and it is Perfect. The country I scored in second highest is my ‘Adopted Country’ of Peace. My adopted country has a big influence on how I live in my home country. Now, I will just be copying directly from my own country summary and, bear in mind, this is all true.

For, Nathan, it’s Perfect Country with a score of 160 for his Home Country. He is a specialist in attention to detail, thinking deeply about issues that matter, and passionately pursuing the ‘right’ path. He is always looking to create a life that’s closer to his idea of perfect. He has a knack for diving into the details of a task and analyzing multiple components to find the best possible approach. Friends have always noticed that he is one to continue searching for new ways to grow and improve. Nathan has the basic talents of the greatest artists, poets, musicians, engineers, architects, and technicians because Perfect Country is where the masters of those professions come from. He is also highly sensitive to the feelings of others and he wants people to be considerate of his feelings as well. Nathan’s Adopted Country is Peace Country with 71 votes for that culture. He can be laid back and easy going when he feels comfortable with those around him. When he visits Peace Country, it is because his Home Country isn’t bringing him the serenity that he desires at that time. For instance, he might want to avoid an uncomfortable situation where people in his Home Country are feuding so he would then travel to his Adopted Country of Peace until the conflict subsides.

            That is my temperament in a nutshell, a paragraphical nutshell.

At this point, I suppose it might help you understand what I’m talking about if I describe the test. It’s actually very simple: Step 1, you select, from a list of 56 positive motivations, those that definitively describe you, these are essentially the things you love most about life, Step 2, you rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how good these select things make you feel, 1 is OK and 10 is AWESOME!!!! Step 3, you pick your Top 5, and that’s it. I should also mention that, if you are a man, do not let your girlfriend or wife help you with taking this test. They think they know you, but will most likely skew the results.

The next part of the Flag Page I’ll mention is the measurement of Soft vs. Hard natured. My score was 79 and 33 respectively. Again, I think I’ll just copy directly from the summary the computer gave me.

Nathan is a mild mannered, Softhearted man who voted highest for Soft traits like peaceful, warm, and sensitive. He can always be depended on to be patient and flexible because he lives his life through his Softhearted nature. Because he is a very easy going and tolerant individual, people enjoy being around him. Nathan is always looking out for other people’s best interests while being compassionate and considerate of their feelings. He tries to be conscious of others’ feelings because he never wants to offend anyone. He believes that being offensive often leads to conflict, which is something that he tries to avoid whenever possible. Sincere, genuine, and open relationships are a high priority to him. With his Softhearted nature in the forefront, Nathan only reveals his Hard nature under certain circumstances. He gave the Hard traits such as strong willed, consistent, and organized 33 votes and can become Hard natured if the situation requires him to do so. He wants to remain calm and flexible whenever possible but will approach things in a direct, straightforward manner if the Softhearted way isn’t working for him.

            Most people in my orbit would probably know that I’m a warm-and-fuzzy, tenderhearted guy already, so I’ll just highlight the primary truth I think you should take away from that whole thing: Sincere, genuine, and open relationships are a high priority to me. So when some of the most important relationships in my life are nothing but dysfunctional and/or stressful, I turn into a rather pitiful mess.

            The next part of understanding me is my Talents. The Flag Page takes all the motivations I selected during the test and sorts them into 5 different talent families. These show the areas in my life where I am most likely to be both successful and satisfied. These are my Creation Talents (40%), my People Talents (39%), and my Task Talents (21%). There are also Leading Talents and Showman Talents, but these don’t apply to me. Of course, I can still be a leader or an entertainer, but it would have to be motivated by something usually found in the other talent families. Here’s the summary.

Nathan loves innovation, creativity, development, experiments, and new ideas because he likes to find ways to make improvements. It’s hard for him to accept things they way they are. He believes there’s got to be a better way! Nathan has a way with people and is able to get them to warm up to him easily. He puts out a vibration that says ‘I like people!’ This talent makes him attractive to others and they want to include him in their lives. People like Nathan are rarely lonely.

To get a concise picture of Nathan’s greatest Talents, here are some expressions that sum up the essence of each motivation found in Nathan’s Talent list:

-         The inventive innovator

-         Attracted to style and art

-         The sound of my feelings

-         Never follows the crowd

-         Feeling what everyone feels

-         Compassion to go

-         Loyal and true to a chosen few

-         Believe in me

-         Analyze everything in order to understand it

-         Making it exactly right

This is so… me.

Out of 56 positive character motivation choices, I turned down 51 to pick my top 5. These 5 motivations, which compel me to live out my daily life, are the key to my happiness and success. These are arranged in a picture so you can see them visually when you do your own Flag Page. And of course the picture is… a flag. This is the flag of Nathan Matthew Knerr: Sensitive, Creative, Musical, Deep Thinker, and Unique.

-         Sensitive (Diligent/Thoughtful/Considerate)

-         Creative (Anything is Possible/Innovative/Inventive)

-         Musical (Rhythm/Entertain/Meaning)

-         Deep Thinker (Analyze/Thoughtful/Introspective)

-         Unique (Don’t Follow the Crowd/Self Assured/Different Drummer)

These are the things I love most about life, what make my life feel like it’s worth living. These motivations can mean different things to different people, of course, so if you do the program you’ll be asked to write down in your own words what these things mean to you and how others can love and encourage you in these areas of your life. I wrote the following:

Sensitive

Meaning: I feel things and people very deeply and emotionally react to them very strongly.

The Rule: Acknowledge and appreciate my sensitivities.

Creative

Meaning: I like to imagine, create, and reinvent things. I believe that there’s a solution to every problem and an answer to every question.

The Rule: Acknowledge and appreciate my imagination as well as the things I create.

Musical

Meaning: I am sensitive to tone and rhythm – vibrations. I like to use these things to communicate, to fellowship, heal, and meditate.

The Rule: Encourage and engage me musically.

Deep Thinker

Meaning: I love to analyze and attempt to decipher the mysteries of the world. I love questions.

The Rule: Ask me questions and give me time to think.

Unique

Meaning: I love doing the unusual, experiencing variety, being unlike anybody else, and exploring the bizarre.

The Rule: Appreciate me for doing the things no one else does.

            So, if you want to acknowledge who I am, motivate me, encourage me, and love me, learn that list of my 5 Rules and follow them. So often I find the people in my life who claim to love me breaking one or more of these rules. Hopefully, that can now stop (at least, mostly stop).

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to know how to treat someone properly. Love is not an emotion or a sentiment, but a gift you purposefully give to others. Don’t do it casually, that’s not real love, but always be aware of what you give to others to ensure that you are helping them and not hurting them, appreciating them and not criticizing them. We’re all different; we all think, and act, and react to things differently than other people. But this is a good thing that brings so much color and life into the world, so learn to actively appreciate it.

           

Now, there are specific people in my life, who desperately need this information, though I won’t name them here (they should know who they are anyway), and I’m sure they will read this. But all relationships have two sides at minimum, so I hope they do their own Flag Pages as well and read the book, do all of those things and share their own vital information with me, so I can know what they need from me as well.

            And as for everyone else, if by chance you have any dysfunctional relationships in your lives, visit those websites, markgungor.com and flagpage.com, for awesome resources and assistance. If you have any questions or comments, you ought to know now that I like ‘em, so please send me some. And until next time, God bless you!

Bread Making

Lately, my heart has been burdened with an earnest yearning for God’s Truth; there is a particular issue, which I’ve seen come up again and again in this world, whether on the news or on Facebook or wherever else, and it has caused some serious division among people (For this reason, I won’t say what it is so people don’t try to pull me into the argument as well), but I’ve seen it cause a lot of heartache, and I (being as empathetic as I am) feel the heartache myself hearing about this stuff and I've asked God for the answers we all need. I’ve heard what we human beings have had to say on both sides of the issue, but I for one am not convinced anyone has yet heard directly from God Himself; I am not interested in what man has to say, I want to know the mind of Jehovah.

Yesterday, as I was ‘bearing my cross’ working outside in the cold with beardcicles freezing onto my face, I meditated more on the Bible, and God met me there. He turned my attention to the scripture which says, ‘It is impossible for offenses not to come, but woe unto him through whom they come! It would be better for him that a millstone be hanged around his neck, and he was cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.’ This (Luke 17:1-2) was recorded in the gospels repeatedly. When God says something repeatedly, it’s because it’s important, and because He knows how thick-headed we can be, so take care to pay attention. The word ‘offense’ in this scripture is better translated as ‘stumbling block’ or ‘snare’ which is a reference to how we can impede each others walks with God.

But He called my attention to that millstone Jesus mentioned. Why a millstone? One can think of a lot of devices and methods one can use to drown a person in the sea; this seems oddly specific. It is strange, until you realize what you need a millstone for. It is a large stone a miller would use to grind wheat into flour which in turn is used to make bread; we all know this.

But remember the bread Jesus spoke of to his disciples, ‘this is my body which was broken for you. Eat ye all of it.’ He was talking about the bread of life, our spiritual bread, which most people simply think is equivalent with the scriptures in the Bible. Most people are also wrong; ink scrawled on the pages of a book can in no way give you spiritual life. You can learn the Bible inside and outside and upside down, and it still will produce nothing in you, unless God makes it real to you and it starts working in your real life.

How does this happen? Well, the very first thing that needs to happen is that the scripture needs to be gathered and then it needs to be changed into something that the Holy Spirit (symbolized by water) can seep into. Then it needs to be refined in the trials of an overcoming life (symbolized by fire, i.e. an oven or furnace). And THEN you have your bread of life.

The little bit that I left out there, you might have noticed, is the wheat and the millstone, which, at this point, should be rather easy to figure out. The wheat is the scriptures, and the millstone is the hard, weighty tedium of meditation. Many people nowadays misuse the word ‘meditation’ and think of bald guys sitting around chanting ‘ohm.’ This is not what it’s supposed to mean; the oldest and best translation is ‘reiteration’ which means you go over it again: you reread it, you remember it, you listen to it again, you make another written copy of it, you reanalyze it, you sing it, you go over it again and again and again until it has been transformed into something soft and easily handled: something the Spirit of God can really get into.

The admonition of this scripture, which connects the millstone (how you handle the scriptures) and impeding someone’s walk with God is not just about being careful with the way you treat people. It is really warning us against false religion: don’t be a part of that. One of the chief defining qualities of false religion is the way it handles (or rather mishandles), the Word of God, hence the millstone: if you mishandle the scriptures, you ought to die out there in the sea, and to take your millstone with you, because it’s just as useless.

With that in mind, I just want to encourage everybody to seriously meditate on the word of God, and to not simply take everything it has to say at face value, nor should you pick and choose what scriptures you want to use to make your ‘bread,’ but remember that Jesus said to eat all of it: grind it all to powder and use it.

Go with God and have a blessed day!