Confident Faith

We all experience more than a few trials in this life.
Each of our trials may be different but they all require the same thing.
Faith.
Reading the letter to the Hebrews always brings me a fresh revelation of New Testament faith.
I always get encouraged. Faith is the theme of the letter to the Hebrews,
it is full of hope and expectation. It is one of the greatest theological letters in the New Testament. Verse after verse, thought after thought,
the author builds an absolute case for our secure position in Christ,
our total forgiveness of sin and our place as heir to the all the promises of God.

As the author writes all this, he intertwines an exhortation to
believe this incredible reality.

In short, the letter to the Hebrews is written to encourage
faith in and for the promises of God.

Hebrews describes a faith that is not a 'might-be' faith nor a 'maybe' hope
..NO!...the entire letter is intended to boost the saints' expectation for
the reality of God's promises to be true!

Too many Christian live with the idea that God's plan is to build us up
in a strength that can live with the disappointments in life and
still believe that God exists.
This is a type of 'hang-in-there' faith with little hope for God to intervene in
our circumstances. God is reduced to a 'comfort' in the trial.
The building of character is His goal for the Christian.

This would be a great concept if we define Biblical character as
having radical confidence in the power of God on our behalf.
Unfortunately most Christians define character in terms of personal
discipline and self confidence. Though these are good traits to have
in life they can be found in a lost person as easily (and sometimes
more frequently) than in a Christian.
I believe that the Bible reveals that a faith in God that includes an
expectation of miracles is a truer definition of faith.

This should not be a difficult leap for Christians since we all believe
the greatest personal miracle we will ever experience in life,
the salvation of our souls.
That miracle requires Biblical faith because it cannot be seen in the natural,
how much more should we believe that the our Savior who loved us so
much would also provide supernatural intervention for us in this life?

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us,
who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son,
but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him,
graciously give us all things?" (Rom. 8:31-32)

Because we do not always see the miraculous intervention of His power
in our circumstances we can tend towards developing personal doctrines
based on disappointment rather than on His Word.
When a body of Christians does this collectively it can create an
atmosphere of unbelief rather than of expectation, faith and hope.

We often get in trouble and fall into doubt when we too easily
give up on true faith.
Faith is not singularly trust or belief,
faith requires a commitment to His truth,
it is a choice, it is a confident expectation of good.
Faith is more than a belief that God exists,
even the demons believe that.
Faith is the anchor of our heart in another Kingdom,
a belief in a superior reality that expects the goodness and power
of God to manifest in us, for us and through us.

Sometimes it is an effort, sometimes it is patience,
but faith is never stagnant, it is never in a doctrine.
It is not a 'way' to believe, it is belief itself.

The author of Hebrews addresses this in chapter six:
"..we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness
to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.
For when God made a promise to Abraham...
He swore by Himself, saying:'Surely I will bless you and multiply you.'
And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise
unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath...
in which it is impossible for God to lie...so that we, who have fled for refuge,
might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,
a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf...."

God cannot lie, He swore an oath by His own Name
that His promises are true.
He swore this oath so that we could put a stake in the ground
and hold fast to His promise.
Faith is an anchor when we are faced with the trials of this life.

At the heart of faith is a rest and assurance,
but we can never truly rest when we doubt His promise,
nor be 'assured' if we think that God is the source of our trials.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1)

This Blog is not a 'hang-in-there' encouragement,
it is an exhortation to BELIEVE!

Faith in His Name!

At the Radical Gospel Monday Night Meeting,
when we lay hands on the sick or prophecy in the Spirit,
we are incredibly mindful of who's power is at work through us.

When a person is healed as we pray, sometimes in astonishing ways,
we become humbled by the awesome privilege to be used of God
as a transmitter of His virtue.
When the evidence of a healing manifests before our eyes there is
no way any reasonable person could take the credit for it.

Yet, it is the tendency of man to look at the individual through
who's hands (or prophetic word) the miracle came about. (and it always
gets a little disconcerting when the individual who prayed thinks it is 'about them').

The first officially recorded healing in in the post-Pentecost church is found in
the third chapter of the book of Acts. Peter and John declared healing over the
lame man at the Temple, "...in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk!"

An astounded crowd gathered around them and when Peter saw this
he had to teach, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare
at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made this man walk....
...His Name, by faith in His Name, has made this man strong whom you see
and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this
perfect health in the presence of all of you."

At Radical Gospel we believe that faith in the Name of Jesus is at work in our
midst. We believe that this same faith, 'which is through Jesus' is not a special
blessing upon any man or woman or ministry,
it is a faith that is with-in the spirit of every believer.
It is a faith that grows and develops in an atmosphere of His Presence.
It is a faith that is encouraged by the agreement of many. It is a faith that only
requires a turning from doubt to 'belief'. It is a 'faith which is through JESUS' so
that all men may know that it isn't about them, not their lack, nor their own power.

We believe that the miraculous is normal Christianity. The more people who
see the miraculous through their own hands, the more we will get the over the
idea that it is 'about' one individual or one ministry.
We are committed to equipping His People in the supernatural for this reason:
We believe that God poured out His Spirit to empower a People who are called
by His Name in order to be a blessing upon the earth!

At Radical Gospel we hold the absolute conviction that we are not special,
but we are His People!

You are His People!

In His radical NAME!,
Ray

Meeting every Monday Night at 7pm at the facilities of the Open Door Church in Petaluma.
(click on the 'itinerary' page for directions)

Faith in intimacy

"This God - His way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true, He is
a shield for all those who take refuge in Him." (King David in: 2Samuel 22:31)

David had a quite a few troubles in his time on earth. He created some of his challenges all by himself and some were thrust upon him by the madness of kings and men.

But David had an absolute conviction; God was good, God was faithful to His promise
and God backed him up.
David believed this even though he lived under an inferior Covenant.

God hasn't changed, He is still the God of David...David simply saw beyond the Law of
Moses and looked into the heart of the Father.
God did change His Covenant though, that is why it is called NEW.

In this New Covenant in His blood we do not need to strive to look beyond the Law
to see the Father. God took the Law away so that we might be able to realize a relationship of intimacy with Him that is based on faith.

"If God is for us, who or what can stand against us?, He who did not even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not also give us all things with Him?" (Romans 8:31-32)
"For all the promises of God find there YES in Him. That is why we can shout AMEN through
Him, to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Our faith through Christ shouts AMEN to His promise; and that kind of faith brings Him glory.

"This God - His way is perfect!"