Faithful on Fridays Blog

When Jesus walked this earth He performed many signs, wonders, healings, and deliverances to prove His identity; it was necessary to give evidence to people that He was truly God. The disciples were used to that, it was His MO, yet were rebuked for not believing in His resurrection until they saw it. You have to wonder about God; is He inconsistent or unpredictable? How are we to know when to see and believe and when to believe without seeing?

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord. Acts 5:12a, 14a

See what I mean? We’re back to seeing and believing: so which is it?

Philip entered the scene in Acts 8:4-8 preaching, proclaiming, and performing healings and deliverances; know what happened? The crowds paid attention and there was much joy in the city! See and believing.

Even Simon the sorcerer turned from his magic when he saw the signs, heard the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ declared (vs. 13); he believed and was baptized.

As a new believer Saul (Paul) increased in strength or empowerment from God and proved that Jesus was the Messiah (Acts 9:22). That proof built up the church, they walked in the fear of the Lord, and comfort of the Spirit and it multiplied (vs. 31)! Yet it was Paul who commanded us to ‘walk by faith and NOT by sight’! See my dilemma?

Peter healed Aeneas from complete paralysis and rose Tabitha from the dead (9:34-41); guess what happened. Many believed in the Lord. 

This seems to be an issue of spiritual maturity. Supernatural signs from God get people’s attention, prove His power and authority, but they’re lower stories. New Testament faith isn’t grounded in signs but in divine persuasion and certainty (upper story) that God is real even when you don’t see Him. When we grow up into Him in every way (Eph. 4:15) not being like children (Heb. 5:11-15) but grow in grace, knowledge, and understanding (Col. 1:9-10; 2 Peter 3:16-18) we experience New Testament faith. 

As we minister to people who are sick, oppressed, or need a miracle we rest in faith to believe without seeing and just obey. What if God doesn’t heal or come through with the miracle? It’s not up to us to prove God’s power: it’s His. We obey and trust in His ability to minister to people through us at His discretion.

Signs and wonders are gifts of the Spirit that are needed today in all forms, even those we don’t understand or haven’t experienced. 

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12:7, 11 NLT

Our discussion today is another one of those emotional outbursts we find listed in Eph. 4: clamor. Now seriously, who uses this word clamor and yet if you’ve had kids you’ve seen it: a temper tantrum. This word is only used one time in the context of sins to avoid:

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31 ESV

A two year old throws himself on the floor, screams, kicks, even pulls their hair, and cries. Not sad, tearful, heart-breaking cries but defiant, angry, or raging cries. Don’t kid yourself, clamor can be experienced by everyone to some degree. We may not throw ourselves on the floor but screaming, harsh words, and maybe even throwing something can occur; the Greek word for clamor is where we get the word ‘crazy’. 

As I researched this Bible-word I was surprised to see it used in many ways and not all negative. Jesus was approached by a woman whose daughter was demonized and she cried out, krazo, to Him in grief, wailing, and needing mercy (Matt. 15:22), a father cries out (krazo) for his son who is demonized to the point of death (Mark 9:24) and begs Him to help, and finally the demon cries out (krazo) and leaves the boy.

This crazy word shows us that if we’re going to let our emotions go to extremes it shouldn’t be because we didn’t get our way but because we need God to intervene. In those stories God came through for passionate people crying out to Him, consequently, He’ll come through for you as well.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16 NLT

That’s not like a phone call to your dad; that’s a heart-wrenching, grief-filled, cry from the depths of your heart that expresses your passions to a God who is also your Father. The Holy Spirit, then, takes those cries and reassures you of that truth. How comforting.

Jesus understands those emotions we experience because He also experienced them:

While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the One who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. Hebrews 5:7-8 NLT

So, clamor and act crazy? No, not as a release of anger or self-centeredness; avoid that, however, go ahead and release those emotions to God and believe that He understands and will intervene for you. Also, remember that when He returns there will be no more krazo; our crying will be ended (Rev. 21:4).

After His resurrection Jesus made several appearances; first to Mary Magdalene followed by His ten disciples. She announced ‘I’ve seen the Lord’ and subsequently He appeared in a locked room: supernaturally. The disciple’s declaration was the same; ‘we’ve seen the Lord’ but when Thomas heard about it he declared unless he saw Jesus’ himself he’d ‘never believe’. Lest we’re too hard on Thomas he wasn’t alone in this declaration, earlier the ten had said the same thing! (Mark 16:11)

Jesus, being a God of second chances, appeared a second time to the disciples but directed his conversation to Thomas, the twin, whose last name means double or twice. Hmmm. Double-minded people waver back and forth between belief and unbelief, and Jesus rebuked all of them for their hard hearts. 

When things are going well it’s easy to believe God’s promises; when trials arrive it’s not as easy. It was necessary for these first believers to stand strong in faith because it was their testimony that would transform many lives as the gospel spread.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” … but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. John 20:29b, 31 

There’s a blessing of joy filled with glory during our times of waiting, believing, and anticipating His Word to be fulfilled and it builds our faith: it’s New Testament Faith. Blind, enduring faith was never meant to be easy but be assured, there’s a blessing in it,

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 

New Testament believers can trust God with blind faith because it’s Holy Spirit driven as the early believers found out. Peter healed a lame man in this powerful Name of Jesus which caused quite a stir (Acts 3-4) among all the people.

And His name—by faith in His name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Acts 3:16 

Peter preached faith in His name, assurance that He is who He said He was, and many heard his words,

But many of those who had heard the word believed … Acts 4:4a

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17 

The power of the gospel emerges from our heart to our words; let’s share it.

Rage

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 NIV

Quite a list, wouldn’t you agree? If your desire is to live the higher life, kingdom living, then you must progressively die to the flesh and live according to the Spirit. 

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Colossians 3:8 NLT

Let’s discuss rage, that jet-fast boil of emotion that has a cause and effect. When Herod was tricked by the wise men after the birth of Christ, scripture tells us he was enraged. If that was the cause, what was the effect? He had all the Hebrew boys under two years old slaughtered. Rage opens the door to murder, most often in your heart.

On another occasion Jesus declared Himself the fulfillment of scripture in a synagogue full of Jewish people. They became enraged, drove Him out of town and attempted to push Him over a cliff: cause and effect.

Interestingly, the two Greek words for this emotion mean to ‘kill the soul’. That’s what rage does: kills your heart, your mind, and your life. Controlling your temper is part of kingdom living, if you don’t control it, it will control you. So, where to begin?

Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. Colossians 3:9-10 NLT

The indwelling Holy Spirit gives you the power to reject those feelings of fiery passion and rage, eliminate them, and then teaches you how to live in peace. It looks different for everyone but one thing is required … you ask Him. Repent of the rage and receive His forgiveness by telling yourself, and God, the truth. Move on, renewing your mind with scripture, prayer, and strategies for dealing with those fits.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

Galatians 5:17, 22-24 ESV

Those two opponents, flesh and Spirit, will always be in the ring battling each other, however, the key is to be empowered by the greatest force in the world: the Holy Spirit. He’s your ticket to the higher life, kingdom living, God’s best for His children.

Convincing His disciples that’s He’s the promised Messiah hasn’t been an easy task but He completed that assignment. I have to chuckle as I read their reaction to His word pictures. He says ‘in a little while’ several times in John 16 so they’ll realize He’s leaving soon but returning again. They’re like, “What?! What’s He talking about?! We don’t get it!” So Jesus switched gears.

He chose the drama of a woman giving birth; she experiences extreme pain but the end result is so worth it. Well, that’s a little clearer but what does childbirth have to do with faith footsteps?

Jesus’ words show how essential it was for these first disciples to have faith and truly believe He was sent from His Father; they’ll need that assurance for their future assignment. Jesus wasn’t just a good teacher, a compassionate man, and a miracle worker but He was the Anointed One promised in the Scriptures (Luke 24:25-27). John records that phrase about 20 times, I am sent by the Father; He was emphasizing that truth.

“I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that You know all things and do not need anyone to question You; this is why we believe that You came from God.” John 16:28-30 ESV

I think that same scenario can happen to us. Situations look hopeless, relationships fall apart, money is tight, you name it, our faith weakens and we don’t understand either. Jesus reminds us as well, even though things aren’t going as you planned, you may be in physical or emotional pain, and you’re confused, He wants you to understand that He knows everything and you can trust Him. You pray, you wait, and your faith endures. His last words from this message of encouragement were, 

“Take heart, I have overcome the world.” 

If He’s an overcomer then you’re an overcomer since you have a divine union with Him.

Jesus went into a time of prayer after this last message and I’m so thankful John recorded it (chapter 17). The Father gave Him followers to hear His words and now they believe in Him. The faith footsteps of these men led them to the cross but also to the empty tomb. Now the mission is clear:

Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16 ESV

John closed his record with these words:

… these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31 ESV

We experience a new life of faith and a fresh desire to tell others.

Anger

Let’s be clear; emotions are a gift from God. He didn’t create robots; He created mankind with choices. One of those choices we face daily is how to respond to people who frustrate or hurt us, don’t meet our expectations, and possibly touch on our insecurities: anger. 

It’s fascinating how technology has tapped into emotions even though they’re emotionless. We’ve developed emojis (Japanese for ‘picture character’) to express ourselves, even anger, without actually speaking.  

Jesus experienced anger at hard-hearted leaders and remained sinless:

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Mark 3:5a NLT

He was frustrated and angry but he didn’t sin. Hmmmm. It seems that anger, your response to emotions, can be positive or negative: your choice. 

There’s always a deeper issue when you get angry and it’s your job to determine what triggered you. What was the underlying cause of your anger, bring light to it, and com-mun-i-cate!!! Did you sense my emotion? 

Chip Ingram writes that anger is a secondary emotion, a symptom, therefore, we must pursue the primary one, the trigger. Did we experience unmet needs, consequently, we’re hurt? Were our expectations unmet and we became frustrated or disappointed or both? Finally, Chip encourages us to evaluate if an attack was perceived or real. Could your insecurity trigger your emotion and anger is your reaction?

God’s Word speaks a clear warning to this emotion:

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 ESV

Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul. Proverbs 22:24-25 NLT

An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin. Proverbs 29:22 NLT

Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again. Proverbs 19:19 NLT

God also gives instruction in the New Testament to teach us how to handle our anger:

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:24b ESV

In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. 1 Timothy 2:8 NLT

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:19-20 NLT

Finally, God desires us to maintain a pure heart in the midst of strong emotion. So go ahead and be angry but don’t let it control your relationships, identify the cause and acknowledge it. Allow anger to lead you closer to God and not closer to your enemy.

 … don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT

John, the Apostle was the original mystic: deep thinker, deep lover, and deep writer, that’s why his gospel is unique. He alone recorded Jesus’ farewell sermon in chapters 14-16 which demands our faith footsteps go deep as well.

Jesus was preparing the disciples for His departure, traumatic as it was, but His words of encouragement and promise of the Spirit would get them through.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.” John 14:1 

The Son of God takes this last effort to help us understand the divine union of the Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One God yet three persons. If we believe in the Father then Jesus’ teaches we also believe in Him which leads us to believing in the Spirit who dwells in us forever: the divine union. The tense of this verb believe indicates a long-term commitment to actively taking the steps of faith.

Since Jesus returned to the heavenly throne He left the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a victorious life in Him, however, that faith, trust, and certainty we receive from God moves us to love and serve others in the same power of the Spirit. That’s undoubtedly why Jesus said,

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:10-12 

Four times He stressed believing in this divine union and four times He mentioned ‘works’. Why? Consider this: the works or deeds Jesus carried out while on earth gave proof that’s He’s God but also had the purpose of launching believers into the same ministry. As Jesus did nothing of His own authority, only what the Father showed Him (John 5:19-20), we carry out His ministry today in His authority and under the Spirit’s control. The same love and compassion Jesus possessed drives us to accomplish good works and even greater works.

… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 

As we walk in faith let’s ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the good works He’s ordained for us thereby glorifying God as we continually point to Him as the initiator. When we receive the praise of man … He doesn’t. 

… that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power. 2 Thessalonians 1:11

Revealed Royalty

Some of you may remember the movie Princess Diaries. A young girl was heir to the throne of the mystical nation of Genovia. The queen went looking for her in America and found a young woman who didn’t look like royalty, didn’t act like royalty, and most importantly, didn’t think like royalty. The queen revealed the rights and responsibilities of the throne to her. Are we that prince or princess? We know that God is King and we’re His children (John 1:12) but do we think and act like heirs to His throne?

Today I’m beginning a series on our spiritual authority. As I’ve been studying the Scriptures I have come to realize that most Christians don’t understand their God-appointed authority. If they do, they don’t use it. Authority (exousia) means we have been assigned power to influence those around us and this exclusive privilege is to be used at our discretion. 

God the Father clearly delegated spiritual authority to His Son, Jesus Christ, while He lived on this earth. This authority gave Jesus the right, as the Son of Man, to give evidence of His deity. Miracles, signs and wonders, healings and deliverances through this power to control and influence His environment was His proof. He was Who He said He was. Jesus repeatedly confirmed His authority (John 5:27, 17:2) and was scrutinized by the religious leaders of His day. Listen to their words:

When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to Him. They demanded, “By what authority are You doing all these things? Who gave You the right?” Matthew 21:23 

Surprisingly, Jesus wouldn’t tell them. They didn’t believe in Him therefore that privilege wasn’t available to them. Crowds of people who listened to Him preach the Sermon on the Mount also recognized this unique power. Jesus was teaching (Matt. 7:29) them as One who had the ability to reach into their hearts and bring transformation. Isn’t that what we need today?

Since the Father assigned this authority to the Son, Jesus therefore designated His followers with the same power to control or influence their world. Wow. Think about that. Jesus called His Twelve together and sent them out (Luke 9:1-2) to proclaim Kingdom Living and to heal those in need. He increased that number to over 70 (Luke 10:1-3), and again to 120 at Pentecost. It has gone into the world for over 2,000 years now and He’s still working among us.

Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven. Luke 10:19, 20 NLT

You are not the hidden royalty of Genovia. You are the revealed co-heir with Christ; we need to learn to think like royalty.

Fear causes many things to happen in your mind: none are good. You open yourself up to hopelessness, maybe conspiracy theories, but definitely believing the deception of the enemy. The Jewish leaders experienced fear as they observed Jesus’ signs and wonders proving He was the Messiah, consequently, fear drove them to believe lies instead of truth. 

John 11:47-48 is a provocative question of the Pharisees, “What are we to do?” They needed a plan to stop This Man and His signs … why? They feared everyone would believe in Jesus and the Romans would take away their Temple, financial support,  position in the community, authority, and much more. Jesus threatened their whole lifestyle because they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

How many people today continue to fear this loss of self-focus for a new God-focus? They may think the same way as the Pharisees; faith means loss of doing whatever I want, whenever I want. The interesting thing about faith is that Jesus changes our ‘wants’; His exchange brings true peace, joy, and love unlike anything we’ve experienced from the world.

As we enter the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, John 12, many believe in Him, Jews and Gentiles, therefore, the religious leaders needed to formulate a plan to rid them of that threat: arrest and death, that would do it.

Amidst the devious plan Jesus would not be circumvented; He would finish His assignment knowing there was a traitor in their company. 

“I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate My bread has lifted his heel against Me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am He.” John 13:18-19 

Jesus was, and remains today, all about faith and believing. He desires our hearts to be fully confident in Him and our life to express that certainty. 

Peter was no different than us but Jesus went before Him:

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32 

That prophecy expressed Jesus’ desire for our faith to remain strong as well but also when we fall, as Peter did, we repent or turn again and strengthen others. The gift of  the indwelling Holy Spirit, our power-source, means we can draw from Him in times of weakness; when your footsteps are at a crossroad call on Him for direction.

God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet He also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, His holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny. Romans 8:27 TPT