Real faith is way, way more than just an organized set of beliefs. It is a lifestyle that delights God and empowers the life of the Believer. True faith is durable, intimate and joyful.
True faith is durable. A durable faith works to sustain hope in God’s goodness… even if circumstances tempt us to look for better elsewhere or to give up hope altogether. This kind of faith doesn’t get taken off and saved for special occasions… it isn’t held in reserve like a pair of dress shoes for Sunday mornings or spiritual events. Real faith is durable so that it is useful… like a solid pair of work boots. Our most difficult relationship, our most trying experience, our greatest blessing or most painful disaster… durable faith meets these challenges while God transforms us for our good and his glory in spite of the difficulties. Enduring faith… faith that draws on the life of Christ, that accepts hopefully the pruning of the Father, that stays connected no matter what… doesn’t just get us by, it keeps us connected to God so he can turn it all into fruitfulness. Jesus calls his Disciples to “abide” in him like a branch abides in a vine… they must remain attached and drawing life from Jesus. Our greatest, most useful effort is to hold on.
True faith is intimate. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The vine gives us its life. In a body, the blood supplies the nutrients, and cleanses the body, carrying away what is spent and used up. It is the blood that protects the body from infection. These are facts… that we are unaware of these processes in our own bodies and take them for granted as we go about our day’s activities doesn’t change anything… the processes go on anyway. The question each day is, what will we do with the energy the blood supplies to our body. What if the blood that flowed in our bodies wasn’t ours? What if it was supplied directly from the heart and body of Jesus… giving us life, energy, warmth and protection? This is the sense that Jesus is trying to convey with the picture of the vine and branch. If we have identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus… if we have chosen to hand ourselves over to Him to put what is old and ruined in us (the old self) to death and to resurrect a new life in its place… the blood that flows in us is not ours, it is His! If we try to live without it we will simply die. If we use its power to live for ourselves we will live without fruitfulness.
Faith that is durable and intimate bears fruit, just as a branch connected to a vine produces grapes. Since no plant produces fruit for itself to eat, the analogy implies that the purpose of my spiritual fruit is to sustain life and faith in others. Lives that refresh and bring joy to others, including God, are lives that are themselves joyful. True faith is joyful!
If your faith produces a life in you that sustains and refreshes others, you have a faith that is robust! If your joy in Jesus brings joy to those around you, yours is a faith that will build family, friendships and a community. It is a faith that is true and glorifies God!
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Pastor Dave Harvey, who has served as pastor of Grand Marais Evangelical Free Church since February of 2008.
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