Staying Faithful

Christmas is approaching fast!  We set aside December 25^th to remember the day of our Savior’s birth.  In all of the busyness of our often “hijacked holiday,” let us take time to re-read and learn from, the passages reminding us of what was going on in the lives of the people involved.

Today I would encourage you to go and reread Luke chapter 1.  Think about Zacharias and Elizabeth.  Verse 6 lets us know that they were righteous.  They had faith in God, as we know from Romans 4 that all who are justified or “declared righteous” have put their faith in God, both in the Old Testament Times and the New Testament Times.  The also had a daily walk in their lives in which they were considered blameless when it came to keeping the Lord’s commands!

It is amazing that they kept this attitude, even when God had not seemed to grant them their wish of a child.  Because of not having a child, they bore the reproach of people around them (vs.25).  Many people of the day assumed there was a sin problem if God had made one barren.  The statement in verse 6 makes it clear that this was not the case.  In today’s society, I have met many people who give up on their walk of faith if God, who they look at as a Genie in a bottle, does not grant them their wishes.  As we study the customs of the priests serving in the temple, we realize that if Zecharias is indeed well advance in years along with his wife, that he would be approaching retirement age of 50 as prescribed in Numbers 4:30.  The priests usually only got one opportunity to go in and trim the candles,  burn the incense, and offer the blessing on the people yet he had served many years and never gotten this special opportunity.  Yet, they remained faithful!

Their faithfulness, as always, was worth it.  God would bless them with being the parents of the one who would come in the “Spirit of Elijah,” as the forerunner of the Messiah!  May we stay faithful no matter what we face in our walk of faith!

Sparks Highlights 4-11-12

****Sparks Highlights****    We have been learning over the last few weeks why Jesus can be trusted as our Savior.  Now, when we put our faith in Him as our Savior – what comes next?    We are told in John 3:16 that if we believe in Jesus as our Savior we will have everlasting life.  But Jesus also claims that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  The belief is more than just accepting that Jesus is who He says He is – it is about surrendering your life to Him.  When we truly put our faith in Him and understand to truly take to heart why Jesus gave His life for us on the cross, that belief is confessing our sin, turning our life to Him to let Him lead us and change us.  That is the being Born Again that Jesus is talking about in John 3 where we were studying tonight.  Your Sparkle’s caterpillar and butterfly are just an example of that change.  Caterpillars are a living being that changes itself into a butterfly – it metamorphoses in the cocoon to become a butterfly.  It is still the same living creature – it just looks different and acts different as a butterfly – it is born again in a sense as new appearance.  That is just like us when we let Jesus change us – we are still the same living creature, but when we are born again by our surrender and His changing us – we are the same living creature, but we act different – and look different to others when they see that change.  What a great time to make a change in your life, if you haven’t already – be spiritually born again this spring season – when the physical world around us is sprouting new life, so can you in Christ Jesus.   

You are welcome to join us anytime at Sparks!    You can also check out the AWANA program at           www.fbc.littletonil.org.    

Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder, Mr. Roger Fox, Mrs. Barb Stein.

OT Illustrations of the Just Living By Faith

Having seen the connection between Habakkuk and the theme of Romans "the just shall live by faith" we were challenged and have a greater understanding of the book of Romans, but our information does not end there.  On this side of the story we have the privilege to read of the saints who endured the captivity, the story of the remnants release, and the stories of their journeys home.  In other words, we get to see exactly how it all played out with the “just” lived “by faith.”  We read the stories and laments of Jeremiah, the prophet who stayed back in Israel, the stories of Ezekiel who was the prophet carried away, the four who refused to eat the meat of Nebuchadnezzar—three of which were thrown into a fiery furnace where four appeared and the other who was thrown to the lions, all without any harm.  We can read the story of Esther.  All of these stories were direct fulfillments of the prophecy put forth in Habakkuk 2:4 and can be carried into our understanding of Romans. 

The connection may not be so obvious at first, but if we keep Habakkuk in the back of our mind as we read Romans we will so more and more how it relates.  The structure of the epistle is such that justification and faith are defined in a prolonged explanation.  Indeed, this is what most of the first eleven chapters tell us.  To have in mind the real life examples given to us puts flesh to the bones of what would otherwise simply be doctrinal statements.  They are the life behind the definitions.  They are the stories that help us connect the dots and make direct applications to our personal lives.

It goes beyond this though too.  When we look at the end of Romans 8 we can scarcely make the connection between Paul’s words and those of Habakkuk 3.  Romans 8:33-39 (NASB)

33Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?36 Just as s it is written,“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
         WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  May we each have the faith of these Old Testament saints.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/users/churchoflittleton   FW # 66

The Just Shall Live By Faith - Habbakuk and Romans

Paul’s theme to the book of Romans is stated in 1:17 in the line, “The Just shall live by faith.”  Today this line resonates in the hearts of evangelical believers some nearly 500 years after the Spirit regenerated Martin Luther while he was in the privy and studying the book of Romans.  Indeed this short line rocked the world some nearly 1500 years after Paul wrote it in his epistle to the Romans.  But the fact of the matter is that Paul was merely quoting words penned some nearly 500 years before he was even born.  He was quoting Habakkuk 2:4 which is evident when he wrote, “As it is written.”  In order to understand better what Paul was trying to convey in the book of Romans we would do well to have some understanding of the book of Habakkuk. 

Habakkuk lived in that perilous time after Israel had fallen, and Judah was a weak nation far from the Lord.  Indeed, he was a contemporary of Jeremiah; however, whereas Jeremiah focused more on the people repenting Habakkuk focused more God’s apparent reluctance to judge his people.   He pleads in chapter 1 for God to intervene and stop the destruction, violence, and complete disregard of godliness, and God answers that Habakkuk will not be waiting long for his answer.  The Babylonians (Chaldeans) would soon charge through as the chastening hand of God.  The idea of the Babylonians, an even more vile nation than Judah, being the chastening hand of God was utterly repugnant to Habakkuk who stated such in the rest of chapter 1.   After he had made his case to God in 2:1 Habakkuk says, “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what he will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved.” (NASB). 

Well answer God did, and part of the answer was in 2:4 when he said to Habakkuk “The just shall live by faith” or “his faithfulness.”   The victory of the wicked would be short lived, to be sure.  One may argue that this doesn’t seem like much of an answer, but indeed Habakkuk’s perspective changed dramatically.  We get to see his answer in chapter 3, and the final verses are some of the most encouraging of all verses in scripture.  Habakkuk 3:16-19 (NASB)

¹⁶ I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

   For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

To be sure, the whole world could fall apart and Habakkuk’s resolve to serve the Lord had only been steeled. 

 May we all show the faith of Habakkuk.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/users/churchoflittleton FW # 65

Sparks Highlight 1-11-12

Kids and young people can make good decisions to serve and obey the Lord – such were three Hebrew young men named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They knew that that God did not want them to bow down to the golden statue of the king.  The penalty of disobeying the king was to be thrown into the fiery furnace.   The three young friends obeyed God, instead of the king, and refused to bow before the statue.  Under penalty of the law, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  But, God did not allow them to be burned or even harmed by the fire.  When the king looked into the fiery furnace he saw not three people, but four.  The king saw the fourth person, an angel of the Lord, sent to protect the three friends from the flames, to save them.  That is exactly what Jesus does for us.   He saves us from the fire – the Bible tells us there is a lake of fire that burns night and day for eternity apart from God.  That lake of fire is the place of punishment for the penalty of our sins, but when we accept what Jesus did on the cross and make him the Lord of our life, Jesus saves us from that punishment.  We continue to see the plan of salvation through the lives of ordinary people  - this time, three young men who obeyed and only served the Lord.  Read about them in Daniel 3.

You are welcome to join us anytime at Sparks!    You can also check out the AWANA program at           www.fbc.littletonil.org.     

Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder, Mr. Roger Fox, Mrs. Barb Stein.

Acnowledge God's Desire

Proverbs 3:5–8 (NKJV) ⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.  ⁸It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Solomon’s challenge here is to “Trust in the Lord”. This trust is characterized by total commitment in the phrase “with all your heart.”  When I am trusting God I am not reliant on my own wisdom, I don’t “lean on my own understanding.”  Rather, I become fully reliant on God “acknowledging Him” and choosing to do what is pleasing to God.  Our own pride causes us to “be wise in our own eyes.”  Yet, when I “fear the Lord” I will quit my sinful ways and turn to following His plan for my life.  Solomon here is calling for us to live in absolute obedience and surrender in every area of our lives.  Then we experience the “straight paths” or “directed Paths” which are in opposition to the crooked ways of the wicked or perverse.

I cannot try to live my life half for my own desires and half trusting in the Lord.  I have to get the same attitude as the psalmist in Psalm 119:113 (ESV) “¹¹³I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.”   Christ challenged us with this in Matthew 6:24 (ESV) “²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  And then again in Mark 12:30 (ESV) “³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The wise person is characterized by continuous contemplation of God and a ready observance of his will, not only in the great issues of life but also in day-to-day routine. No matter is too small for God’s attention. To paraphrase one commentator, it is self-idolatry to think we can carry on even the most ordinary matters without his counsel.^[1]

The final challenge in these verses is to “Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”  To revere the Lord and avoid evil gives us a second contrast between our human wisdom and God’s wisdom.  Unfortunately, when many people seek counsel they go and find counselors who will tell them what they want to hear.  It is rare to find individuals who will seek out counsel based upon the principles of God’s Word.

But for those who will be follow God’s desire and fear Him they are promised: God’s direction, health, and strength.  How many miss out on these blessing because they will not be obedient?

 May your life be one that is characterized as “Trusting in the Lord!”

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton  FW # 58

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^[1] Jim Newheiser, Opening Up Proverbs (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 61.