An Invisible God

(Luke 18:42)  “And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well."”

To live on God’s Word who is invisible requires faith and heaps of it. It’s only a fool or a madman that would expect a result which was totally contrary to the laws governing a certain outcome. Who walks into a supermarket, fills a trolley and then proceeds to the till without a cent in their pockets to pay for the purchase? Faith requires this kind of reasoning from us, the Christian believes words penned into a book and then acts on them. “Faith the substance of things hoped for” – Because I believe God at His Word I end up living by faith, remove that persuasion and I will never be capable of manufacturing true faith. God said it so I believe it! We must never mistake misguided faith or superstition beliefs under the same heading. Sports Commentators often say “I don’t want to put the “mockers” on him”. What they imply by that is that they have the ability to influence the outcome of a certain situation just by what they say. They may say “he is tearing it up out there and batting beautifully” and then the very next ball the very same batsman is caught on the boundary and dismissed. They then claim that they had an influence on his outcome, really! They say “I didn’t mean to put the “mockers” on him”. This type of mentality is endemic amongst so many of us; we believe we have the power to influence so many differing outcomes, when in fact it has already been predetermined by God. Although this isn’t faith per say, it’s a form of the power some believe in beyond the hidden. What we must do is learn to walk by faith, trusting in His ability to protect us from harm and to pave the way and not the other way around. Faith in the voice of God is what must drive the Christian and nothing else.   

At times it would be easy to claim something as a given as we mouth off certain truths that we unpack in scripture, but quite another facet altogether to prove it by our example. To follow the Apostle Paul’s model, to imitate him in so much as he imitated Christ. The hearer is never vindicated but the doer shall be justified.

Faith will and must be tested, so that we may prove to ourselves what substance the faith we claim is made of. “The just shall live by faith”! There must be evidence to faith, or our claims are unfounded, an appearance of godliness with no power attached to it. God help us to understand the severity of it all. Grace is needed to apply faith into our lives, and grace is freely available. We have been instructed to come BOLDLY to the throne room of grace and seek out as much as is needed for each and every trying event in our lives. Praise God, there is more than enough grace to go around. This room cannot be seen, nor is it tangible and yet it is right before my eyes I can touch it, I have been strengthened from its source of supply more times than I can number. And yet sadly I have passed it by on occasion when I needed it most, my faith was now replaced by unbelief. But praise belongs to Jesus, Christ in us once again drives the Christian in faith as He picks us up from the dirt and we dust off our knees.

When the Lord Jesus patrolled the earth as a man, how often did he say “your faith”…? You see, faith is needed prior to victory and it will never be the other way around. If it was then I would be driven by sight, results in what I see prior to believing. Thomas believed God because he saw Jesus resurrected. There could be no uncertainty and there was no doubt in his mind. He had the proof and it equipped him for what was to come in his life and who knows the depths of what he actually had to endure, God knows! Today's Christian does not have the resurrected Jesus standing before us and audibly giving us instructions, but we certainly have the written Word of God to instruct our actions. FAITH MUST BE WORD BASED. The Bible and the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) drives our faith.

Faith in God’s Word is needed in order for us to believe and live in such a way that it turns the heads of those looking on, why do I fluctuate in my ability to walk by faith? The lure of my surrounding become bigger than my faith at any given time and I begin to suffocate from the burden set before me. Praise God that when I become aware of this, its a warning for me to take note and to cry out unto my God and Father in the magnificent name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour and I am soon reminded to pick up the shield of faith, which will extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

Yes we serve an invisible God for now, faith demands this from us, but soon, very soon, we will see our God in person and what a day that shall be! Until then, may we continue to provoke one another to good works in the spirit of love with an even greater urgency as we see that day approaching and let us never forget to come together as Christians spurring each other on to the finish line in faith.

Signing off

Tyrone