by Dr. Larry Ollison
Picture this. A young man is walking down a dark
street when he is approached by a large, mean-looking man who will not
let him pass. The young man isn't quite as physically fit as he should
be because he hasn't been exercising or working out. Seeing that he is
no match for the attacker, the young man says, "Excuse me just one
moment while I go home and work out with my weight set. Stay right here.
Don't move. I'll be right back. Then we will fight." At this point the
young man runs home, works out on his weights for 10 minutes and then
goes back to the dimly lit street and fights the attacker. He wins
because of his ten-minute workout.
It sounds silly, doesn't it? But that's the way many
Christians try to live their lives spiritually. They wait until Satan
attacks and then at the last minute try to exercise spiritually by
reading a few verses and praying under pressure. Any time we read God's
Word and applies it to our lives, it is good, but usually when the man
stops us in the alley or Satan attacks our home, it's too late to
exercise our body or our faith.
If our spiritual muscles aren't built up before the
attack, we may find the attack more than we had expected. Be prepared.
Build your faith daily. Then when the attack comes, your shield of faith
will protect you.
So here's the point. We must walk by faith each and
every day. We cannot live like the world six days a week and then put in
our two hours and two dollars on Sunday and expect that to be our
faith.
Walking by faith is a lifestyle. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Everything we do, everything we seek to accomplish, each day is to be in faith.
A few years ago, a friend of mind was facing a
disaster in his life. He was at the end of his rope and didn't know
where to turn. He had tried everything except God, but now he was
desperate. He would try anything to get out of the jam he was in. He
wanted me to tell him how to pray to God and how to get his prayers
answered.
Even though this man was a Christian, he always tried
to solve everything in his life by his own power. I knew that in order
for him to be helped, he needed some straightforward teaching and needed
to be shown these teachings in the Word.
I showed him that according to James 1:6, we must
pray in faith if we expect to receive anything from God. I told him that
when we pray according to God's Word, we must believe and expect God to
answer our requests.
A few weeks went by and I ran into this man at a
local store. When I asked him how things were going, he made an
all-too-common statement. He said, ”Well, I tried praying in faith, but
it didn't work. Somehow I knew before I even prayed it wouldn't and I
guess I was right.”
Well, you don't try faith. When we say we will try
faith, we are admitting that there is a chance our prayers won't be
answered. When we believe there is a chance our prayers won't be
answered, there is doubt. Where there is doubt there is no faith. Where
there is no faith, God is restricted by His own Word.
Sometimes I Cry
Daily Smile:
I have this big problem, doctor – everyone is calling me crazy just because I love hot dogs …
- That’s stupid, in my opinion – frankly, I adore hot dogs too, but nobody calls me crazy ...
- Really? Great, doctor! Why don’t you come along with me and I’ll show you my collection!
In The News:
Supreme Court Denies Prop 8 Backers' Request to Halt California Same-Sex Marriages
The U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday denied an emergency application filed
by the sponsors of California's Proposition 8 urging the court to
immediately halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses that resumed
Friday after an appeals court lifted the ban "prematurely," the
Christian Post reports.
Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, whose attorneys filed the
application Saturday on behalf of ProtectMarriage, the official sponsors
of Prop 8, said the Supreme Court declined to vacate Friday's
"premature order" from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in
the lawsuit concerning California's 2008 voter-approved marriage
amendment. The application argued the 9th Circuit's order prematurely
lifted a stay on a district court order that had declared the amendment
unconstitutional. Under Supreme Court procedural rules, "final
disposition" comes when the Supreme Court issues a "mandate" to the 9th
Circuit, at least 25 days after announcing its opinion in the case,
according to ProtectMarriage: "The 25-day waiting period is provided to
allow parties such as Prop 8's proponents to petition the Supreme Court
for a re-hearing of the case." Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
declined the request "even though court rules require the 9th Circuit to
wait for a certified copy of the judgment from the Supreme Court before
taking action," Alliance Defending Freedom said. "The high court has
not yet issued its certified judgment." Alliance Defending Freedom
senior counsel Austin R. Nimocks said: "Everyone on all sides of the
marriage debate should agree that the legal process must be followed.
The 9th Circuit made a clear representation upon which all parties
should be able to rely -- that the stay would remain in place until
final disposition by the Supreme Court.
No comments:
Post a Comment