Having Faith For Someone You Love

 We love Him because He first loved us.

I John 4:19

Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone who believes more in you than you believe in yourself? Has someone seen your future before you saw it and wanted that future for you before you wanted it? If so, you have been deeply loved.

To be deeply loved means someone has had faith for us before we had faith.  Someone else can love us so much that they believe for us until we can believe for ourselves.

We love Jesus because He first loved us.  A part of His love was to have faith for us before we had faith.  He believed we could be forgiven before we even knew we needed to be forgiven.  He believed we could be redeemed before we even knew we needed redeeming.

Anyone who looked into the eyes of Jesus would have seen pure love inspired by perfect faith.  They would have also seen someone looking back offering to share that faith and love.

I believe that one of the thieves that hung on a cross next to Jesus looked into the eyes of Jesus and saw pure faith and love.  When he looked into Jesus’ eyes he received the faith and courage to say, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”  Jesus lovingly responded “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”   Jesus’ faith came before the thief’s faith. Jesus’ faith became the thief’s faith.  The thief was able to ask because Jesus by faith and love had already seen him together with Him in paradise.

Whatever faith we have comes from the faith and love Jesus had concerning us.  Whenever we love someone who has no faith, we offer them our faith before theirs is born in them. In doing this we are one with Jesus’ faith and love.

Faith and love give birth to faith and love.  Jesus not only died for us when we were still His enemies.  He believed for us when we could not believe. Truly faith is a gift from God to us in Christ.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Resilience

Resilience seems to be the hot word for these turbulent times.  Resilience is the quality one needs to adapt to a constantly changing world.  It is the quality one needs to face and overcome the 24/7 news cycle of each day.  Without resilience nothing survives.

Jesus was way ahead of His time.  In fact, Jesus was from before time!  Jesus is the very source and definition of resilience.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In the Sermon on the mount Jesus defines resilience using one of the most necessary elements of life-Salt.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."  Matthew 5:13

Men step on anything that is not resilient.  Just take a drive through a city with a depressed economy that once thrived and you will see what being trampled underfoot by men looks like.

Every Christian can and should be resiilient because the very essence of resilience is Christ within.  One day at a time every disciple of Jesus can be renewed and resilient.  Jesus is bigger than any change that mankind faces. 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Jesus Christ Only

The Apostle Paul reached a place dealing with believers where he knew that the only focus He could use to help them calm down and grow was a Jesus Christ only focus.  Here is how he put it in his own words:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I Cor. 2:1-2

Paul’s only  Jesus Christ focus included two very important parts. First, he focused believers on who Jesus Christ really is.  Second, he focused them on what Jesus Christ really did.

Focusing a Christian only on who Jesus is and what Jesus did seems too limited.  It seems like the Christian would never be able to become what the Father wants with such a limited focus. 

It may seem that way at first, but anyone who has learned Jesus for who He is and what He did will never say it is not enough.

Paul came to this conclusion because the Scriptures and his own experience with who Jesus is and what Jesus did was the only thing that calmed him down and made him grow. He was the one who wrote “Jesus is all and is in all.”  Col. 3:11

It would be wonderful if the churches of today thought this highly of Jesus again.

Bud McCord

Abide International