Help Thou mine Unbelief...the Wayfarer 6/26/14

Help Thou mine Unbelief
6/26/14

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

(Mark 9:23 & 24)

One night,  at GF, I was privileged to be fed through the sermon delivered by our associate pastor.

One major point that is regularly made by this brother is the continued and constant need to have the true communication with God through prayer; and that without that prayer, faith, and true faith cannot be found.

In the opening verses I returned to the miracle performed by Christ as described in Mark, though there are numerous examples of those miracles performed by Him throughout the gospels.

 The statement, made by Jesus ,to this father of a child possessed by an evil spirit, is reflective of that very need for faith, and the means to attain that faith spoken of so eloquently by my brother last evening.

All things are possible to him that believeth!  Without that belief, without that same humble request made by that father so long ago for his child in the way it was made, hope rests only in the visible, historic, and fallible teachings of mankind alone.

My brother made the point again last evening, that evil, absolute evil, demonic evil, still exists in this world.

As I continually find the references to that evil throughout the scriptures, with no passage that references its total removal until the return of Christ, I am in complete agreement with him on this subject as well as many others that our “scholars” will contend with and deny.

As I have previously stated many times and will state as often as the need arises, to deny any of the things taught by Jesus, is to deny all of the things taught by Jesus. We are not at liberty to pick and choose what falls comfortably within the parameters taught by the “Ologies” that have taken the place of the scriptures through the campuses of our colleges and even our seminaries.

Faith must come from having experienced, first hand, that which empowers that faith. That empowerment comes only through belief, which allows the Holy Spirit to grow and direct that faith.

Faith in the things of man is easily found, easily confirmed by the activities of men. Faith in men’s teachings and laws has been and is accepted almost universally, yet remain fallible for all that is visible and known by the senses to be true, known to be true because our science tells us that it has to be, through long and argumentative assertions of events caused by action, and reaction to the action.

The application of the teachings of God, as found in the scriptures; the teachings and promises left through  them by his Son; is not viewed with the same consideration that equally applies so well of action, reaction and consequence of action that began with the very creation of mankind.

 Faith indeed requires belief!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

(Hebrews 11-1)

Substance is often viewed in the same manner of all else, what is seen and felt, heard, smelled, or tasted.

 In other words, the things available only through the sensations of the senses of a physical body.

Faith cannot and will not fall within that narrow definition of life and what mankind directs most if not all his attention toward.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

 That includes the assurance of the soul that inhabits the flesh that senses the physical, longs for the spiritual, yet often denies the spiritual in favor of the physical, because it is so readily apparent to that body of flesh.

It is within that soul, only, that faith may come to exist, that belief may take root, that joy and peace may be found... that exceed the pleasures of that physical flesh and exist not momentarily, but for an eternity.

Paul had a great deal to say about faith, both in this chapter just quoted from, and in every other epistle he wrote as well.

This stringent stressing of faith was not without reason.

It is only through faith that we have hope of the resurrection and eternity with God.

That brings me back to belief.

Belief is an easy thing to profess. That father that approached Jesus for the healing of his son, could have ended his statement with “I believe”.

The statement would have been accurate… to a point… as he had shown at least some of that belief by coming to Jesus with his request to begin with.

However, we find he did not end that statement with those words, but asked instead for help with his unbelief, knowing the proclivity of his human mind not to accept the belief held that was asked of him.

When prayers appear to go unanswered, too many… they forget to ask in faith believing.

Prayers are not even given by many….Faith and belief are foreign concepts to a human mind wrapped only in its five senses of the body containing it, denying the soul that inhabits both it and that body.

Again, profession of belief alone is not adequate. That belief, if it exists, must and will manifest itself in the life of the holder of that belief; who in turn will continually seek all the harder, for more of that faith and belief.

“He that believeth of the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record God gave of his Son.”

(1 John: 10)

If we believe the record given us of God’s son, we must believe all of that record. If we believe His teachings, we must believe all His teachings.

If we believe, then that belief must be shown through lives as well as words that honor the single commandment left us by Him, that seek to accomplish that one Great commission left us by Him.

To achieve faith, belief is required, to achieve belief, one must first seek it, acknowledge its existence and continually search for more of it.

The miracle done that day of the opening scripture was not the last or greatest done by our Savior. Miracles did not cease to exist and continue to do so this day.

The greatest of all miracles is the love still available and still shown those who hear and heed the message left us by Christ:

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Those professing belief must first receive that belief through having heard and heeded this simple message of redemption through repentance… and take action on that message ,through prayer asking as did that father for help in overcoming the inherent disbelief of a creature wishing only to believe in himself after having thrown away perfection for fallibility and imperfection, when Adam decided that Eve had to be right about that fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

The fruit of that knowledge brought with it death, and all the turmoil and troubles that will and must continue until the day that will be acknowledged only through faith and belief comes to pass, when that perfection is to be restored for those having that faith, through having believed.

I close in prayer that more find their way to ask, just as did that father, with a contrite spirit and broken heart, as he evidenced through his tears for yet more belief, yet more faith, and then having asked, take action to show that faith and belief even as they continually seek more of it.

I remain, who I am, who I must be, still and yet, nothing more than a simple sinner saved by grace through faith, having achieved that faith through belief and asking continually for more of that belief; that that faith might grow yet stronger.

I remain also, that simple servant and soldier, chosen to reiterate over and over the words of my Savior, the words that bring comfort, through faith given only with belief in Him, and Him alone, for there is no other name by which we may be saved than that of my  own Savior…Jesus!

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer