Acts: Lessons In Faith

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Acts: Lessons In Faith





By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





One of my favorite lines about faith comes from the movie The Incredibles.



There’s a scene where a mom and her kids are on a plane that’s about to be blown apart. The mom calls on her daughter to put a shield around the plane, something bigger than she’s ever done before. The daughter panics and in her doubt she can’t do it. The plane explodes, but not before the mom grabs her kids to parachute into the water below.



Later, when the daughter apologizes, her mom responds:



“It isn’t your fault. It wasn’t fair for me to suddenly ask so much of you. But things are different now. And doubt is a luxury we can’t afford anymore, sweetie. You have more power than you realize. Don’t think. And don't worry. lf the time comes, you'll know what to do. It’s in your blood.”



There are times in our lives when it’s OK to doubt. But there comes a time in each of our lives where “doubt is a luxury you can’t afford anymore.” You either believe or you don’t, and the outcome depends on what you choose to believe. The truth is, as a Christian, you do have more power than you realize. When you put your faith in Christ, God puts a seed of faith within you. It’s in your blood.



My goal in the coming weeks is to strengthen your faith, to help you believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do.



If you’ve already put your faith in Christ, I want to strengthen the faith that’s already within you. If you haven’t yet put your faith in Christ, I want to help you get to the point where you can put your faith in Him.



I want to get you to the point where the Apostle Paul was at the end of the book of Acts.



Like the mom and her kids in The Incredibles, Paul was on a ship that was about to be blown apart. Hurricane force winds had pummeled his boat for days. The other men on the ship had given up all hope of being saved.



But just as the men think all is lost, Paul stands up and says:



“...keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (Acts 27:22-25).



And it did.



That’s the kind of faith God wants you to have, a faith that says, “I have faith in God it will happen just as He told me.”



In the coming weeks, I want to walk with you through the book of Acts, chapter by chapter, taking a look at the various ways faith expressed itself in the lives of the very first followers of Christ. Sometimes God called them to wait. Other times He calls them to stand up. Still other times He called them to speak, to pray, to give, to heal, to raise people from the dead.



My hope and prayer is that God will use this time to increase your faith to the point where you can say, like the Apostle Paul, “...for I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.”



If you want to get a head start, you can read Acts chapter 1 from the link below and take a close look at the very first thing Jesus tells the disciples to do in verse 4. It might surprise you, but it’s one of the greatest acts of faith we can express to God.



Let’s pray...



“Father, I pray that You would fill me with faith in the days ahead, a faith that can say, ‘I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.’ In Jesus’ name, Amen.”



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Today’s Scripture: Acts 27:25

http://www.biblegateway.com

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Faith Waits



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





I think it’s ironic, but fitting, that the very first thing Jesus

tells His disciples to do in the book of Acts isn’t an “act” at all.

He tells them to “wait.”



“On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this

command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’

” (Acts 1:4-5).



Wait. Wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. You see, without God, what’s the point of going on? If God’s called you to wait, waiting can be just as much an act of faith as doing. And not waiting can be your downfall.



When God promised to give Abraham many descendants, Abraham got impatient and got his wife’s servant girl pregnant instead. God said that their child Ishmael would have descendants galore, but that he would always be in hostility towards his brothers. When Abraham and his wife eventually had a child of their own, God blessed that child, Isaac, with many descendants, too. But unfortunately, the hostility between those two brothers has carried on for generations, even to this day, as present-day Muslims claim Ishmael as their forefather and present-day Jews claim Isaac as theirs.



God honors His promises, but there’s a price to pay for not waiting.



It’s hard to wait, I know. But I want to encourage you today, if God’s called you to wait, wait.



I remember one of the times when I was waiting on God. I felt that God had called me to go to Israel. Even though I didn’t know why, but I sensed it was important, so I went. After a few days of looking around Jerusalem, I began to wonder if God was ever going to show up at all. What was I waiting for anyway?



As I laid on my bed, I read this verse from Psalm 27:14:



“Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”



But I read it in the Amplified Bible, which gives even more detail about what the Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible mean. I love the way the Amplified Bible puts it:



“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord” (Psalm 27:14, AMP).



It changed my whole perspective. Instead of waiting idly and wondering if God would ever show up, I began to look forward to what God was going to do. The next day, God did show up in a powerful way. I met a pastor on the temple mount who was also visiting in Israel. He prayed for me that day, anointed me with oil, and spoke a prophetic word over me about my future life and ministry, including much of what I’m doing today.



The difference between waiting idly and waiting expectantly is the difference between sitting at home alone, wondering if anyone’s ever going to stop by, and sitting at home, waiting for the most important person in your life to walk through that door at any minute, because they called ahead and told you they were on their way.



If you’re not convinced that it’s worth it to wait, here are a few benefits of waiting:



You’ll sleep better, feel better, think clearer. You’ll be more content, less frustrated, kinder, gentler, more patient, more gracious. You’ll grow stronger, live longer, stand firmer. Here’s how the Bible puts it in Isaiah 40:31:



“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).



If God’s called you to wait, wait. Wait for the Lord.



“Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord” (Psalm 27:14, AMP).



Let’s pray...



Father, help me to wait on you with expectancy, looking forward to what You’re going to do at the end of the wait. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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This is a condensed version of this message. To read the full version, click here:

http://theranch.org/Faith-Waits-Full-Version.525.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 1

http://www.biblegateway.com

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Faith Acts



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





There’s a scene in the movie Spider-Man 2 where Spider-Man is swooping from building to building when suddenly he has a web failure. He crashes into the alley below, looks at his hands and says, “Why is this happening to me?”



He wonders if he’s losing his power. But it’s not true. He still has the same power he’s always had since he first got bitten by that supercharged spider. It’s in his blood. What he lacks is faith. He’s had some bad things happen to him and he’s ready to give up. He just wants to go back to being Peter Parker, a normal guy with a normal job.



But after a pep talk from his Aunt May, Peter goes back to being Spider-Man. >From the top of a building, he takes a flying leap over the edge, yelling, “I’m back! I’m back!” Seconds later, he looks down, panics, and plummets into the cars parked below. He stands up gingerly and says, “My back. My back.”



I guess he still has a ways to go! But he’s working on it, something that I want to encourage you to do today, too.



I’ve heard it said that faith is like a muscle, it gets stronger the more we exercise it. There was another Peter who exercised his faith on a regular basis, Peter the Apostle, the one who stepped over the edge of a boat to walk on water, but seconds later, looked down, panicked and began to sink. This is the same Peter who stood by Jesus the night he was arrested, saying he’d die for Jesus, but then denied that he even knew Jesus three times before the morning.



Some people criticize Peter for his lack of faith, but the truth is, he’s the only one who stepped over the edge of the boat and got to experience walking on water, even if only for a short time.



On the day of Pentecost, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples as He promised He would, the Bible says:



Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say...” (Acts 2:14).



Peter’s message was so powerful that three thousand were baptized and put their faith in Christ as a result.



How did Peter go from denying Christ to proclaiming His name to thousands? In short, he got his faith back. He’d seen Jesus raised from the dead, he waited when Jesus told him to wait, and he “got a dose of the Holy Ghost.” The combination was powerful, and when God told him to act, Peter stood up and boldly told the people gathered what he knew about Jesus.



Peter exercised his faith on a regular basis. And God wants us to do the same, even when asked to do a “little thing”-- bring a meal to a friend, visit someone in a nursing home, send an email to someone who needs encouragement, speak the truth in love, encourage your co- workers to do what’s right, instead of what’s safe, easy or more profitable.



God told a poor widow to gather empty jars from her neighbors so He could fill them with oil. God did the miracle, but she had to gather the jars (see 2 Kings 4). God told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River, something Naaman thought was too small to make any difference. But Naaman did it, and God healed him (see 2 Kings 5).



Jesus told the disciples they’d be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. When the day of Pentecost came, all Peter had to do was stand up and tell them what he knew about Jesus. God brought people from the ends of the earth to him (see Acts 2:5-12).



If God’s calling you to act, act--even if it’s just a little thing.



Let’s pray...



Father, help me to wait when you say, “Wait,” and to act when you say, “Act,” so I can accomplish all You want to accomplish through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



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This message is condensed from the series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith.”

To read the full version of this message, click here:

http://theranch.org/Faith-Acts-Full-Version.527.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 2

http://www.biblegateway.com

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God is a healing God, and He gave the power to heal not only to Jesus, and not only to the 12 disciples, and not only to the 72 He sent out to "Heal the sick..." (Luke 10:19). He gave it all who believe in Him: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name...they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (from Mark 16:18). Jesus wants you to pray for your family and friends.
Lesson 3 - Faith Heals

by Eric Elder

Good morning. Ready for another spiritual workout today? My goal in this whole series is to help you strengthen your faith, to give you ideas for how you can exercise your spiritual muscles so they can grow stronger and stronger.

There’s a guy I know who’s about as strong as they come. People first started hearing about him back in 1938, and in 1940 they started hearing from him on the radio, recorded live from a radio station in New York. Some of you may have heard him yourself as a kid. Here’s a clip from that very first radio broadcast on February 12, 1940.
ANNOUNCER: Boys and girls, your attention please! Presenting a new exciting radio program, featuring the thrilling adventures of an amazing and incredible personality. Faster than an airplane, more powerful than a locomotive, impervious to bullets. Up in the sky, look! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman! And now, Superman, a being no larger than an ordinary man, but possessed of powers and abilities never before realized on earth.”

Superman: a being no larger than an ordinary man, but possessed of powers and abilities never before realized on earth. It sounds like the Bible’s description of Elijah when it says that, “Elijah was a man just like us,” (James 5:17) but when he prayed for the rain to stop, it stopped, and when he prayed for the rain to come again, it poured.

Normal human beings endowed with supernatural power. Sounds like the stuff of comic books and superheros, but it’s the story of what every one of you can be when you put your faith in Christ. Jesus Himself said:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

We’ve looked over the last two weeks at what faith in Jesus can do. Sometimes faith gives us the power to wait. Sometimes faith gives us the power to act. Today, we’re going to see that there are times when faith gives us the power to heal.

We’re going to be looking at a story in the Bible from Acts chapter 3. But before we do, I want to say a brief word to those of you who may have lost someone close to you, whether recently or in the past. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.

I sat with my own Mom for the last three days of her life, after praying for her healing from cancer for ten years, and seeing her healed in various ways during that time. But there came a point when I shifted my prayers. I prayed that God would take her home. It was time. I prayed that He would give her a new body, that He would wipe every tear from her eyes. That He would take her to heaven, to the place where, as it says in Revelation 21:4, “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain...” And three days later, God answered that prayer. There’s a time to pray like that, I believe. For the Christian, death can be the greatest and most miraculous healing any of us will ever experience.

But there’s also a time to pray with all the strength and faith you have for God to heal someone, here and now, in the name of Jesus, and that’s what our passage is talking about today.

And that’s what I want to encourage each of you to do today as well, to pray for those around you, to pray with a faith that heals, powerfully and even miraculously, in Jesus’ name. Even though God hasn’t answered all my prayers the way I’ve wanted Him to, I haven’t given up hope praying for healing. Passages like the one we’re going to look at today encourage me to keep on exercising my faith.

If you’ll open your Bibles to Acts chapter 3, Lana’s going to come and read for you from verses 1 through 16.

As you look it up, I’d like to remind you that the book of Acts was written by Luke. Luke also wrote the book of Luke, which covers the life of Jesus from His birth to His death and resurrection. Luke went on to write the book of Acts to cover what happened in the weeks and months after Jesus rose from the dead.

I think it’s also interesting that Luke was a medical doctor. Paul describes him in Colossians 4:14 as “our dear friend Luke, the doctor.” And Luke uses more medical terminology than any other New Testament writer, saying, for example, that Publius’ father wasn’t just sick, but that he suffered from “fever and dysentery” (Acts 28:8). In the introduction to the book of Luke, which he wrote for his friend Theophilus, Luke says that he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning...so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (from Luke 1:3-4).

These are true stories carefully investigated by a medical doctor. Listen to what he has to say about the power of faith to heal.

Lana?

1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11 While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see” (Acts 3:1-16).

Look again at verse 16 with me. Peter tells us clearly how this man was healed: “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.”

Faith heals.

Who had the faith in this story? Was it the man on the ground? Not really; he was just asking Peter and John for money. It was Peter and John who were exercising their faith. It was Peter who said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” It was Peter who then took him by the hand, helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong....and the man went, and the song goes, “walking and leaping and praising God!”

There are a number of stories in the Bible where Jesus healed people directly Himself, like the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, and the doctors couldn’t do anything about it, but when she touched Jesus’ robes, she was healed because of her faith (from Luke 8:42-48). Or the story about the blind men who put their faith in Christ and were healed (from Matthew 9:27-30). Or the story where Jesus not only brought Lazarus back from the dead, but healed him of whatever killed him in the first place! (from John 11:1-44).

But what I want to focus on today is that the power to heal wasn’t confined to just when Jesus was with someone in person. We see in this story in Acts 3 that the disciples could tap into that same power by calling on Jesus’ name. In the book of Luke we see that the same power was extended beyond the twelve disciples where Luke 10:9 says, “Jesus sent out seventy-two others and told them to ‘Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’’”

And that the power to heal wasn’t confined to just those seventy-two, but to anyone who had faith in Jesus. Mark 16:17 records Jesus as saying, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Maybe you don’t want to speak in tongues or pick up snakes or drink deadly poison, but at least place your hands on sick people so they can get well!

Here’s what can happen when you have faith that Jesus can heal your friends. It’s a story in Mark, chapter 2, verses 1-12.
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, [a man who was paralyzed] carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Some people then questioned if Jesus had the authority to forgive sins, to which he responded in verse 9 :
9 “Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:1-12).

Whose faith was involved here? It says in verse 5, when “Jesus saw their faith,” He performed these miracles. It was not only the faith of the man that was involved, but the faith of the friends who so desperately wanted him healed, and believed Jesus could do it, that they cut a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was staying.

I think it’s also interesting to note that the friends brought the man to Jesus to be healed, but Jesus saw something even more important than healing that needed to take place. The man needed forgiveness. Jesus gave him what he needed most first, and the healing came later.

There are times when healing is the primary thing that God wants to do. But there are other times when the healing takes a back seat to something else that God wants to do.

I was in a car with a couple of friends one night when they told me the bad news: their doctor had just told them they’d never be able to have children. They had tried for years, but nothing worked. They didn’t know what else to do. I asked if we could pray.

We went to their house and talked and prayed, and talked and prayed some more. It turned out that one of them had gotten a sexually transmitted disease, which now both of them had. It made it painful for them every time they tried to conceive a child. Neither of them knew where it came from, and that pain and suspicion created a barrier between them.

As we talked and prayed that night, we prayed through a number of issues: forgiveness, for their love for one another, for their renewed trust in each another, and finally, when the night was almost over, for their physical healing so they could have a child.

It didn’t happen that month, or the next. But every time I talked to them, they were so grateful for the prayers and for what God had done in their marriage. Four months later, they called to say they were expecting, and one year and one month from the time we prayed, they had a baby boy.

God really does heal people when we pray for them in the name of Jesus, even when doctors say there’s no hope left. There’s always hope! But what I also saw demonstrated that night was that even when we pray for someone’s physical healing, God may have something else He wants to do first. For this couple, God renewed their marriage. The healing came later and was like icing on the cake.

I want to encourage you to pray for your friends. Not just at home, by yourself, but to pray for them out loud, right when you’re with them. Your prayers themselves can be incredibly encouraging. There was a time when Lana and I would hear someone say they they were sick and we would say, “I’ll pray for you,” then go home and pray. But we’ve shifted our prayers to where instead of walking away, we ask, “Can I pray for you right now?” and then pray for them right then.

Jesus said, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). Jesus wants us to pray, not just alone, but together.

Lana was talking to a friend on the phone one day when the friend said she was sick. Lana stopped and prayed for her friend right there on the phone. The friend couldn’t believe how powerful that simple prayer was. She had never experienced having anyone pray for her over the phone. She was so moved, that when one of her friends called to tell her she was sick, Lana’s friend began to pray for her on the phone as well.

For some of you, I know that praying out loud is foreign territory, whether on the phone or in person or in front of a group. But if there’s anything I can encourage you to do today it’s this: Pray for your friends, out loud, in front of them.

It’s great if you can tell them you’re praying for them and then go home and pray. But it’s even more powerful, more encouraging, more of a blessing, (and you’re more likely to remember!) if you pray for them right there, in person. It can be as simple as this: “Father, heal my friend in Jesus’ name, Amen.” “Father, heal my sister, in Jesus’ name. Heal my brother, in Jesus’ name.” It doesn’t have to be complicated or long, although it can be. But it does need to be done! God’s the one who does the healing, but He calls us to pray. As James says, “pray for each other so you may be healed” (James 5:16b).

In my ministry on the Internet, people often ask for prayer and I’ll pray for them, typing out my prayers as I pray so they can see them later when they get the email. I can’t tell you how often people write back and say they felt the presence of God overwhelm them in their office or in their home as they read that prayer on their computer screen. It doesn’t matter if it’s one line or ten or twenty. They tell me they’ve printed it out, saved it, reread it and posted it on their walls because of the power that they’ve felt as the prayer came through to them.

We as elders and church staff pray regularly for people to be healed in the name of Jesus. The Bible says, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14-15). If you want one of us to pray for you, there are always a few of us in the prayer room after each service, whether you want prayer for healing, or for anything. Stop by the prayer room or just stop any of us elders or staff in the hall or wherever you see us and we’ll be glad to pray with you.

The truth is that God wants you to be healed. The Bible says that Satan is the one who “steals, kills and destroys,” but Jesus came to give us abundant life (from John 10:10). He’s wired our bodies for healing. He’s put white blood cells in our bodies so they can fight infections. He’s put tear ducts in our eyes to water them regularly and keep them working properly. He’s designed the blood to coagulate when it comes in contact with air so that it forms a scab to stop the bleeding. He’s designed the skin cells to regenerate so that most of the cuts and scrapes we’ve gotten in our lives are erased entirely. If our bodies weren’t designed to be healed, we’d be amazingly ugly by now from all the scars!

I remember reading a book by Paul Brand called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made about how remarkable our skin is. Man has yet to come up with any material close to it. It breathes, it’s waterproof, it stretches, and when it gets cut, it repairs itself. This is the design of a Designer who is very much interested in your healing. Dr. Brand says that when he and other doctors put stitches in, the stitches aren’t doing the healing, they’re just holding the skin close enough so it can repair itself as it was designed to do.

As I read the Bible, there are times when God allows sickness and suffering for a higher purpose, like in the case of Job, or the case of the man who was crippled from birth, to bring glory to God. But the default setting on our bodies is that we be healed, stay healed, and in the original design, live forever! Anything other than that is from this fallen world, from the work of Satan, from our own destructive behaviors, or at times from the higher purposes of God.

But in general and on the whole, God wants us to be healed. He calls us to be healed, and He calls on us to pray for each other so we may be healed.

Lana had a woman “stand in the gap” for her one time, praying for her when Lana didn’t know how else to pray. After our third child was born, we began to have a series of miscarriages. Four miscarriages later, we didn’t know what else to do. We were trusting God, but getting extremely discouraged and physically and emotionally drained.

Lana went to a youth conference as a youth sponsor. The speaker for the week had seven boys. He said he and his wife were glad to pray for anyone who wanted more children. Holding her newest baby in her arms, the speaker’s wife prayed for Lana that day and told her she’d stand in the gap for her.

A few months later, Lana conceived again and carried the baby to full-term. After he was born, Lana wrote to the woman to tell her we had a little boy named Josiah born on May 21st. When the couple got the letter, they called us back immediately, so encouraged in their faith. It turns out the baby the speaker’s wife was holding in her arms that day was also named Josiah, and was also born on May 21st, exactly one year before ours. They stood in the gap and prayed for us, but were blessed back at a time when they needed encouragement, too. Your prayers for others can come back to bless you, too!

I’ve shared this story with some of you before about the day God called me into full-time ministry on Valentine’s Day, 1995.

A friend of mine had called me to see if I would fly to Houston to pray for one of his friends named Missy who was dying of cancer. She was at the end of what the doctors could do for her and Missy and her husband didn’t have much hope left. I asked God what He wanted to do and felt He said He wanted to heal her, so I flew to Houston.

My friend picked me up at the airport and we went to Missy’s home. I talked with her and her husband about all they’d been through, what the doctors had said, and all the people they’d had praying for them.

I began to tell Missy stories about how God had worked through me and through the Bible. She told me of stories she’d heard and read about. When it got time to pray for her, even though I thought it was obvious what she needed, I asked, “What do you want me to pray for you?”

She surprised me when she said, “I want to hear from God. I’ve been a Christian for all these years and I’ve never heard God speak to me. I’ve never heard His voice. What’s the use of being healed of cancer if I can’t hear Him speak? I want to hear from God.”

So that’s what we prayed. Then we prayed for her healing, too. I was so full of faith, I was hoping to see those lumps of cancer fly off her body. At midnight, I felt God said I was done, it was time to go home. I started to protest... “But God, the cancer?” But I didn’t know what else to do or pray, so I went home.

I called Missy later that week to see how she was doing.

She said, “Eric, I’ve never been sicker in my whole life.” But then she said, “But Eric, I can’t explain it. I don’t even want to tell my friends because they’ll think I’m crazy, but for the first time in my life, I believe I’ve been healed. I went to hear a speaker and you wouldn’t believe what the topic was for the night. It was all about how long and high and wide and deep is the love of God for each one of us. It was the first time I’ve really felt that God loves me. I felt like God was speaking directly to me.”

I said, “Missy, I believe you’ve been healed. God healed your heart on Valentine’s Day.”

I kept praying for Missy’s physical healing, but she died two months later. But there’s no doubt in my mind that God answered our prayers. On the day she died, she was healed more completely than she ever could have been here on earth. And now she hears from God every day.

Your prayers for your friends are important. When people are ill, they often have doubts, wondering what they might have done wrong, or why God is allowing this to happen to them. Like Missy, some people feel that God must not love them anymore because of their illness. That’s when your prayers can make all the difference in the world.

When the time comes for me to die, I sometimes think it would be nice to be taken in an instant. But one of the benefits, if you could call it that, of being diagnosed with something that could potentially kill you, is that it gives you time to say goodbye. Time to make things right with God. Time to make things right with the people around you. Then if He heals us here and now, hallelujah. But if He heals us later when He takes us home, hallelujah, too. Either way, you win. You can’t lose when you put your faith in Christ.

And you can’t lose when you pray for healing for your friends, praying in faith in Jesus’ name.

Even if we were as strong as Superman, it doesn’t mean we still don’t have our bouts with healing in our own lives. Even Superman was subject to the weakening effects of Kryponite, which would make him weak and could potentially kill him. In the 1978 movie Superman starring Christopher Reeve, there’s a scene where Lex Luther, which sounds very similar to me to Lucifer, another name for Satan, puts a chain of Kryptonite around Superman’s neck and pushes him into a pool.

Later, Lex Luther’s assistant shows up, and although she has no supernatural power of her own, she could lift the Kryptonite off Superman’s neck if she wanted to. Superman asks her to help him so he can go and stop two rockets from blowing up millions of people. Drowning, he says, “Please, you can’t just stand there and let millions of innocent people die.” To which she responds, “Maybe.”

God doesn’t want you to answer, “Maybe.” God wants you to say, “Yes, I’ll pray for the sick and dying. Yes, I’ll pray they’d be healed in Jesus’ name.” I know it’s hard. I know it’s uncomfortable, it’s not easy. That’s where God wants you to stand up in your faith, to exercise your faith. Ask them if you can pray for them, then pray a simple prayer of faith in Jesus name: “Father, heal my friend, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lex Luther’s assistant finally helps Superman take off the chain, saving him and many more as a result. You can be that friend to someone today. If you’ve put your faith in Christ, you have that power. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, it’s in your blood. You can stand in the gap for your friends, pray for them, and ask God to heal them in Jesus’ name.

Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for Your Word which is so rich in true stories about people who have faith in You and what can happen as a result. Give us the faith to pray for our family and friends for their healing, both in private, and out loud, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

If you’d like to make things right with God today, I invite you to do that right now, where you’re sitting, or to come forward to put your faith in him, to be baptized, or to receive prayer for healing. If you’d like to join our church, I’d invite you to come forward as well and just let us know that you’d like this to be your church home.

[admin]

Faith obeys, even when tempted to run the other way. Our best example of obedience is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemene when He prayed: "Not my will but Yours be done." Suffering, pain, and hurt may follow, but nothing is as sweet, or as fruitful in the end, as obedience.
Faith Obeys - Full Version

by Eric Elder

Good morning! I want to talk to you today about my all-time favorite Super Hero, if you don’t mind me calling Him that. His name is Jesus.

I want to talk about Jesus not only because today is Palm Sunday, which is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people praised Him and spread palm branches on the road in front of Him, but also because Jesus is the best example of our topic today, which is this: “Faith Obeys.”

I can’t think of anyone who epitomizes obedience more than Jesus on the night before He died when He prayed: “...not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

But just because Jesus was the Son of God, it doesn’t mean that He didn’t agonize over the choices He made, just like the rest of us do. Luke says that Jesus was in such anguish over His decision that night, that “His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22.44b).

I guess it’s not really fair to compare Jesus to other Super Heroes like Superman or Spider-Man, because Jesus was the Son of God. He had access to powers they could never have imagined. But at the same time, Jesus was also fully human, more real, and more like us, than Superman or Spider-Man ever were.

The Bible says that Jesus was real flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), that He was born as a baby (Luke 2:7), was scolded by his parents (Luke 2:48), and grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). He experienced love (John 11:5), anger (Mark 3:5), joy (Hebrews 12:2), betrayal (Luke 22:48), temptation (Hebrews 4:15) and pain (Matthew 27:46). He bled (John 19:34), He cried (John 11:35), He suffered (Hebrews 13:12) and He died (Mark 15:39).

The more that I can envision Jesus as a real human being, the more I can envision that I can really do what He did, as He said I could do when He said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing” (John 14:12).

I’d like to show you a scene today from the movie, The Passion. It’s a scene that shows Jesus and Mary in a light that I’ve never really considered before, but in a way that shows them as real flesh and blood people.

[Mary] Jesus. Jesus. Are you hungry?
[Jesus] Yes, I am.
[Mary] This is certainly a tall table. Who is it for?
[Jesus] A rich man.
[Mary] Does he like to eat standing up?
[Jesus] (laughing) No, he prefers to eat like...so. (He pretends to sit at the table.) Tall table. Tall chairs! Well, I haven’t made them yet.

(Mary tries to sit at the table, too, but almost falls. Jesus laughs and catches her.)
[Mary] This will never catch on!
(They head to the house)
[Mary] Oh, no you don’t! Take off that dirty apron before you come in. And wash your hands.
(She pours water into His hands. He washes them, then splashes water in her face, and finally pulls her close and to give her a kiss on the cheek).

Although the Bible doesn’t give us many details about what it was like for Jesus as He grew up, it does say in Luke 2:52 that “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). That’s something that God wants all of us to do. To grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men--to keep growing in our faith, no matter how young or old we might be.

To know that Jesus was a real person like me gives me hope that when God calls me to obey Him, I’ll be able to call on the same power that Jesus called on, and obey like Jesus obeyed.

I’d like you to look with me at another story in the book of Acts this week about how Peter and John chose to obey God rather than men, even when threatened with death. I’d like you to open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4, and follow along as Lana reads to you from verses 1 through 22.

This story takes place just after Peter and John had miraculously healed a man who had been crippled for over forty years. Although the people were amazed, the religious leaders were afraid and began to threaten Peter and John. Here’s what happened, starting in Acts chapter 4, verse 1.

1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

5 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest's family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is

‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.’

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

When threatened by the religious leaders, Peter and John had to make a choice. They had to choose to obey God or obey men. What could they do? The religious leaders were thinking of killing them if they didn’t obey. These weren’t idle threats. The leaders had already shown their resolve to follow through on their threats by putting Jesus to death, and Peter and John were next.

On the other hand, Peter and John had seen Jesus do miracle after miracle. They’d seen Him rise from the dead. They’d just seen the power of Christ flow through them to heal a crippled man. So when those who didn’t believe in Jesus challenged them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, even with the threat of death, it was hardly a choice at all. How could they stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus? How could they stop preaching and praying for people to be healed? They responded with the only response that made sense to them: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

That’s where I want my faith to be, and that’s where God wants your faith to be. God wants your faith to be in a place where you don’t have to argue or get defensive about what you’re doing, but simply let other people’s threats roll off your back like water off a duck. Where you simply smile and say, “I sorry, but I just can’t help speaking about what I’ve seen and heard!”

There will always be detractors. There will always be people who won’t be convinced even if they see a miracle right in front of them.

You may have heard about the man who thought he was dead and went into a psychiatrist’s office for help. The psychiatrist asked the man if dead men bleed. The man said, “No.” He knew that once your heart stops beating the blood stops flowing, and you no longer bleed, even when cut. So the psychiatrist took out a needle and poked the man’s finger so that it began to bleed.

The psychiatrist then asked the man, “So what do you think now?”

The man responded, “I guess dead men do bleed.”

Some people, even when confronted with the most amazing evidence, will still respond with stubborn unbelief.

Lana and I were speaking last week at a woman’s group in LaSalle about our trip to Africa. A woman came up afterwards to encourage us to keep praying for people’s healing, because she herself had been instantly and miraculously healed of MS at age 37 when someone prayed for her in Jesus’ name. She didn’t know that I preached last week about healing, but we felt like God had sent her to us as confirmation to keep speaking and teaching what we know is true.

She told us she had been battling MS for five years. She was so weak she was down to 82 pounds, and so paralyzed on one side she couldn’t open a door by herself.

Her friends told her about a healing meeting going on in Chicago. She didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to be involved with anything like that. But her friends were persistent and took her on blankets and pillows into the meeting hall and when the man speaking prayed for her, she felt a wonderful warmth go through her body. The cold numbness left her. She began to spread her fingers on her right hand, something she hadn’t been able to do for over a year. She stood to her feet and her right leg was as strong as her left. She went home and the next day she got out her lawn mower and mowed her entire lawn by herself. She’s been completely healed of all symptoms ever since. Her doctor in Mendota said there was no other possible explanation for it except that she was healed when someone prayed for her in Jesus’ name. This August she’ll be ninety years old!

She told me she had written a booklet about it, so I went to her house and got a copy of it from here. She didn’t want to go to that meeting that night, but after she was healed, she couldn’t stop talking about what she had seen and heard! She began getting calls from the hospital to come and pray for the sick at 3 in the morning, when the doctors had done all they could do. No one can deny this woman was healed. But, like the stubborn religious leaders in Jesus’ day, they might still deny that it was the power of God that brought the healing.

The truth is that Dorothy Zolper Pierro is an ordinary woman right here in LaSalle County who was touched in an extraordinary way when she put her faith in Jesus Christ. Peter and John were ordinary men, too, as the religious leaders could see. The only difference they noted was that Peter and John “had been with Jesus.” And that difference made all the difference in the world.

Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son, is one of my favorite contemporary heroes. In his book, Rebel With A Cause, Franklin tells the story of an idea he had during the Gulf War to send New Testaments in Arabic to our troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. The troops could learn Arabic while talking with their Saudi friends about the New Testament. While what he was doing was perfectly legal, the officer in charge of the troops told Franklin to stop sending the New Testaments for fear of offending their Saudi hosts. The officer said he was sorry, but that he had his orders.

Franklin responded by saying that while he understood the dilemma, he was under orders, too--from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords--to preach the gospel to all creation. Those New Testaments made it into the hands of many people who otherwise would never have heard the that Jesus died for their sins. People may try to tell you what to do, but if it contradicts what God has already told you to do, you have to choose whom you’ll obey.

Jesus Himself said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15).

When we obey Christ, we’re not only demonstrating our trust in Him, but we’re also demonstrating our love for Him, just like Christ demonstrated His love for us when He obeyed His Father’s commands.

There’s another story in the Bible that’s a great example of obedience--and the consequences of disobedience. I’ll summarize it here, but it’s worth looking up when you go home. You can find it in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 15. In this story, God says that the time had come for the wickedness of the Amalekites to be punished. So God said to Saul, the king of Israel:
“Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (1 Samuel 15:3).

So Saul attacked the Amalekites, but he didn’t totally destroy them as God said. He spared the king of the Amalekites, along with the best of the sheep and cattle. God knew this and sent Samuel the prophet to confront Saul. When Samuel saw him, Saul said:

“The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

Samuel then told Saul what God told him, that because Saul had rejected the Word of the Lord, the Lord was rejecting Saul as king over Israel. Samuel said:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

Sometimes we can avoid doing what God has called us to do by getting busy and doing something else. It may be a “good work,” but it’s not “God’s work,” and we know it. But we don’t know how to get off the treadmill. We’re afraid of what will happen if we do what God has called us to do. We’re afraid of what other people might say, or we’re afraid what might happen to us.

But God doesn’t want you to just do “good works.” He wants you to do “His works.” When God calls you to do something, you don’t want Samuel showing up and saying, “What then is this bleating of sheep that I hear?” God wants you to obey him, fully. “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

I know it’s hard to obey God’s will, especially when we have so much of our own self-will still alive within us.

I know it’s hard to stop a relationship that God calls you to stop, even if you know it’s destroying you. But if God calls you to stop it, stop it. I know it’s hard to stay in a marriage when God tells you to stay in it, but when God tells you to stay in it, stay in it. If God’s calling you to leave a job, leave, but if He’s calling you to stay, stay. If God’s calling you to stop a bad habit that’s killing you, stop it; or if He’s calling you to start a good habit that will save you, start it!

God gave Peter and John the strength to do what they needed to do, just like He gave Jesus the strength to do what He needed to do. And God will give you the strength to do what He wants you to do, when you put your faith in Christ. God is a loving Father who cares for His children. He wants to see you succeed.

I shared last week about my own calling into ministry when I prayed for a woman who was dying of cancer. That same day, God called me to quit my job at Texaco and go into full-time ministry. But when I left the women’s house that night and the lumps of cancer were still on her body, I was torn about what to do about my job.

If I had seen those lumps of cancer fly off her body, I would have quit my job in an instant and gone into full-time ministry. But God reminded me that then I’d be walking by sight instead of by faith, and He wanted me to walk by faith.

The next day came and went and I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t quit. I had been praying that I would be quick to obey God, that I would do whatever He wanted me to do, like “that” with a snap of His fingers. But this just seemed too big. It was too hard. I couldn’t do it.

The next morning, as I was praying and reading the Bible, I came across the story of Jeremiah, where God told Jeremiah about the blessings for obedience, and the consequences of disobedience. God said, “But if you do not obey me...then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses” (Jeremiah 17:27).

It sounded harsh, but God used it to gently reminded me of a time several years earlier when I wanted to take a three month leave of absence from my job. I just wanted to spend some time reading the Bible, playing the piano and praying. We didn’t have any kids at the time, and I knew that once we started having a family, it might not be as easy for me to take some time off. So I asked my boss and surprisingly he said, “Yes.”

I felt God wanted me to start my leave on a particular Friday, but since it was a holiday weekend, I knew that if I waited till the next Tuesday to start my time off, I’d get paid about $1,000 more.

Logically, I thought I should wait. But spiritually, I felt God wanted me to start my leave on that Friday. So I left on Friday, and decided to go up to Illinois to see my Mom and Dad. When I got there, I found out that my Mom was in much worse health than I thought. Because I left when God told me to leave, it turned out that I got to be with my Mom for the last three days of her life. Had I waited, had I not listened to God, I would have had a thousand bucks. How could that compare to spending three precious days with my Mom before she went to heaven.

God reminded me of that story years on that morning when I was trying to decide if I should quit my job entirely or not. He reminded me of the seriousness of obedience to Him, and the consequences of disobedience.

I knew what I had to do. I went into work that day and turned in my badge. When you’re in the computer department, they don’t let you give two weeks notice. Because of all the access you have to their data, they escort you out of the building as soon as you tell them you’re leaving. I walked out of the building that day and I’ve never looked back.

People might think I’m crazy; they might call me a fanatic. I just call it obedience. God has proven to me time after time that He is faithful, that if I’m willing to press into Him, to seek His will, to even agonize in prayer to find out what His will is, that He’ll honor my steps of obedience.

God wants you to obey, even when it’s hard, even when the consequences are serious.

A French writer back in the 17th century named Madame Guyon wrote about this kind of complete surrender to God’s will. She called it abandonment, and wrote, “Abandonment is practiced by continually losing your will in the will of God; by plunging your will into the depths of His will, there to be lost forever.” (Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, p. 35.)

That may sound totally scary, but I’ve found it totally freeing. Plunging your will into the depths of God’s will, there to be lost forever.

Jesus showed us the ultimate example of how to do this on the night He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene. Jesus asked three times for God to take this cup from Him, if there was any other way to accomplish God’s will. But in the end, Jesus chose to obey, regardless of the cost. I’d like to show you how that agonizing night of prayer was portrayed in the movie, The Passion.
(Jesus in the garden)
[JESUS] Hear me, Father. Rise up, defend me. Save me from the traps they set for me.
[SATAN] Do you really believe...that one can bear...the full burden of sin?
[JESUS] Shelter me, O Lord. I trust in You. In You I take refuge.
[SATAN] No man can carry this burden...I tell you. It is far too heavy. Saving their souls is too costly. No one. Ever. No. Never.
[JESUS] Father, You can do all things. If it is possible, let this chalice pass from me...But let Your will be done...not mine.

Jesus’ anguish that night was so real and so agonizing, that Luke tells us, “An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him” (Luke 22:43-44). Can you imagine Jesus being in so much anguish that God would have to send an angel to give Him strength? But God gave Him the strength He needed, and in the movie version of that scene, Jesus stood up from that prayer and stomped on the head of a snake, symbolizing His ultimate victory over Satan that He won in that time of prayer.

God gave Jesus the strength to do what needed to do, just like God gave Peter and John the strength to do what they needed to do. Just like God gave me, and Franklin Graham, and Madame Guyon and countless others, the strength to do what He wanted us to do. Just like He will give you the strength to do what He wants you to do, if you’ll put your faith in Christ.

God wants you to obey Him, regardless of the cost. Not because He doesn’t care about you, but because He cares about you so much. He wants what’s best for you and He wants the best for those around you. In all things, God really does work for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (from Romans 8:28).

As we come to our time of decision, if you’d like to make a decision to follow Christ with your whole heart, or to put your faith in Him for the very first time, or to be baptized or to join our church, we invite you to come forward as we sing our invitation song.

First, let’s pray.
Father, thank You for giving us so many examples of what faith looks like when lived out in real life. Lord, give us the strength to do what You’re calling us to do, and to obey when you call us to obey. Strengthen those who have stepped out in faith this week and this month and this year to do what You’ve called them to do, whether they’re in Africa, or Israel, or here in Illinois. Lord, I pray You would continue to speak to us and guide us into Your perfect will at all times. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

[admin]

God wants us to be filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit? How can we be filled with faith? How can we know for sure what we believe about God and Jesus and the resurrection? People who have studied the resurrection intently, even trying to disprove it, have been won over to believing it and becoming people of great faith. Keep seeking the Lord, and you will find Him.
How to Become "Faith Full" - Full Version

by Eric Elder

Good morning! Happy Easter to all of you!

For those of you who may not know me, my name is Eric Elder and I’m an elder here at Central Church. I also run an Internet ministry called The Ranch at www.theranch.org.

A few weeks ago I got an email from a woman who visited our website and I’d like to share a portion of it with you. She wrote:

I’ve just come across your website and am hoping that someone there might be able to assist me...I am experiencing something of a personal crisis. I have not been able to discuss this with my husband or anyone else for that matter and I am desperately seeking guidance.

I do not know how to believe in God and have been consumed by the fear of death - the fear of ceasing to exist and being without my loved ones. It has opened my eyes to appreciate the fact that we are on this earth for mere moments in the grand scheme of things. I am absolutely paralyzed by this realization and have nothing to comfort me.

I WANT TO BELIEVE. I NEED TO BELIEVE. I just find it terribly difficult. ...How could God exist? How do we KNOW that there is a heaven? ...I feel like I am an anxious mess right now and I cannot live my life to the fullest with this fear looming in the back of my mind constantly. ... Thank you for your help, your guidance, and for putting a place on the web where people like me who are in despair might seek help.

With many, many thanks, (and she signs her name)

Wow. How do you answer a letter like that? How can you help someone go from doubt to faith?

As I was thinking about her email, I was also working on this message for today. I was looking at the description of a man in the Bible named Stephen that captivated me. In Acts chapter 6 verse 5 it said that Stephen was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). When I read that, I thought, “That’s what I want to be...a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” And that’s what I think God wants each of you to be as well...men and women who are full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. So full of faith that it overflows from within you and pours out on everyone around you.

-------

It goes on to say in verse 8 that Stephen was so full of God’s grace and power that he “did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” It says in verse 10 that no one could “stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.” And verse 15, it says that when they looked at Stephen, they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

Stephen went on to give one of the most eloquent speeches about the history of God’s people, from Abraham to Jesus. At the end of his speech, the only way his opponents could silence him was to stone him to death. But his speech wasn’t in vain. There was a young man listening to him that day named Saul, who at the time approved of killing Stephen, but who later became so convicted by the the Spirit of God that he himself became a Christian. Jesus renamed him Paul, and he went on to write much of the rest of the New Testament.

Stephen’s faith was so full that it overflowed to those around him.

It was just like Jesus said would be for anyone who believed in Him. In John 7:38, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me...streams of living water will flow from within him,” referring to the Holy Spirit that would flow from those who were full of faith. It’s like God wants a river of life to flow out from each one of us, spilling over into the lives of everyone around us. But some days it seems like all we can get is a trickle. That’s why it’s helpful to read stories like this one of Stephen, to encourage us to keep believing and keep speaking the truth about what we believe, because the end result is worth it.

-------

I thought about how different these two conditions were. On the one hand, you’ve got someone who’s full of doubt and everything that goes with it, and on the other hand, you’ve got someone who’s full of faith, and everything that goes with that. I tried to think, how can you help someone go from here to there? How can you help someone go from doubt to faith, from unbelief to belief, from questioning God to believing God and loving Him with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength?

The good news is that there is an answer. There’s a way to pass from doubt to faith, and it comes in a moment that is one of the sweetest in life.

I want to show you what a moment like that can be like in a scene from the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia. In this movie, a young girl named Lucy discovers a world she never knew existed before called Narnia. She comes back to tell her brothers and sister about it, but they don’t believe her. They laugh at her, make fun of her, and get mad at her. But one day they stumble into Narnia themselves, when they try to hide in a very old wardrobe. Take a look.

[EDMUND] C'mon! (Edmund motions the others to hide in the wardrobe.)

[SUSAN] You've got to be joking.

(All four of them run into the wardrobe and tumble out the other side into Narnia.)

[SUSAN] Impossible!

[LUCY] I'm sure it's just your imagination.

[PETER] I don't suppose that saying we're sorry would quite cover it.

[LUCY] No. It wouldn't. (Lucy smiles and throws a snowball at Peter) But that might!

I love to see moments like that, to see people go from doubt to faith, to see them become so filled with faith that they become “Faith Full.”

You know what happens when you sing a country song backwards, right? You get your car back, you get your dog back, you get your wife back.

Well today, I want to talk about how to get your faith back. How to get it back if you’ve lost it, how to find it if you’ve never found it before, and how to help others find it when they ask. It may seem overwhelming, and like Susan said, “Impossible!” But it’s actually not as hard as you might think.

I’d like to give you three ideas today for how to increase your faith, whether you’re trying to increase your own, or whether you’re trying to help someone else increase theirs. If you’re taking notes, I’ve made them short enough so you can write them down and easy enough so you can remember.

Here they are:

Number 1) Read your Bible.

Number 2) Ask your questions.

And Number 3) Go to church.

I’d like to spend the rest of our time together today unpacking each of these three ideas, starting with the first one, Read your Bible.

Why’s it so important to read your Bible? Because the Bible contains story after story of people who have put their faith in God and become “faith full” as a result. When you read their stories, it will help to increase your faith as well.

The Apostle John said that this is precisely the reason why he took time to write the stories down about what he and others had heard Jesus say, and what they had seen Jesus do. Near the end of the book of John, John said, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).

When you read your Bible, you’re reading about people who have put their faith in Christ for everything in their lives, and it can give you faith to do the same.

If you have your Bibles with you, or if you’d like to look in the pew Bible in front of you, I’d like you to show you what I mean about how the stories in the Bible can strengthen your faith. I’d like you to turn with me to John chapter 20, and my wife Lana is going to come and read to you from verses 1-31. You’ll see in this passage three sets of people who go from what may have been their greatest moments of despair, to their greatest moments of faith.

Lana?

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don't know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Wow. Here you’ve got three sets of people who got to see Jesus alive again!

First, you’ve got Mary Magdelene, who was so distraught over Jesus’ death that she didn’t even recognize Him when He walked up to her until He said her name: “Mary.” And with that one word, her world that had been upside down turned right-side up again.

Second, you’ve got the disciples, who had locked themselves away in a room, hiding from the people who had just killed Jesus. All of a sudden Jesus shows up again inside their locked door, alive and so real they could see him and hear him and touch him. What a day that must have been for them!

Third, you’ve got Thomas. What a day that must have been for him to finally get the proof he was looking for: he got to “see the nail marks in his hands and put his finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side.

How blessed each of them must have been to get to see Jesus physically raised from the dead! But they weren’t the only ones who were blessed. Jesus said in verse 29: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29). You’re the ones who Jesus called blessed, you who have not seen and yet have believed.

It’s stories like these that can increase your faith and that’s why it’s important to keep reading your Bible.

So first, Read your Bible. Second, Ask your questions.

If you’ve got questions that are keeping you from fully believing what God has said in His Word, take time to get your questions answered so you can move forward in your faith. God wants you to find Him, and He’s glad to help answer your questions and remove any barriers that are keeping you from putting your faith in Him. Like the woman who wrote to me on the Internet, I’m proud of her for doing a hard thing and confessing her doubt, and because of that, I think she’s closer to becoming a believer than ever before.

If you have questions about things like the resurrection, pick up a book about it, like this one by Lee Strobel called The Case for Easter. Lee Strobel was the legal editor at the Chicago Tribune for years. He also was a skeptic and atheist who thought Christians were blinded by their faith and only saw in Jesus what they wanted to see. But then, he says in his book, “the unthinkable happened--my wife became a Christian.” He decided to use his journalism and legal training to thoroughly investigate Christianity, in his words, hoping to “liberate his wife from this cult!”

But his plan backfired! The more he looked into it, the more evidence he found that supported the resurrection.

Some of his questions had very simple answers, like why did Jesus say He would be in the heart of the earth when He died for three days and three nights, when it was really only one full day, part of two others, and two nights? Lee got his answer when he found out that according to Jewish time-reckoning, any part of a day counted as the whole of it. It’s like renting a car at the airport...if you rent it on Friday and return it on Sunday, you’re charged for three days, even if it’s only part of two of them. Lee found that this wasn’t something that was just made up as a convenient workaround after the fact, but that in a book written by the tenth descendent of Ezra, who’s mentioned in the Bible, it says very specifically that “a day and a night are an Onah [“a portion of time”] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.” So any portion of a day is considered the same as the whole of it. It was simply the normal way they talked about what a day was.

It’s like when we talk about the Big Ten Basketball conference, you’d think there were ten teams. But if you go to the Big Ten website, bigten.com, you’ll see that their are eleven teams. You can see the logos of all eleven teams across the top of the page. But that’s just the way we refer to the conference, and people just accept it.

That’s just one of dozens of questions Lee had that he was able to get answered when he actually took the time to look into it. Josh McDowell, C.S. Lewis and many others followed the same path, going from doubt to faith, when they actually did the research to find the Truth.

Whatever barriers you or your friends might have to putting your full faith and trust in Christ, whether it’s about the resurrection, or the problem of suffering, or why bad things happen to good people, or anything else, ask your questions to those around you, do whatever research you have to do to get those questions answered and remove those barriers.

What difference could it make? For Lee Strobel and many others, it’s made all the difference in their lives here on earth, as well as in eternity.

So first, Read your Bible. Second, Ask your questions. And third, do just what you’re doing today: Go to church.

The truth is, God doesn’t want you to go it alone. He wants you to come together so you can help each other, to bear each other’s burdens and to sharpen each other like iron sharpens iron.

I was talking with a couple a few weeks ago who hadn’t been to church in a long time, and who decided to come that Sunday. The next week I saw them again and they said they went home after that first week and realized they needed to get closer to God, and they felt that this is where they needed to be.

I know for me, it was when my cousin invited me to her church, and some men there invited me to their weekly Bible study, that I finally learned to read the Bible on my own, I finally started getting my questions answered, and I finally put my faith in Christ.

For Lana, it was when some friends invited her to work with the youth at a church in a city where she had just moved, that she started reading the Bible on her own. She began to study and prepare messages for others, and in the process she found that the Bible confirmed for her all of the things she had been taught and had believed her whole life. It gave her a solid foundation for her faith.

C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other incredible Christian books, but he turned away from his childhood faith when his Mom died when he was nine. He was a self-professed atheist when he went away to Oxford College. But then he began to read books by people like George McDonald and G.K. Chesterton, and he realized that these writers that he so much admired and respected also were strong Christians. He went from atheism to theism, believing that there must be a God. But it was when he began to meet with other men in person, who helped to challenge his thinking and personalize all that he was learning, that he went from just believing that there was a God, to becoming a Christian. One of those men was his fellow student, J.R.R. Tolkein, who later wrote The Lord of the Rings. It was after long conversation with Tolkein and another friend named Hugo Dyson that lasted until three in the morning that Lewis finally put his faith in Christ, and finally joined a church.

I know many of you found your faith in Christ because someone invited you to church, because you got connected with other brothers and sisters in Christ who helped you along in your faith.

Going to church by itself is good, but developing relationships with people there is even better. It makes everything so much more personal. It helps you to get the encouragement you need, and to give others the encouragement they need.

The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25).

So there they are, three simple ideas to help you or someone you know go from doubt to faith. Read your Bible. Ask your questions. Go to church. Their not mind-blowing concepts, but they can be life altering.

Since today is Easter, I’d like to show you one more scene from the movie The Chronicles of Narnia. This is a scene that C.S. Lewis wrote to parallel what happened on that first Easter morning when Christ rose from the dead. In this scene, we see the dead body of Aslan, the lion who rules all of Narnia, who has just stepped in to take the punishment of death upon himself for a crime that Lucy’s brother Edmund committed. Aslan died so Edmund could live.

[SUSAN] We should go.

[LUCY] I’m so cold.

(As they walk away, something rumbles and cracks)

[LUCY] Susan! Where’s Aslan?

[SUSAN] What have they done?

(Aslan suddenly appears alive and well, stepping over the rim of the hill behind them)

[LUCY and SUSAN] Aslan!

(Aslan laughs)

[SUSAN] But we saw the knife! The Witch!

[ASLAN] If the witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic differently, that when a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the Stone Table will crack and even death itself will turn backwards.

[SUSAN] We sent the news that you were dead. Peter and Edmund will have gone to war.

[LUCY] We have to help them.

[ASLAN] We will, dear one, but not alone. Climb on my back. We have far to go and little time to get there. And you may want to cover your ears. (Aslan roars)

The resurrection that we’re celebrating today isn’t just a big deal. It’s the deal! Theologian Gerald O’Collins has said: “Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without it’s final chapter. It is not Christianity at all.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, “14 ...if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ...16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ... 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead...” (1 Corinthians 15:14-20a).

It is because Christ has been raised that we can be confident that we will be raised along with Him in the end, if we’ve put our faith in Him.

Jesus Himself said in “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

As we come to our time of decision, if you’ve never put your faith in Christ, I invite you to do it today. If you’d like to be make your decision public this morning, or to be baptized, or to join our church, I invite you to come forward as we sing our invitation song. But first, let’s pray.
Father, thank You for the examples of Stephen, of Mary Magdelene and Thomas and the other disciples who put their faith in Christ after they saw You risen from the dead. Thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Your resurrection even though we weren’t there to see it with our own eyes. And thank You for increasing our faith, so that one day we can be so full of faith that it will overflow from within us to all of those around us, like streams of living water. We pray this all in the strong name of Jesus, our Savior, our Lord and Your Son, who we believe and affirm rose on this day over 2,000 years ago. Amen.

[admin]

Faith Speaks



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





There are times when God wants you to hold your tongue. For instance, when Jesus healed two blind men, He told them sternly, “See that no one knows about this” (Matthew 9:30). And when Jesus brought Jairus’ daughter back from the dead, Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know about it (Mark 5:43).



But there are other times when God wants you to speak. For instance, when Jesus cast the demons out of the man named Legion, Jesus told him: “Return home and tell how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39a). Or when Jesus healed ten men of leprosy on the road to Jerusalem, He told them: “Go, show yourselves to the priests” (Luke 17:14b).



So there are times when God wants you to hold your tongue, but there are also times when God wants you to speak. And when God calls you to speak, He wants you to be ready. The Bible says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).



I’d like to give you three ideas today to help you speak when God calls you to speak. I’ve pulled these ideas from the story in Acts chapter 7 where God called Stephen to speak. Stephen spoke powerfully, even though it was dangerous to do so. When Stephen was arrested and had to defend himself, he gave one of the boldest speeches in the Bible. Because of it, he was stoned to death, but his words were not in vain.



Here are the three things that I noticed Stephen did, and we can do, when God says to speak:



1) Don’t be afraid.

2) Pair up your words with Scripture.

3) Trust God to use His Word to transform lives.



First, don’t be afraid. Jesus had already forewarned His followers before He died that they would be arrested and flogged and persecuted. Jesus told them: “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:26-28).



Although Stephen could have been afraid that day, he didn’t let it keep him from speaking.



Second, pair up your words with Scripture. Stephen might also have worried about what he was going to say to his accusers, but Jesus had already told His followers: “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20).



God did give Stephen words to speak: His Word. When Stephen spoke, he paired up his own words with Scripture to support what he was saying. Stephen quoted from Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Amos and Isaiah. When Stephen spoke, God spoke His Words through Stephen. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to read your Bible, study your Bible and memorize your Bible. When you know God’s Word, it helps you to infuse your words with His. And if you can’t find a Scripture to go with your words, you might want to rethink what you were going to say!



Third, trust that God will use His Word to transform lives. The Bible says that one of the men who heard Stephen speak that day was Saul, who at the time gave approval to Stephen’s death. But if you keep reading in Acts, you’ll see that Saul became a Christian himself shortly thereafter. Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul, and Paul went on to write much of the rest of the New Testament, including the letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and more.



Even though Stephen died, God used his words that day to reach many lives, including ours over 2,000 years later! As God said, “My word...will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).



When God calls you to speak, speak. Don’t be afraid. Pair up your words with Scripture. And trust that God will use His Word to transform lives.



Let’s pray...



Father, help us to speak when You say, “Speak.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



This message is condensed from the series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith.”

To read the full version of this message, click here:

http://theranch.org/Faith-Speaks-Full-Version.534.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 7

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Starfield is a great band who loves to worship God with their whole hearts and their contemporary music. Here’s a new song they wrote called “Remain” about God’s faithfulness: “when all else fails, You remain.” It’s a free download from their new CD called, “I Will Go.”

http://streams.theranch.org/starfield/remain.m3u

[admin]

Faith Heals



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





I’d like to talk about healing today, but before I do, I’d like to say a word to those of you who may have lost someone close to you, whether recently or in the past.



I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I believe there are times to pray that God will take your loved ones home to heaven where there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain...” (Revelation 21:4). For the Christian, the moment we pass from this life to the next will be the greatest and most miraculous healing any of us will ever experience.



But there’s also a time to pray with all the strength and faith you have for God to heal someone, here and now, in the name of Jesus, and that’s what our passage is talking about today.



In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John came across a man who was crippled from birth. The man asked Peter and John for money, to which Peter responded: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). Peter took the man by the hand, the man’s feet and ankles became instantly strong, and he began walking and jumping and praising God.



It was a powerful scene--so powerful that people came running from all over to see what had happened. Peter said:



“Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ... By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see” (Acts 3:12, 16).



Faith heals. In this case, I think it’s interesting that it doesn’t seem to be so much the faith of the man who was healed that made the difference. He was just asking Peter and John for money. It seems to be the faith of Peter and John that made the difference. They were the ones who had the faith to say to the man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” They were the ones who reached out and pulled the man to his feet. It’s a testimony to me of the power of the faith of a friend.



And you can be that friend when you pray for those around you.



There was a time when I would tell someone I’d pray for them, then walk away and pray later when I got home alone. While that was a good thing to do, Jesus said, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).



I have no doubt that if Jesus were standing right there with me as I prayed for you, that He would reach out and touch you with His power. And Jesus tells us that when we come together in His name, He will be right there with us. Knowing this truth increases my faith tremendously.



So I’ve found it to be more powerful, and more meaningful to the person for whom I’m praying, to stop and ask them, “Can I pray for you right now?” If they agree, which almost always happens, then I say a prayer with them right there, whether in a hallway or in a store or at a restaurant. It’s a simple thing that doesn’t have to draw attention, but simply bowing our heads and praying at the time the need is expressed. Aside from being powerful and meaningful, it also helps me to remember to pray so I don’t forget by the time I get home!



For some of you, I want to go further and encourage you not just to pray for your family and friends to be healed in Jesus’ name, but to pray for them out loud and in front of them. I know this may be foreign territory for some of you, but it’s a great way to exercise your faith. It can be as simple as this, “Father, heal my friend. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”



Not only will you become stronger in your faith, but so will your family and friends. As James said, “pray for each other so you may be healed” (James 5:16b).



So whether in private or out loud, exercise your faith today! Pray for those around you to be healed in Jesus’ name.



Let’s pray...



Father, give us the faith to believe in Your power to heal and to pray that our family and friends will be healed in Jesus’ name. Amen.



-----------------------



This message is condensed from the series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith.”

To read the full version of this message, click here:

http://theranch.org/Faith-Heals-Full-Version.535.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 3

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

If you’d like to hear more about God’s power to heal, my wife Lana has recorded several encouraging passages of Scriptures, set to inspiring music, about people in the Bible who were healed in Jesus’

name. This track is from Lana’s Scripture CD, and is called “What God Says About Healing.”

http://streams.theranch.org/lanaelder/healing.m3u

[admin]

Faith Explains



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





If God has given you a special gift to help people understand the Bible, I’d like to encourage you today to use that gift. You may not even realize it’s a gift. You may think that reading and understanding the Bible just comes naturally to you. But I’d like to show you what a gift it really is.



In Acts chapter 8, an angel of the Lord told Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, to go to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Along the way, Philip encountered a man from Ethiopia who was sitting in his chariot reading from the book of Isaiah.



The Ethiopian was an important official in charge of the treasury for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. He had been to Jerusalem to worship and was now on his way back home. The Spirit told Philip to go near the man’s chariot, and when he did, he heard the man reading from Isaiah the prophet. Philip asked: “Do you understand what you are reading?” To which the Ethiopian replied:



“How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” (Acts 8:31)



So the Ethiopian invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told the man the good news about Jesus.



As they traveled together along the road, the Ethiopian understood so well that he said, “Look here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” So the Ethiopian stopped the chariot, was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing!



God had given Philip special insight into the Scriptures. He had exposed him to the teachings and the life of Jesus in a way that Philip was able to help someone else understand why Jesus had to come and die.



The Ethiopian was smart (he was in charge of the Queen’s treasury). He loved God (he was just returning from a lengthy trip to worship in Jerusalem). And he was eager to learn spiritual truths (he was reading the book of Isaiah). But he still needed someone to explain the Scriptures to him. So God sent Philip to do just that.



Faith explains. When God gives you the faith to believe and to understand what He’s done through Christ, He wants you to share what you’ve learned with others.



I remember flying to California one time, hoping to share with someone I knew there about what Christ had done for me. But even though I tried to bring up the topic throughout the weekend, God never opened the door for me to walk through and share. As I flew home, my plane made a stop in another city before I reached home. A man boarded the plane, sat down next to me, and proceeded to open up a brand new Bible to the first page of the New Testament.



I glanced up to see his face and couldn’t believe it! It was a friend of mine from college who had been involved in some of the same things that Christ had eventually delivered me from! He was just as shocked to see me as I was to see him. When I asked about the Bible, he said his mother was worried about him so had bought this Bible for him. He thought he’d give it a try and had sat down to open it for the very first time. I knew what God wanted me to do.



We spent the rest of the flight talking about his life and talking about the Scriptures. I started with the passage where he had opened his Bible and I explained how Christ had delivered me from the very things with which my friend still struggled.



Although I don’t know what happened to him after we left the plane, I do know that God answered my prayers to be able to share what was on my heart. And He answered my friend’s prayers (or at least his mothers!) that someone would help him to understand what he was reading.



If God has given you the ability to understand the Scriptures, know that it’s a gift, and know that God wants you to use that gift to explain those Scriptures to those around you.



Let’s pray...



Father, help me make the most of every opportunity You give me to explain to others what You’ve revealed to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 8

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a great song to encourage you to live your life “out loud.”

It’s called “Live Out Loud” and is written and performed by a group called Mission Ten Forty:

http://streams.theranch.org/liveoutloud.m3u

[admin]

Faith Surrenders



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org



There are times when I’ll be singing a song of worship to God when my arms almost automatically begin to rise up. Almost without thinking I’ll find myself with my arms fully outstretched above my head in praise to God. It’s a beautiful time of both reaching out to God and completely giving myself to Him--an act of surrender, you might call it--with my hands up in the air, nothing to hide and gladly submitted to the Lordship of Christ.



I remember a similar moment when I put my faith in Christ at 23, having taken control of my own life for those years and seeing where I ended up, then finally yielding to Christ to let Him call the shots from then on. It was no longer a hard thing to do, but joyous, yielding myself completely to God’s will and purposes.



The Apostle Paul experienced his own profound moment of surrender on the road to Damascus.



Even though Paul was extremely religious, he didn’t believe in Christ. He was committed to imprisoning--and even killing--those who did. He had gotten permission from the high priest in Jerusalem to go to Damascus and take prisoner those who belonged to what was then called “the Way.”



Here’s what happened to Paul that not only changed the course of the rest of his trip, but also the rest of his life. In this passage, Paul is still called Saul, as Christ had not yet given him his new name:



As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”



‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked.



“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:3-6).



When Paul got up from that experience, he was physically blinded. Those traveling with him led him into Damascus, where he stayed for three days, neither eating nor drinking.



During those same three days, a believer in Damascus named Ananias faced his own moment of surrender.



He had already put his faith in Christ, but when the Lord, in a vision, called him to go and pray for Paul to receive his sight back, Ananias wrestled with what he was going to do. He had heard reports about what Paul had done to believers in Jerusalem. He knew Paul had authority from the chief priests to do the same in Damascus. Faced with this extremely tough dilemma, Ananias chose to surrender to the will of God:



“Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength” (Acts 9:17-19).



From that day on, and for the rest of his life, Paul went on to preach boldly in the name of Christ. He wrote of the New Testament, which has affected literally millions of lives in the 2,000 years since then.



Thank God that Paul surrendered his will to God’s. And thank God that Ananias surrendered his will to God’s, too.



Faith surrenders. Whether you’re still just considering putting your faith in Christ for the first time, or whether you’ve been a believer for years, I want to encourage you today to surrender whatever’s left of your will to the will of God.



Is there something God’s calling you to do? Somewhere He wants you to go? Someone He wants you to talk to? Something He wants you to give to Him?



Lift up your hands and take hold of His. Lift up your heart and give it to Him. Give up your will and get into His. Whatever you’re planning to do, wherever you’re planning to go, it will pale in comparison to what He wants to do in and through you.



Let’s pray...



Father, give me the faith today to surrender my will to Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 9

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a new song I’ve written on the piano to give hope to those who are struggling to find it. It’s called “There’s Always Hope.”

http://streams.theranch.org/ericelder/hope.m3u

[admin]

Faith Gives



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





What prompts you to give? When you see a need around you, what is it that causes you to want to reach out and help? For me, I’ve found that when my faith is strong, my desire to give is strong. But when my faith is weak, my desire to give is weak. It seems that the more I’m able to trust God with my life and my resources, the more I’m able to let go of the things that I would otherwise try to hang onto.



Faith gives. And when God sees our faith and our giving, He loves to bless us back in return.



Take a look at what happened to a man in the Bible named Cornelius when he gave to others in response to his faith. Cornelius was a commander in the Roman army and even though he wasn’t Jewish, he was a devout and God-fearing man who prayed to God regularly and gave generously to those in need. Here’s what happened to him as recorded in Acts chapter 10:



“One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’



“Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked.



“The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea’ ” (Acts 10:3-6).



Cornelius sent for Peter, who came in response to a vision of his own that God had given him. Peter shared with Cornelius the good news about Christ. Cornelius and the large crowd who came to his house to see Peter were baptized with water and the Holy Spirit.



God honored Cornelius’ prayers and gifts. They had made their way up to God as a memorial offering to Him. And God poured out his blessing back on Cornelius.



Faith gives and God sees those gifts. They are a natural response to the faith that God wells up inside of you. Your giving is a practical way to love God and love others.



I remember telling some friends about all that God had been doing in and through my life one time. When I finished, one of the people listening to me reached into his pocket and pulled out all the money he had. He put it in my hand.



I was totally caught off guard. Why was he giving me money? I had just been telling them about what God was doing in the world and in my life. I knew this man didn’t have money to spare. I tried a few times to put it back into his hands, but he wouldn’t take it. One of my other friends finally pulled me aside to the kitchen and said to me, “He’s giving that money to God, not to you. As you’re telling him about the power of God to work in people’s lives, God’s working on his heart and this is the way he wants to respond. Please don’t try to stop what God is doing in his life by giving the money back.”



This man was growing in his faith as he listened to my stories, and his desire to do something in response swelled up within him. When God increases our faith, he also increases our desire and willingness to give.



Are there needs around you that God might be prompting you to support with your prayers and gifts? Is God trying to increase your faith so that when a need arises, you’ll be able to meet it with both your faith and your giving?



God wants you to be devout and God-fearing like Cornelius, praying and giving generously to those who have needs. When you do, know that God will not overlook your prayers and gifts. He loves to bless the hearts of those who bless His heart, just like He blessed Cornelius and everyone who came to his house to hear the good news about Christ.



Let’s pray...



Father, increase my faith and increase my willingness to give at the same time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 10

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a beautiful version of the song “Breathe” sung with the beautiful voice that God gave to Barbara Strout (Santos):

http://streams.theranch.org/barbarasantos/breathe.m3u

[admin]

Faith Is For All



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





Some people think that Christianity is exclusive. They think that because Christ said that people must believe in Him in order to come back to the Father that Christianity excludes people. The truth is, Christianity is not exclusive, but incredibly inclusive. It’s open to all people, of all ages, from all races and all nationalities.



The story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts chapters 10 and 11 shows us just how inclusive Christianity really is. Peter was a Jew and one of the closest follower of Christ, but God sent Peter to Cornelius, who was not Jewish, to tell him the good news about Christ. Peter went, but not without some having to triple check with God beforehand. The Bible says that as Peter was praying one day, he had a vision from God:



“He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’



‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’



The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’



This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven” (Acts 10:11-16).



As Peter was wondering about the vision, some men arrived at his door, asking if he would come with them to see Cornelius, a man who was a Roman soldier, but who was devout and God-fearing, prayed regularly and gave generously to those in need.



Realizing the vision was from God, Peter went with them, shared the good news of Christ with Cornelius and all those at his house, and they were all baptized in both water and in the Holy Spirit.



Peter realized God’s desire to keep the Jewish people holy by not interacting with non-Jews was for their protection, but not for the exclusion of others. It was a way to keep the Jews pure, not keep others out. Others have always been welcome, and now, through Jesus, the way was made clear for them. When Peter told the other disciples what had happened, they praised God saying “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18b).



I used to think Christians were being prideful and arrogant when they claimed that you had to believe in Christ in order to come to God. But I learned that it was not Christians who made that claim, but Jesus Himself. Just before His death and resurrection into heaven, Jesus told His disciples how to get where He was going:



“You know the way to the place where I am going....I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:4,6).



There was no pride or arrogance in what Jesus said, but simple, humble truth. Christ went on to demonstrate His love for us and the truthfulness of what He said when He died for our sins and opened the way for anyone who believed in Him to come back to God, free, clean and forgiven.



Peter shared this good news on another occasion to a crowd of thousands who had gathered from all over the world. During his message, Peter made this bold claim about Jesus: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). When the people heard it, rather than turning their backs and responding with disgust at Peter’s arrogance, over 3,000 of them turned their hearts towards Christ, putting their faith in Him, and being baptized in His name.



Faith is for all, as Cornelius and his entire household discovered.



If you’ve never put your faith in Christ, I encourage you to do it today. If you know someone who needs to put their faith in Christ, invite them to come to Him today. He is the way and the truth and the life, and His way is open to all.



Let’s pray...



Father, thank You for sending Jesus as the way to come back to You. Help me put my faith in Jesus today, and help me to invite others to do the same. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 11

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a song I wrote several years ago with the help of a friend who has recently gone to follow Christ into heaven. The song is called “You Are The Way.”

http://streams.theranch.org/ericelder/youaretheway.m3u

[admin]

Faith Prays



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





If you need something supernatural to happen, do something supernatural: pray.



Prayer is not just quiet meditation. It’s not just thinking through your thoughts on your own. Prayer is having a conversation with the God who created you, who knows you better than anyone else, and who can act in ways that are both natural and even “super” natural.



One of the most dramatic answers to prayer is recorded in Acts chapter 12. I’d like to share it with you today to encourage you to pray earnestly for situations in your life for which there appear to be no earthly answers.



Here’s the background for this story: After Saul stopped persecuting the early Christians, they finally enjoyed a time of peace and continued to grow in numbers. But then King Herod took up the persecution again and began to arrest some of those believers putting a man named James to death with the sword. When Herod saw that this pleased some of the Jews, he put Peter in prison, too, planning to put him on trial after the Passover.



Things looked bleak for Peter. There was little hope for him after what had just happened to James, but those early believers weren’t hopeless. They did what they could: they prayed.



The Bible says, “but the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (Acts 12:5). Look what happened when they did:



“The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.



“Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals.’ And Peter did so. ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,’ the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.



“Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating’” (Acts 12:6-11).



Faith prays. It may seem obvious that when people are filled with faith, they pray. But interestingly, it may not have been their great faith that drove them to prayer, but perhaps that they had nowhere else to turn. When Peter showed up later that night at the door of a house where many believers were gathered in prayer for him, the people didn’t even believe that it was really Peter at the door. When a servant girl came to tell them Peter was there, they told her, “You’re out of your mind!” (Acts 12:15). They didn’t believe her until Peter kept knocking and they finally opened the door for him. Then they saw for themselves and were astonished.



I love stories like this where God acts in such a way that it even astonishes those who are praying. We may think we’re full of faith, but when God answers remarkably like this, we realize just how little faith we had going into our prayers. But nonetheless, they were praying “earnestly.”



That’s the kind of faith I want for you today. A faith that will pray earnestly. A faith that will pray trusting that God is ultimately in control, but that still prays with full hope and expectation for God to do a miracle.



There’s no shame in praying, just power. Abraham Lincoln confessed, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”



Faith prays. If you need something supernatural to happen, do something supernatural. Pray, and pray earnestly.



Let’s pray...



Father, give us the faith to pray earnestly for Your will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 12

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a great song about prayer written by Al Lowry and Rob Brandolino. It’s called “Answer To My Prayers.”

http://streams.theranch.org/allowry/AnswerToMyPrayers.m3u

[admin]

Faith Fasts



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





One of the best ways I’ve found to intensify, deepen or accelerate my prayers is to fast--to go without food for a period of time so I can focus more intensely on praying.



I don’t remember hearing much about fasting when I was growing up. I don’t know if it was because I was just a child, or because those around me didn’t fast, or because those who did fasted in a way that didn’t draw attention to their fasting. But I do know that when I began to read the Bible as an adult, I was surprised by the number of references to prayer and fasting throughout both the Old and New Testament. Moses, David, Elijah, Paul and Jesus Himself are just a few of the many who fasted.



As I read other Christian books, I was surprised to find that many people throughout history, including leaders of major Christian movements also fasted: Luther, Wesley, Finney, Edwards, Booth, to name just a few. I also found that many of the Christian leaders that I knew and respected living today also fasted with profound results.



After reading so many inspiring stories, I decided to try it myself.

Now, after twenty years adding fasting to my prayer life at various times, whether for a few days or for several weeks at a time, I can confirm that some of the most significant words I’ve heard from the Lord have come during those times of prayer and fasting. God has spoken to me about all kinds of things, from who to marry to how to expand my ministry. It seems that when I empty myself physically, I’m able to fill up more spiritually.



Acts chapter 13 records how the earliest Christians fasted and prayed, and how God spoke to them during their fast:



“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:2-3).



This was the beginning of Saul’s (also known as Paul’s) missionary journeys. The believers were gathered in prayer, worshiping the Lord and fasting, when God spoke to them through His Holy Spirit that He wanted two of them to set off in a new direction. While this may have seemed like simple next steps for Barnabas and Paul, it began a whole new life of travel and ministry for them. These trips resulted in new church starts in city after city. Because of the prayers and fasting of those early believers, God charted a new life course for Paul, one which took him through to the end of his life.



If you’re asking God for direction in your life, for wisdom about how to move forward, for answers as to the next steps you should take, consider intensifying your prayers with fasting. If you’re praying for situations that seem to have hit a roadblock and you don’t know how to go any further in your prayers, try fasting to break through that barrier.



When Jesus’ disciples were praying for a boy who was having seizures and suffering greatly, their prayers didn’t seem to help, so they came to Jesus for help. Jesus drove out the demon that was affecting the boy and he was healed from that moment. When the disciples later came to Jesus in private and asked why they couldn’t drive it out, He said,



“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:20-21).



It seems from this passage, and from many others in the Bible, that fasting adds a dimension to our faith and to our prayers that is not available without it.



If you want to intensify, deepen or accelerate your prayers--and fill up more spiritually at the same time--try fasting! (I’ve included some tips below to help you when you fast.)



Let’s pray...



Father, help me to grow in my faith, even through fasting and prayer, so that I can see Your will done here on the earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



P.S. If you’d like some practical tips on how to fast and how to make the most of your prayer time with God, here are a few links I’ve found helpful:

http://www.billbright.com/7steps/

http://www.billbright.com/howtofast/nutrition.html



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 13

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

Here’s a beautiful instrumental song called “The Call,” written and performed by Guy Grimstead on his CD called “Meditation.”

http://streams.theranch.org/guygrimstead/meditation/thecall.m3u

[admin]

Faith Presses On



By Eric Elder
www.theranch.org





There are times when all of us face obstacles that seem just too big to get past. Times when we’re ready to throw in the towel. Times when we want to give up and to walk away from the things we feel God has called us to do.



If you’re facing times like that today, I want to encourage you to press on, to be persistent in your faith. Don’t give up now. Now’s the time to let God work through you in a way that you can shine for Him.



Michael Jordan was an incredible basketball player. But the crowds didn’t come to watch him walk onto an empty court and shoot free- throws for an hour and a half. They came to watch him shine in the face of opposition. They came to watch him take the ball from one end of the court to the other, making his way through opponents who were doing everything they could to stop him.



When someone would try to steal the ball, Michael would dribble behind his back. When someone blocked his way forward, Michael would spin his way around. When someone would try to block his shot, Michael would leap into the air beyond their reach, swishing the ball through the net on his way back down.



The times Michael Jordan shone the brightest were the times when his opposition was the most intense.



Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts remind me of Michael Jordan. When God sent them out to win the world for Christ, they went from city to city, winning converts all along the way. But they weren’t shooting free-throws on an empty court. One of the reasons they shone so bright was because their opposition was so intense. In city after city, they were spoken against, thrown out of town, and even stoned and left for dead.



In the city of Iconium, many people came to Christ. But others began to stir up trouble for Paul and Barnabas. Rather than running away, they pressed on. The Bible says:



“So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders” (Acts 13:4).



Instead of throwing in the towel, Paul and Barnabas decided to stay even longer. When the people of Iconium eventually made a plan to kill them, they escaped. When the people of Lystra stoned them and left them for dead, they recovered and went right back into the city. When they had finished making their way through city after city, they didn’t just call it quits. They turned around and went right back through each of the cities where people had tried to kill them before, strengthening the believers they had won in those cities, and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.



When the opposition came, Paul and Barnabas dribbled behind their backs, spun around the opposition, and leapt into the air as they swished the ball through the net on their way back down.



Faith presses on. It doesn’t give up and go home just because an opponent shows up on the court. That’s the time when faith shines. That’s the time when the crowds go wild for Christ. That’s the time when God Himself will cheer you on, sending His Holy Spirit to do things through you that you could never have done on your own.



I don’t know what kind of opposition you’re facing today: problems with your marriage, your money, your ministry, your ideas. Problems with your health, your plans, your future, your dreams. Problems with your family, your friends, your parents, your kids. Problems with your business, your home, your life, your career.



But whatever you’re facing right now, I want to encourage you to press on. Press on in your faith. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross (see Hebrews 12:2). Press on, as Paul did, toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).



If God has called you to it, press on through it!



Let’s pray...



Father, help me to be persistent in my faith, to press on to win the prize for which You have called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



-----------------------



To read more from this series, “Acts: Lessons in Faith,” please visit:

http://theranch.org/Acts-Lessons-In-Faith.521.0.html



Today’s Scripture: Acts 14

http://www.biblegateway.com



This Week’s Song

If you need encouragement to keep going, especially in the area of ministering to others, here are some great scriptures read to some inspiring music to keep you going.

http://streams.theranch.org/lanaelder/ministry.m3u