Take your "vitamins," continued

We're digging into II Peter 1:5-9 this week, and we have seen that there are spiritual "supplements, or "vitamins," that we need to add to our lives as believers.

Before we start our vitamins, though, we need a foundation: faith. Peter tells us to add to our faith. Lest we treat this too casually, and jump into the next part of the text, I'd like to camp here today.....
Certainly we must start with faith.

As believers, we say often that our faith is in the Lord. Perhaps we feel quite comfortable. Perhaps we think our faith is strong. Perhaps we look at our leaders in church, and in the faith community, and we think they are very strong. This is our perception, but perhaps it is not they who are the bedrocks of the church. Maybe it's not the preacher or the elders or the oldest members of the church. Maybe it's the ones we think are unlikely -- God sees the hearts of people, and we don't.
We can see this when a long-time pastor falls and is unfaithful to his wife....his faith and his strength weakened to the point that he sinned. We can see this when a long-time Christian faces cancer and is trembling with fear over past sins and wrong-doings.....in the face of death, her faith is weaker than even she thought.
Let's look back at a familiar passage -- I won't paste it here for the sake of keeping this post from becoming too lengthy. Please re-read Mark 9:14-29 and then come back to our study.....

We know this story well; it's the story of a loving dad and a son possessed by an evil spirit. He brings his son to Jesus. Some people look down on the faith of the father, but I believe Jesus is pleased with the father, and displeased with the leaders of the religious community. The father shows the right attitude -- he has faith "right."
The first few verses highlight the inability of the disciples to heal the boy. There's an argument between the disciples of Jesus and the scribes.... I can just bet that they are giving the disciples a hard time because they can't effect a healing of the boy.  (It's kinda like trying to hit a golf putt when the whole world is watching, don'tcha think? Everyone has eyes on the disciples as they try to help the boy.) The scribes are mocking them, and then Jesus gets involved. Jesus is dismayed at the lack of faith in the disciples, too. These are people who have been in training with Him! (Later on, many of them will be spiritual giants, but right now their faith is mouse-sized!)
Many people in the body of Christ today are searching for leaders; they want someone to lead the charge against Satan. But sometimes the church leaders lack faith. They lack vision and courage. Many times it's the common people in the pew, and the new converts, that have the most faith. Sometimes these are the folks that are most eager to try something new -- to go out and witness about their faith.
I remember the story told one day in chapel service about a missionary named J. C. Bailey.  God laid it on his heart, through a letter from another man, to travel to India as a missionary. Bailey traveled many miles and visited many congregations, looking for support to go to India and reach people for Christ. Finally he sold everything he had and went to India -- he established churches there, and now because of his work, and others like him, there are over a million Christians in the country of India. Bailey had faith to go "out on a limb" and do what God wanted him to do.

The church leaders failed the boy and his dad.
The disciples failed the boy and his dad.
There is One Who won't fail.....the dad brings his son to Jesus. Did you notice Jesus repeats a portion of what the dad says? "If you can!" The dad meant "Jesus, if you can, please heal him." I think if Jesus had been indignant, His response might have been "If I can! Of course I can!" Instead, He places part of the responsibility on the dad...... He's saying that if the dad can believe, the boy can be healed. Jesus performs the miracle because of the dad and the boy -- He doesn't do it to try to impress the scribes with their incompetence, nor is it to teach the disciples a lesson (although He DOES use it as a teaching moment!). He performs the miracle because of the faith of the father. Simple, true faith.

Real faith always responds that way. But how can we have this kind of faith? A strong faith, coupled with the self-knowledge that says, "My faith itself is a gift of God. I must work to make it stronger." And Jesus gave us the key: when the disciples asked why they were unable to cast out the demon, He replied, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer." The power of prayer is the solution. Prayer will keep us strong in the faith.

This week, let's journal about a difficulty in our lives. I'm not asking you to commit to journaling for a year, or even a month. Let's just write down something this week that is on our hearts; write down something that is bothering us. Then write a prayer to God over this problem or obstacle. Pray specifically about this difficulty. And search in your Bible for verses that speak to the problem, or to God's ability (and His promises) to solve the problem.
I think that by the end of the week, our problems will seem smaller.
And our faith will be stronger.