“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” is a Biblical statement known by every church person who has ever lived. One of those sins involves the failure of one’s faith at some point. The key to overcoming a momentary lapse in faith is to follow the Apostle Peter’s example by reaching up to Jesus, grasping His outstreached hand and expressing our belief in His Word. EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO THE WORD. Everything revolves around that Word–knowing it, believing it, obeying it. “The just(ified) will live by faith” we are told. From whence comes faith? “Faith comes by hearing … the Word of God.” Simply put, FAITH IS BELIEVING AND OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD REGARDLESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. Merely having faith in God places one on the same spiritual level as Satan, who has more faith than any of us. Satan knows God’s Word (he quoted it to Jesus) and knows that it is true. But his faith will not save him. As God tells us in James 2:14, FAITH ALONE CANNOT SAVE THE SOUL. Saving faith requires WORKS. The Father makes this clear in James 2:17-26 where He tells us through the apostle that faith without works–obedience to His Word–is dead faith (17, 20), that we must prove our faith by our works (18), and that merely believing His Word places us on the same spiritual level as demons who also believe His Word AND TREMBLE because they have failed to obey it and know the consequences for doing so (19). The Counterfeit Church fails to rise to the spiritual level of Satan’s angels.

I recently talked to a super religious, Scripture-quoting, Bible-toting lady who, when confronted with Truth found in the Bible she carried, stated that she could not say that what was written in her Bible was true because HER MIND COULD NOT ACCEPT IT, and that she could accept it as truth only when her mind could embrace it. Faith is believing God’s Word even when everything in our mind, everything in our life, everything in our experience refutes what was written therein. This uber-Christian, like billions of others over the past 6,000 years, cannot believe what her intellect cannot accept, which is the Biblical definition of faithlessness. God’s true saints, as He tells us, live by faith. Faith is the “reality” of what we do not see, feel, smell, taste, hear, experience, etc. Faith is knowing inwardly what one has not experienced outwardly. Recall that even the man Jesus of Nazareth cried out to His Father from the cross: “My God, My God, why have you FORSAKEN ME?” His human mind sensed total abandonment. Yet He then verbally yielded His human spirit up to His Father, knowing that all was well between them, and that three days later He would join Him in heaven. True faith is knowing the unknowable, believing the unbelievable AND ACTING UPON THAT FAITH.  This is the faith that Peter was operating on when he stepped out of that boat and onto the Sea of Galilee, while he walked into the darkness toward the One Who had said, “Come.” This is the same faith he called forth when, while sinking into the water, he cried out to Jesus for help. This is what the man with the afflicted son was saying to Jesus when he said, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

We all need help with our faith at some point, Jesus being our prime example. Recall that He called out to God “with great crying and tears.” One can only imagine the Apostle’s Paul’s state of mind when he was in the water for three days, while he was being beaten and stoned, while the deadly snake dangled from his hand, when he was preparing to be martyred. What was going through Daniel’s mind while being let down into the lion’s den? What was the mindset of the three Hebrew boys as they stood before the fire chamber? And what about the saints of old who lived in caves, constantly on the run, robed in animal skins and whatever else they could find? What was their state of mind? Though undoubtedly troubled mentally and emotionally. Surely there were moments of weakness. Yet they overcame and  stayed spiritually true to their God and Father. I eagerly await the honor of meeting them in the future. Though our faith may fail us at some point, it is how we respond to that failure that matters. The above Heroes of the Scriptures are our examples of faith under fire. Let us all trust God to see us through when our fire comes–and it will come to those who truly seek the Lord.  L.J.