The Measure of Faith

Copyright © 2013 Randy Osenbach.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-9691-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9692-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9690-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909735

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/06/13

Contents

Introduction

1 The Reality of Faith

2 The Reality of Life and Death

3 Worldliness and Its Cause

4 A Father’s Love

5 A New Life in Christ

6 The Amendment to a New Life

7 A Faith That Is Real

8 The Nature of the Holy Spirit

9 The Source of True Wisdom

10 The Heart of the Matter

11 The Heart of a Nation

About the Author

Introduction

OVER TWO THOUSAND years ago there was a town named Bethlehem, where thousands of people throughout the city and surrounding land awaited the arrival of the Savior who had been promised by God to come and save them.

Isaiah 7:14 says, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

But Bethlehem will go down in history as the city that had no room for the Savior in the world He came to save. This was a nation of people who thought they knew—and claimed to love—God and His Word!

Some thirty years later, Mary’s son, the Son of God, was left to die on a cross by a people who yearned each day for their Savior to arrive and save them from their world.

Isaiah 53:6–7 says, All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

But Jerusalem will go down in history as the city that overlooked the prophetic words of Isaiah, as its people watched their Savior being beaten and crucified on the cross. There was no room for Him in the hearts of the people He came to save.

And now, nearly two thousand years after the risen Lord sent the Holy Spirit to help and guide all Christians in their daily walk, we in America have put our trust in ungodly, worldly philosophies and have abandoned the One we claim to love. While we lie slumbering in our sleep, the Lord is awaiting the day of His promised return.

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect … And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But He answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you’ (Matthew 24:44; 25:10–13).

What will America miss while it sleeps? Will Jesus come again while we lie slumbering in our worldliness and selfish hearts? Will America go down in history as a nation with no room for its king? It looks like another silent night; and while we lie sleeping in our own philosophies of life, there’s a shout heard across the sky, for the Bridegroom has returned and carried His bride away in the night while we lay sleeping!

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1–5).

1

The Reality of Faith

T HERE ARE MILLIONS of people across America who claim to be Christians and attend church regularly, yet they are puzzled as to why the church in America has lost the attention of its majority.

There are many who claim to be living by faith but cannot seem to get a grip on life and what its true meaning is. Tyranny of the urgent claims the day, while we forget the important things that generate love, unity, and trust, as God defines them. Immoral lifestyles and what’s-in-it-for-me attitudes are what make people happy and get them through each week.

At best, Sunday morning alone is when any thought is given to Christianity, while people live casual, complacent lives the remainder of the week. The definition of complacency from Webster’s Dictionary is: self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. This lack of concern has allowed evil to creep in all around us, and it threatens the very life we claim to live.

More Americans than ever reject the Bible and the principles it teaches. Previous generations gave every measure of life to defend our quality of life. Many people who have never studied the Bible or claimed its truths reject it, saying it contradicts itself. The fact of the matter is that people do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts the lifestyles that those individuals choose to live.

Some in today’s culture marginalize the Word of God. It is being pushed out to the edges of our families and, sadly enough, our churches. It hasn’t happened overnight. The gradual process of marginalization happens so slowly that we almost don’t notice the societal shifts until after the fact. We wake up one day and find that the Bible has moved from the center of our lives, from our education, and from the rule of authority to a spot on the shelf next to a novel or a book written by a leading atheist.

Many people do not meet with a church because of disputes and splits caused by carnal Christians who are not really walking with the Lord or with other believers. The results of knowing both good and evil are seen in Genesis 2:17; 3:5, 22; 6:5. This was when humankind began to turn a united and fruitful relationship into a stench. It has continued throughout the ages. Who can believe in the benefits of Christianity in many of Christ’s churches, when, from the outside looking in, there is more peace outside?

But human ignorance and sin do not nullify the Word of God. Though His Word has stayed true for thousands of years, His people have been sporadic at staying true. We may destroy the testimony of God’s Word, but He and His Word stay the same.

God created us with a body, soul, and spirit. Thus, humans were created with physical and spiritual needs. These are equally critical in having a balanced life. But the slow process of marginalizing spiritual needs while stressing physical needs has resulted in an unbalanced life. Our priority has turned us into a worldly people instead of a godly people. It has become a matter of living by sight and not by faith.

So what happened to living by faith and sticking to biblical principles? Many claim salvation and faithful living, but they do not truly know or differentiate the meaning of these two very important terms. How does God define salvation? Does He expect anything from the so-called faithful? Exactly how does God bless His faithful followers?

Too often humans make God after their own images and conclude that He thinks and acts just as they do. But it is not a mark of wisdom to try to second-guess God. Isaiah 55:8 warns us not to resolve God’s thoughts and ways by any human mental process. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. God was not saying that we cannot know His thoughts or His ways. Rather, this is a warning to all those who presume to know God but ignore His teachings.

So, with God Himself claiming this fact, would He leave us alone on earth with no way of knowing His thoughts or His ways? The answer is written all over Scripture. We need to know intimately the God we claim to worship. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2 Peter 1:2).

This promise is only one of the many promises in Scripture that reveals the rewards of a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior as we live out our lives here on earth. One cannot claim to love and be a follower of Christ and not know Him intimately through His words and works. It would be like a marriage without any intimacy, compassion, communication, or unity.

Through sincere faith, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God must make up the very fabric of our lives. Sadly, many do not trust the Word of God, because they believe human hands wrote it. We must never forget that all the prophecies in the Old Testament were given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, written on the pages through the particular humans that God chose to deliver His message. These messages all came true thousands of years later. This should give us a hint of the credibility of the words written.

There are those who claim salvation, yet they cherry-pick through the words to make Jesus and Christianity fit their selfish needs.

Many doubt that God would allow the evil recorded in the pages of the Holy Bible. They do not understand that God recorded both good and evil in Scripture because we are the ones who rebel in our desires to know good and evil (Genesis 3:5). These people do not understand the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling human beings and His creation of love and unity in us. They don’t understand that God works through the very people we share our lives with to overcome evil. They don’t understand the consequences of wandering from these principles, or the way that evil creeps up on us and overtakes us.

God recorded the results so we can learn and teach from the mistakes of others, so we can discern right from wrong. History teaches us why people or nations received blessings from God and, on the opposite side, why or when God the Father needed to discipline them.

God did not design us to be our own gods but to have the choice to love Him as our Father. We were not created to be self-reliant people who know good and evil. We were designed to love and trust in God as a Father figure who guides us as we share in the goodness of life.

God didn’t create this world because He needed anything from it. He created this world so He might share His love with us. He made us in His image so we could willingly respond to His love.

This book is meant to help you discern and differentiate the meanings of salvation and living by faith. It is written to help you discover what knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord means through the words of Scripture so that you might claim the power of its promised blessings in your life. The words you read are not meant to tickle your ear. They are written more as Bible exposition commentary. I ask a number of questions that only you can answer as you go before God.

Every answer needed to live a joyful life, physically and