The Faith of the Cross...

April 11, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29.

Jesus knew then, over 2000 years ago, what our struggles would be today. He knew all. When He died on the Cross so long ago, the biggest test of faith known to mankind took place. His disciples, who followed Him endlessly for so long before that, were left without Him in physical form. Although He let them know what was going to happen, and all of it came to pass, they were still left with the knowledge that He would arise on the third day after His crucifixion.

Did they doubt? Was there part of any one of them that wondered if He would really arise on that third day? And when He did and came back to see them, did any of them still doubt? Was it really Jesus?

The scripture tells us that Thomas did in fact doubt. “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!" 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." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:26-29.

Jesus told all of us at that moment that Thomas needed to see to believe, and then let us know those are “blessed” who believe without seeing. He knows we want to see things to believe in them, but He knows that better things are accomplished through faith than anything we could ever see.

What is “seen” is not what is important. You are a soul. As C.S. Lewis once said, “You don`t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” Your soul is what counts.

Having faith like that takes courage. It takes strength. That is because it is not easy. Not only can it be difficult, but this very world and your enemy will tear at it constantly to shake it. What virtues are within you to withstand that struggle? Are you prepared for it? As humans we all want to start out having everything we need. We want total faith from the start and total courage to have it. But having a “total” anything takes practice, time, and it has to be tested. “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” C.S. Lewis.

The good virtues are what are left within you after you have been tested. You want the “total” everything up front because you don’t want to feel the pain of the test. Don’t forget about the fact that the test will make you better.

Do not give up. He is alive within you, and although your faith may fail and dim during those testing points He never will. He cannot be unfaithful to you. In order to do that He would have to disown Himself because He is alive in you. “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13.

Tell yourself this over and over, and keep getting back up. If He won’t leave you, then you have no reason to ever give up. Take His word and put it into practice, no matter how hard it is. Keep seeking Him. The rewards will be immeasurable.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25.

I am sure at the time the disciples were being asked to believe a lot more than is asked of us today. They were in the middle of the event prophesied in the scriptures - the Son of God had come to Earth. And they had to believe. When Jesus was with them He constantly taught them about faith. From Peter and the Boat to the feeding of the 5,000 to Thomas, He was constantly teaching them about how to have faith in order to survive this world.

And He is teaching you too. When you feel defeated, you look at that Cross and know that He is alive in you and teaching you constantly. And know that He is holding you, comforting you, and crying with you. He died for you, do you not believe He is with you now? You are going through faith struggles in your life as the disciples did back then. Recognize that and know they are for you a chance to grow.

Need confirmation that this will work? Okay. Go back to His word. When Jesus said “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”, He was talking about you.

Become one of those, and you can then jump out of the plane because your parachute is 100% foolproof. The definition of “foolproof” is something that is “designed so as to be impervious to human incompetence, error, or misuse”. I would say that makes sense.

Your error doesn’t affect His love for you. There is nothing you can do to make Him not love you. He has total faith and love in you, so what are you waiting for? Look at that Cross and know you are forgiven. Keep getting back up and starting over. Small price for us to pay in return for what He did.

Grow your faith and you will feel His love more and more every day. And know this, there is NO limit to His love. So the love will continue to grow and deepen and become more love than you ever knew was possible, and more than you ever knew you needed.

You aren’t battling Him – you have Him. You are battling you. Let yourself go. Close your eyes. Let those beautiful hands that bore those nails to save you catch you.

I’ll jump any day with that parachute…