Fierce Faith!

FIERCE FAITH!

Are you ready to die now? I mean RIGHT NOW? If not, it might be suggested, ..you're not ready to 'come Alive' right now either!

If this mortal life could be said to be a "lesson" of some kind, just what's the subject? Some would say it's all about learning how to let go & turn loose of all we grip & grasp & hold so tightly! In a Word, Faith! But trusting [Another] doesn't come easily to creatures bent on controlling their own destiny (or thinking they do!).

No, it's change we fear - the un-anticipated; un-known; un-controllable! That's why death poses the ultimate change: because it's final, (we think!). But there is such a thing as "Fierce Faith" which does not fear change; ...not even death!

It was this kind of Faith that early Christ-ians had & died with! You know....., that kind that blazed so brightly and dazzled non-believers with an awe-struck amazement that wondered where it came from!(?) But where DID it come from - this Fierce Faith which Faces facts & fears not? It comes from "Fierce-FACT"! So Fierce it alters Reality & Identity & Perspective & Origin & Destiny & Purpose & Premise and Life ITSELF, and then utterly Re-Creates something NEW! Only such "FACT-altered" human beings "see" & "hear" with Faith!

And only those who are so "Called", receive that Grace which Faith requires! Faith is as much the Nature of the New Creature in Christ as Grace is It's Condition! The fact that mortal circumstances come & go, merely exercises the Faith-Appropriations Grace Fulfills! It is in Trusting (with "open" hands) the Giving Nature and the TAKING Nature of God which is the Norm-In-Christ!

Job 1:20-22 "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD". In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."

Nobody these days wants to acknowledge God's *Negative* Sovereign Nature! He, Himself, acknowledges that His Nature is Two-Fold, or a "Dichotomy"!

Ecc 3:1-8 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

And of a woeful Israel He says in Jer 42:10 "If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you." But over & over again, God Speaks of His Dual Nature; To Bless & to Curse! Fierce Faith knows this about God and Trusts Him with the outcome ...*anyway*!

Job 2:10 "..... What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." [Those who cannot "Receive" this, stumble over it!]

These are harsh Words for one who actually believes he can control his own destiny! Of these Job says in Job 21:13,14 "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, "Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." To know God is to know of His Ways! And to know His Ways is (of necessity!) to TRUST Him! But only Faith (from (of) God) can do that! [And God "Changes" His Ways - or "Seasons" too!]

This great, compelling issue of Righteousness (and the consciousness OF it) comes to a "head" as Job resists unto death the accusations of sin, of which he knows he is innocent, in Job 13:14-16 "Wherefore (why) do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand (risk my life & death)? **Though he slay me, yet will I trust in (serve, or wait for) him:** but (and) I will maintain (present) mine own ways (innocence) before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him." [Shame avoids, & hides]

Although there are many ways to translate the Hebrew in these thoughts from Job, he plainly states ('for the record!) that his only Judge is God Himself, and that he (Job) is content to rest his case there! In other words, whatever Job might (or might not) have "done" to "deserve" such evils as have befallen him (of late) - (as his accusers would have him admit, out-of-hand!) - that was between Job and God ONLY! But as to the fact that he was the recipient of such undeserved ills as were about to kill him; or, whether or not they "came from" (or were allowed by) God; these things were understood! [We have GOD'S Testimony on that!] All parties [including God] acknowledged these facts!

Speaking to Satan about Job, God says in Job 2:3 "..... thou (Satan) movedst me (God) against him (Job), to destroy him without cause." Hmmmm! If God was "moved" (by Satan) against me, "to destroy me WITHOUT CAUSE", would that be all right with me? [How 'bout YOU?]

Did God do something like this (but with "Cause") to His Own Son in the Garden & on the Cross? And if so, tell me, was it "okay" with Jesus (at the time)? [The answer is, no; not at first, it was not!]

Jesus asked to "let it pass from" Him [X3!]. And on the Cross, He Cried out "WHY?"! Was Jesus "made Willing to be made Willing?" - like WE have to be?

Hebrews 5:8,(9) tells us "Though he were a Son, yet *learned* he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being *made* perfect [NOT from birth!], he *became*....." Even Jesus had to be "taught, was made, and became" - "by the things which He suffered"!

Paul was knocked down & accosted against his will; Peter was excoriated bitterly and crucified by the very Love & Faith his Lord had Said would build His Bridal-Bliss; and Jesus Miserably Failed to Woo the very ones He came to Save, and blazed a Path-Prerequisite of Meek Surrender of this fleshly life to Fiercely Face the fact of Faith:

This life of death must end in death, and to its end be true! - that Life-Above, (as Love it Grew!), from dying's death, bring Life A-New!

For Faith NOT to Trust, would be a little like taking a deep breath of air & holding it, for fear there might not be more air if you exhale! Such "stale air" does not make for fresh "breath"! [Nor is it what God calls "Life"!]

For man to Live (as God intended!) is to Breathe (in AND out) God Himself! Anything less is slow suffocation! Indeed, it could be said that our souls are nothing more than "The Holy Spirit's Lungs"! But this sort of Relationship is too often viewed (from the perspective of the world) as "fierce-Faith"!

Even so, let it be as God Would Have it! Give OR Take, my "hand" is "open" to Him! (That God should ever be my "Iron Lung" (so to speak), and do my Breathing FOR me!, means (as in Phil 2:13) "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of *His* good pleasure."!

After all, what may appear to outsiders as "fierce faith" is actually His "Precious Presence" - as in Ps 139:(17), "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!..."

Is God Thinking His Thoughts, Wishes, Plans and Goals in YOU today? Are God's Thoughts Precious to you? If so, you're "Factual- [Real]-Relationship" with Him may be viewed as "fierce faith" from outside too! In any event, rest assured, when Faith Asks, Grace Answers! And God Watches EVERYTHING!