Continue to Continue! (practical faith pt 6)

I have enjoyed these last set of blog posts as we’ve looked at many of the simple and practical ways in which we can live and grow in our personal faith.  As I was soaking in the hot stream of water beating down on my neck and shoulders in the shower this morning, I heard that small still voice of the Lord inside me giving me another important step in applying faith practically into one’s daily life.

As is my daily routine, I was confessing some scriptures concerning who the Bible says I am in Christ when I suddenly became aware that every time I began with a new verse the word “CONTINUE” would pop into my head.  So, I would pause, start over and say “I CONTINUE to…” do whatever the scripture said about me.  And then it dawned on me… with my lightening quick mind… that God was trying to tell me something important here!  He was attempting to get me to see the importance of “CONTINUING” on in one’s faith… day by day, month by month and year by year… no matter (or maybe more precisely… because of) what ever else is happening in your life.

In my last post I mentioned when I had recently been thinking about all the blessing of God in our lives over the years.  One of those blessings was the first house we ever rented that had a gazebo in the backyard over looking a creek.  And I remembered how much I enjoyed sitting under the cover of that gazebo in the morning rain while I studied my Bible.  Then it hit me… I’ve been studying the Bible every morning since way back then in 1979… and probably before that!  It is a practice that was important enough in Piper’s and my lives that we chose to and worked at CONTINUING it throughout all these years since then.

One of the most often repeated activities that we experienced in our years as Assistant Pastors in the different churches we served in over the years, was seeing new folks coming into the church all excited about the things of God and then drifting away… only, many times, to be repeated over and over again.  The two of us… especially Piper, always seemed to be drawn to the folks that looked a little needy our maybe had experienced some rough times in life. 

We would get to know them and share how our heavenly Father loves us so much that He has provided promises of blessings that touch every area of our lives.  But… that it takes commitment, determination and a strong desire to “CONTINUE” moving forward with Him… especially in the bad times that seem to get to all of us during our lives.

It was always difficult to see them experience the ups and downs of their walk.  Some left and never returned and we eventually lost contact with them, while others had their rough patches but kept returning and pressing on with Him as they began to experience and share His love and provision for them and their families.

After 10 of the 12 spies returned from scouting out the land that God had promised the children of Israel with a fear-laced negative report, God instructed Moses saying, “But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has wholeheartedly followed me, I'll bring him to the land he already explored. His descendants will possess it.” (God’s Word ©)  This verse makes it pretty clear why Caleb had a different attitude than his fellow spies.  God said that he “has wholeheartedly followed me…”  The Message Bible says that “he follows me passionately” while the King James declares that he “hath followed me fully.”

Dictionary.com defines “passionately” as “having, compelled by or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling.”  To me, that describes someone who is committed to CONTINUING on with the things of God… wouldn’t you say?  The word “fully” is described in the original Hebrew as “to fill, to be full of, to be accomplished in or to consecrate.” Which again, defines a dedication to CONTINUE on with God.

An interesting sideline to Caleb’s story occurred about 40 years later after Moses passed and his servant Joshua (the only other original spy that agreed with Caleb) assumed the mantle of his leadership and successfully brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land. 

As he began to divide up the land with only a few more tough battles to be fought in certain regions of the country, Caleb says “Hey!  What about me!”  Joshua 14:10-11 reports the conversation as Caleb declared: “So look at me. The LORD has kept me alive as he promised. It's been 45 years since Israel wandered in the desert when the LORD made this promise to Moses. So now look at me today. I'm 85 years old.  I'm still as fit to go to war now as I was when Moses sent me out.”  (God’s Word ©)

Caleb never failed to CONTINUE in his quest for God and His promises throughout the 45 years of wandering through the desert.  His passion for God never waned even as everyone else who started out with him and Joshua complained, fell away and died in the wilderness.

That’s the way I want to be!  How about you?  To CONTINUE on with your passion for God is another very simple but practical way to live your faith on a daily basis.  When Piper and I were going through some of the roughest moments at the beginning of our journey with the attack of Alzheimer’s on her brain, it simply came down to the decision of who or what we were going to listen to when it came to fighting that thing.  But one look at the fear in the eyes of those who disagreed with our approach in trusting God and the ugliness of the symptoms attaching themselves to Piper’s body… and we knew that we were simply to “CONTINUE” with HIM, HIS WORD and HIS directions to us, like we’d always done… and the rest is history… or I guess you could say “HIS-story!”

Have a wonderful weekend as you CONTINUE to apply these simple but practical ways to walk your faith in HIM on a daily basis.  And as you do, say with me… “I am expecting to CONTINUE on with HIM and HIS ways no matter what!”