Do You Need More Faith?

For more than 5½ years I’ve been attending cardiac rehab exercise classes three times a week. At the end of each year the staff do a brief review and ask about fitness goals for the next year. Last time I told the physical therapist I wanted more muscles.

“What?” she asked. “More muscles,” I repeated. “Stronger muscles?” she inquired. “No, I just want additional muscles, maybe two, or four.”

Actually, I didn’t say that. Wouldn’t it have been foolish if I had? When we’re born, the muscles we will use throughout life are already there. They’re not very strong and will require lots of developing, but the muscle groups are all in place. They just need to be strengthened with time. You have to learn to use what you’ve got.

I think of that when I hear people say something like, “I need more faith” or “I just don’t have enough faith.” It’s tempting to ask, “How much more do you need? Three pounds? Another quart?” The Bible indicates that, like muscles in the body, faith – what we might call spiritual muscle – is supplied as God sees fit.

For instance, Romans 12:3 urges, “…think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” This passage says when Jesus Christ comes into our lives, we receive “a measure of faith” – apparently whatever God determines we need. Because in 2 Peter 1:3 we are told, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

The problem is, we really don’t like living by faith. We want to trust and act upon what we can see and touch. That’s why 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds us, “We live by faith, not by sight.”

Like muscles, we don’t need more faith. We need to exercise the faith we have to make it stronger. Life provides plenty of opportunities: career crossroads, financial difficulties, health challenges, family problems, sudden crises. When confronted with the unknown and uncertain, do we cower in fear, or power through the issues in our own strength? Or do we stop, admit the situations are beyond our control, and then, in faith, ask God to intervene?

I don’t possess what the Bible terms the “gift of faith,” but over the years the Lord has guided us through numerous faith-building experiences, circumstances that seemed overwhelming but in retrospect were opportunities to step aside and see what God could do.

A friend of mine used to say, “Thank God for adversity.” Hardships that seemed insurmountable had forced him to trust the Lord when there were no alternatives. And in the process, his faith grew stronger.

Are you exercising your faith today, enabling it to grow stronger, or trying to “tough it out” on your own, letting your spiritual muscles atrophy?

Would You Withhold the Cure?

Suppose a close friend was suffering from cancer and you learned about a newly discovered, 100-percent cure for the disease, but chose not to tell the friend about it?

Or suppose you were visiting a remote Third World village whose inhabitants were dying of starvation and you knew of a plentiful source for free food within easy walking distance, but you decided not to let them know?

Suppose you had loved ones or dear friends that had been unemployed for many months and you heard about immediate job opportunities that would fit them perfectly, but you refused to inform them?

Or suppose someone was drowning in a lake and you were holding a life preserver, but elected not to throw it?

You wouldn’t do any of those things – but just imagine you did. In each instance, wouldn’t you be considered inhumane, heartless, cruel, even criminal?

Yet when followers of Jesus attempt to share what we believe to be the cure to spiritual cancer, the answer to spiritual impoverishment, starvation and death, we’re often ridiculed. Narrow-minded, bigoted, judgmental and “holier than thou” are just some of the derogatory terms directed toward those who believe that when Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t kidding – or only referring to a particular group of people.

I’m not an evangelist, but in more than 30 years of walking with Christ I’ve discovered He is the answer to life’s most profound questions: “Why am I here?” “What’s my purpose?” “How do I find meaning?” “Is this all there is?” “What will happen to me when I die?” “How can I make sense of this life?”

If you received great news, wouldn’t you want to share it with others? I feel that way about the Good News of Jesus Christ, both for people who don’t know Him and those who are believers, but haven’t yet experienced the “abundant life” He promises.

What’s our motivation? It should the same as what the apostle John wrote: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:3-4).

If that’s narrow-minded, so be it.

Exercise Your Body?…What About Your Spirit?

Last week I wrote about the importance of physical exercise, for weight control and fitness. But while we talk about taking care of our bodies, especially in the wake of weeks of holiday gluttony, we rarely consider the need to exercise our spirits.

Each of us is a complex mix: physical, mental, emotional – and spiritual. The first three facets of our identity receive a lot of our attention, but many of us fail to give much recognition to the latter, if any. However, in Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, “(God) has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” Like it or not, deep down – maybe in the recesses of our human DNA – God has provided an awareness that we, and this life, are not all there is.

So it’s interesting that as we resolve to work our bodies into submission, pursue intellectual stimulation, and strive to improve attitudes and relationships, our spiritual side suffers from neglect – to the point of atrophy.

As 1 Timothy 4:8 points out, "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come" (New Living Translation).

Bibles today come in a variety of translations, styles
and even themes. There's one to fit any need.

That sounds good, but even as professing followers of Jesus we tend to think an hour of institutional church activity suffices for spiritual health. But it’s not about religion – it’s about relationship, getting to know the God of all creation who desires to spend time with us.

I’m not one that believes in ritualistically or legalistically reading the Bible each day. But we know from experience that to strengthen relationships – with our spouse, children, or friends – it takes time. The same is true in cultivating a strong, growing relationship with God. There is no substitute for time, ideally on a daily basis.

How much time? I don’t know – certainly more than a minute. Years ago a friend, Robert Foster, wrote a little booklet called “7 Minutes a Day With God” (it’s still is published by The Navigators). In essence, he suggested, anyone can set aside that much time – a couple of minutes in prayer, a few minutes in the Scriptures, and a few moments in meditation. The kicker, he noted, is if you diligently devote just seven minutes a day to doing that, you’ll soon discover it’s not enough.

Early in my days as a disciple of Christ, I also learned what The Navigators called “the hand illustration” to show how to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible. Each finger on the hand represents a different aspect: Listening; reading; studying; memorizing; and meditating. Through the years, I’ve found all of these useful, not only for understanding what the Bible says, but also for discovering who God really is – and who, as one of His adopted children, I am.

So as you’re thinking about working out to get into better shape physically, reading more widely to grow mentally, and seeking to enhance your life emotionally, don’t let your spiritual side suffer. You owe it to yourself!

Questions to Ask God

Suppose you were standing before God and had the opportunity to ask Him some questions. What would you ask?

Frankly, when we see the Lord face to face, I suspect we’ll be too dumbstruck to ask questions. After all, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). If anything, God will be the question-asker.

But let’s just suppose, hypothetically, there were such a Q&A session. I’m sure we’d ask about things like world hunger and poverty. Why the good die young. Why couples wanting children struggle to get pregnant while unfit parents have babies and abuse them. What about devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis? How about life on other planets, or in other galaxies?

But I’d like to ask other, less profound but equally puzzling questions:

“Lord, when you created the mosquito, what was it that you were thinking?”

“Do You know why the chicken crossed the road? Chickens rarely cross the road, but I’ve seen a lot of possums, squirrels, cats and dogs, even armadillos in Texas, that tried – and many of them failed. Why did they try?”

“Why did You make fried chicken taste so good if it’s unhealthy to eat?”

Why don't acorns taste like
almonds or peanuts?

“What did come first – the chicken or the egg?” (Obviously, chickens raise a lot of questions.)

“You confused language after the tower of Babel was built, but why did you let Americans say we drive on parkways and park on driveways?”

“If you had decided to give us the Ten Commandments in the 21^st century, would You still have had someone climb Mount Sinai to receive them on stone tablets, or would You have just sent a text?”

“Why did you decide morning should come so early in the day?”

“There are always so many acorns in the fall. Why aren’t they better for eating – like almonds or peanuts? I know squirrels and chipmunks need to be stock up for the winter, but we don’t sing about roasting acorns on an open fire.”

“Why do babies and children have so much energy they don’t know how to use, while older people lack energy for stuff they really need to do?”

“Why is it we can only go north so far, and then we start heading south, but no matter how far east we travel, it never turns into going west?”

Lastly, on a more serious note, I’d probably ask, “How could You love us so much that You would give Your only Son, so that anyone truly believing in Him would have eternal life? And as much as we have messed up Your world, why didn’t You just scrap the whole project and start over?”

Sunsets . . . and Other Acts of God

Talking with a friend earlier this week, it occurred to us that God could use a public relations makeover – because apparently many people think of Him only when bad things occur.

Take, for example, the common term used in insurance policies: “acts of God.” When we read that, we know it refers to calamitous events like hurricanes, tornados, floods, and tsunamis. So we’ve become convinced unless we want our day ruined, we should avoid acts of God at all costs.

But why don’t we think of other things as acts of God? Things like sunrises and sunsets, flowers in bloom, leaves changing color in the fall, snow transforming a nondescript street into a crystalline, wintry wonderland?

What about the birth of a baby, a child laboring over a crayon drawing for Mommy or Daddy, or a couple celebrating more than 50 years of marriage – and still obviously in love with and devoted to one another?

Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon? Talk about an act of God! Or viewed a majestic, snow-covered mountain peak? Or listened as waves relentlessly tumbled onto the shore?

I love going to places like SeaWorld or aquariums, where a wondrous variety of creatures cavort for our enjoyment – sharks, rays, killer whales, seals, walruses, otters, alligators, fish of all shapes and a myriad of colors.

Yes, some acts of God result in destruction and despair, often defying explanation, but so many of His other – typically unacknowledged – acts stir up wonder, delight and excitement. He wants us to enjoy His creation; and draw closer to Himself in the process.

As Romans 1:20 tells us, “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

Deleted from Expletives

All religions have acknowledged leaders: Islam has Mohammed; Buddhism has Buddha, Hinduism has Vishnu and many others; Confucianism has Confucius; Judaism has Moses; and Christianity, of course, has Jesus Christ.

But have you ever noticed of all those names, only one is used by some as profanity? When was the last time, for instance, you heard someone say, “Expletive Confucius”? Or “Blankety-blank Buddha”? Muslims so revere Mohammed, people that write or speak derogatorily about the prophet are threatened with death.

But Jesus Christ? That’s different. Often in films, sometimes on TV, frequently in books, we hear or read people using His name as an angry epithet or sometimes just part of their everyday vocabulary. I once worked for a man that included “Jesus Christ” in his sentences as casually and unashamedly as most people would say “um” or “you know.”

Why is this? Why is the name adored by countless millions throughout the world, the person declared by the Bible as the Son of God, the only one among religious icons deemed fair game for dragging through the mud?

The greatest war being waged on earth is not political, nor ideological or economic. It’s a spiritual war – a battle of eternal truth versus falsehood and deception. If Jesus actually is “the way, the truth and the life,” as He declared (John 14:6), there is bound to be resistance from those who regard that as too rigid or “intolerant.”

But this is more than a clash of viewpoints and opinions. It’s a fight that’s being directed from what the Scriptures term “the gates of hell.” And if it’s true one day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11), we can expect intense spiritual opposition until then.

Not Working Up a Thirst

Rumor has it that summer is officially over and autumn has arrived. You couldn’t prove it today by the thermometer, but the weatherman is predicting temperatures in the 70’s this weekend. Even so, we won’t soon forget summer’s heat.

I’m not a green-thumb person, but for Mother’s Day I bought my wife some purple flowers to put around the mailbox. The label said they’re “vincas.” (Not to be confused with ancient native Peruvians with a similar name.) I even planted them in special, high-potency soil. The flowers did grow rapidly and adorned the front yard.

Then summer came, with high temperatures and little rain. Safeguarding my botanical investment, I went out at least every other day to water the flowers. Every time I pulled into our driveway, I felt sorry for the little fellers, panting and chlorophyll-tinted tongues hanging out due to thirst. I had to give them a drink once in awhile.

Our little green friends’ plight reminded me of a couple of passages in the Bible. In the Beatitudes, Jesus stated, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). In the Psalms, King David had written about himself in similar terms: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).

Do I really thirst for God, for His righteousness? Maybe that’s the problem with Christian America. We’ve become absorbed into the culture, opting for a convenient, comfortable God – not one that has us desperately thirsting for Him, as one thirsts after mowing a lawn on a hot summer day.

As Patrick Morley wrote in his book, The Man in the Mirror, we have settled for the God we want, not the God who is. Maybe once we work up a thirst for God, as described in the Scriptures, we can again serve as salt and light in this “dry and weary land where there is no water.”

Is Christianity in Jeopardy?

Recently Christianity has taken a number of hits in the news. Author Anne Rice, best-known for her vampire novels, declared she is renouncing Christianity, although asserting she remains committed to Jesus Christ. A broad-based survey also reported that countless thousands of young people are turning their backs on the institutional church, despite the insistence of many they still find spirituality intriguing.

Does this mean Christianity is on its last legs? And what does it mean for the cause of Christ? Do you think God’s worried?

I’m hardly an expert, but having been a lifelong churchgoer that at one time or another has been affiliated with at least eight different denominations, I feel certain Jesus is alive and well, although His Church may be suffering from acute indigestion.

In America it’s easy to compartmentalize our faith, going through the motions and acting like devout believers on Sundays (and maybe Wednesdays or at small group meetings), then behave like virtual atheists the rest of the week. This counters the Colossians 3:17 exhortation which says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” I think this means we should be living our faith 24/7.

Seems to me, whether it’s Anne Rice or millions of young people who have tried “church” and found it lacking, what they’re looking for is reality, something genuine they can trust in and live for. Sometimes, with their rituals, traditions, structure – even politics – churches fail to deliver what’s most important: the how’s and why’s of a vibrant, growing relationship with God through Christ.

That’s why, I believe, the apostle Paul wrote, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). If we get our relationship with Jesus right, everything else will follow. But if we surround Jesus with a bunch of add-ons, or attempt to repackage Him to seem more palatable to the secular culture, people seeking Truth will see through that and look elsewhere for answers.

A Visit to ‘The Shack’

For a Robert, I’m really a Johnny-come-lately: usually trailing the curve in technology advances like computers, camera and cell phones. Sometimes I also lag behind in reading books many people are talking about.

That was my situation in reading The Shack by William P. Young. For more than a year I have been hearing about this book, alternately described as “awesome,” “theologically spurious,” “compelling,” even “heretical.” Finally I decided to “Shack-up” (in a way of speaking) and see for myself.

I found it thought-provoking, imaginative, inspiring, even worth reading again. Some of Young’s theology can be debated, but I don’t think he’s making dogmatic statements on biblical interpretation. If anything, he asks readers to relax religious paradigms, suspend their disbelief (as with any work that involves fantasy), and allow themselves to take a fresh look at God and their preconceptions about Him (or, ahem, Her).

Initially, after discovering the story centers around a little girl abducted by a serial killer, I hesitated. Not exactly light summer reading. But I proceeded and found the author – who has experienced great tragedy of his own – seeking to address with honesty and compassion the paradox of a good God that oversees a world of evil, pain and suffering.

Young is audacious enough to put words into God’s mouth and takes certain liberties that those who recoil at even the suggestion of extra-biblical revelation will find troubling. But considering the Word of God was written for finite minds struggling in vain to understand the infinite and divine, I suspect Young’s exercise of literary license doesn’t unsettle the Lord all that much.

In Isaiah 55:8 God declares, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” In The Shack, Young strives to explore those words through narrative. I’m grateful that he does.

Really a ‘Personal' Thing?

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s website reports dramatic changes in cancer survival rates. For instance, in 1962 only four percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cancer of the blood) survived; today, the survival rate is 94 percent. In 1962, only seven percent of children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of infection-fighting cells) survived; today, 85 percent overcome that disease.

Many adult maladies boast similar statistics, including breast cancer and heart disease. In one way or another, we’re all beneficiaries of medical science’s incredible advances.

What if researchers, upon making their discoveries, had determined, “We’re not going to tell anyone about this. It’s personal. Who are we to impose our cure on someone else?”

Ludicrous? Of course. If someone found the cure to AIDS, or diabetes or Alzheimer’s and withheld that information, they might be viewed as murderers.

Yet everywhere we confront an equally devastating disease, yet many are chastised for offering what they believe to be the cure. This disease is not physical but spiritual: Sin. It takes many forms – lust, greed, selfishness, dishonesty, murder, abuse, etc. And we’re all afflicted. The Bible states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The cure, according to the Scriptures, is freely available: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

But there’s just one cure, Jesus Christ. It’s not multiple-choice. Perhaps that seems narrow, but if physicians tell me there is one vaccine for the flu, or one cure for a disease, I won’t accuse them of being rigid and narrow-minded. I’ll take the cure.

Understanding Jesus provides the cure to the depravity infecting all of humanity, I’ll communicate this cure to anyone willing to consider it. Anyone can reject the cure, but I won’t be a murderer for failing to tell them about it

About the Tooth . . . and the Truth

My granddaughter Avery recently lost a front tooth. What great timing! She might have problems saying, “Sister Susie sitting on a thistle,” but during this holiday season she can now legitimately sing, “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.”

Having grandkids, I have learned, helps to remind us of things we thought we had forgotten – such as the wonder of discovery, the thrill of trying new things, the joy of having “Aha!” experiences every day. Like the familiar Christmas ornaments we pull out every year – they’re old hat to us, but fascinating to our 2 1/2-year old grandson. And the carols we have heard year after year? They’re new stuff to the little ones, and they never tire of singing them.

Then there’s the matter of baby teeth. Isn’t it amazing that losing a tooth is actually a sign of growing, of moving forward in life?

That’s true for all aspects of living, not just for childhood. In fact, the apostle Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11). As we journey through life, change is unavoidable – we lose teeth, grow bigger, and adjust our behavior.

For the follower of Christ, growth also involves loss – giving up cherished things to gain things that are even more important. After his encounter with Jesus, John the Baptist said, “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). In a similar way, to experience life with Jesus to the fullest, we – our fleshly, self-centered desires and goals – must become less while His power and influence become greater in our lives.

Sounds difficult, but it can be as easy as losing a front tooth.

How Do You ‘Live the Christian Life’?

I just realized today marks the 25th anniversary of a very significant spiritual milestone in my life.

For Buckeye fans (of which I am one), Oct. 12, 1984 will be remembered for one of the all-time greatest Ohio State football victories. OSU had fallen behind visiting Illinois, 24-0, but staged a fierce comeback to win, 45-38. Star running back Keith Byars ran for a then-school record 274 yards and tied OSU’s mark in rushing for five touchdowns, including a 67-yarder wearing only one shoe.

However, what I remember most about that day did not concern sports, but spirituality. I was in Minneapolis, Minn. and watched much of the game on TV, but was troubled about why the so-called “Christian life” didn’t seem to work for me.

I had learned verses like Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” and 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” The problem was, although I was a believer in Jesus Christ, I still felt like nothing had changed; I was still struggling with the same weaknesses. “If I’m a ‘new creation,’” I thought to myself, “why do I act like the same old guy?”

That weekend I was staying in the home of a man named Loren Helling and his wife, Betty, and we spent many hours talking about what he called “the real you from God’s perspective,” looking primarily at the book of Romans. We discussed what it means to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) and the reality that apart from Christ, the Christian life is not difficult to live – it’s impossible to live.

This is why Jesus told His followers, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and the apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The secret is not what I can do for God, but what He can do in me – and through me as what Romans 6:13 calls an “instrument of righteousness.”

Over that weekend I recalled meeting in 1981 with a man who had asked, “Bob, how do you live the Christian life?” At first I hesitated, then started listing “to-do’s” – things like prayer, attending church, reading the Bible, etc. In response, the man just shook his head and replied, “You can’t live the Christian life. Only one person has successfully lived the Christian life, and that’s Jesus.”

Three years later I was finally grasping the magnitude of his question and his answer.

As I think about the state of Christianity in America today, it seems we’re not doing very well. The reason, I believe, is not because we don’t have enough churches, or Bibles, or Christian books, or programs. We have more than enough of all of those. The problem, I believe, is we are determined to do for God, in our own strength – “pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” so to speak – instead of relying on the power, wisdom and guidance of Jesus through His Spirit that lives in each of us that have trusted in Him.

That’s not to say I have it all figured out. Not hardly. But 25 years later I believe I’m closer to what God calls me to be as a husband, father, grandfather, friend, writer, editor, and mentor. The challenge, one day at a time, is to reflect the truth of John the Baptist who declared, “I must decrease so that He (Jesus) might increase” (John 3:30).

Faith: A Private Matter?

Recently a controversy erupted over high school cheerleaders displaying banners with Bible passages before football games. The “the wall of separation between church and state” debate ensued.

This also rekindles the similar discussion of whether one’s faith is a private matter to be kept to oneself. Civil persons don’t argue over politics and religion, do they?

Certainly what I believe is not something I should seek to impose on someone else. It would do no good anyway. “One convinced against his will is of the same opinion still,” the adage says. But if our faith is important to us, why wouldn’t we want to share it with others? We don’t hesitate to tell about favorite sports teams, books, music and websites.

Imagine somehow stumbling upon the cure for cancer, diabetes or some other disease. If we were to say, “I’m not sharing it with anyone. It’s a private matter,” we would spark no limit of public outrage. The entire human race is afflicted with a spiritual cancer – it’s called “sin.” And the cure, according to the Scriptures, is Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Jesus said that; I didn’t. Frankly, for the sakes of non-believing friends and relatives, I often wish there were many ways to God, rather than the singular way that Jesus declares. But that’s not my decision.

Convinced of that, I also recognize that my faith is not a private matter. Therefore, it’s my duty to always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks the reason for the hope that I have (1 Peter 3:15). To do otherwise would be to deny them access to the cure for the cancer that has struck us all.

The Rest of the Story

America lost an icon last week with the passing of Paul Harvey. His distinctive voice, unique slants on the day’s news, and most of all, “The Rest of the Story,” were legendary.

Every day listeners were treated to intriguing, little-known stories about people, both "Who's Who" and "Who's He?" types. We listened intently to hear the unexpected twist at the end of each account. These narratives will be missed – as will his signature close, “Paul Harvey…Good day!”

As a follower of Jesus Christ, my studies and meditations have shown me that in a similar way, Christianity also offers a “rest of the story.”

Those who call themselves Christians understand Jesus by His crucifixion and resurrection offers forgiveness and salvation, promising life after death. I think equally important, but too often overlooked, is the life He offers BEFORE death.

Trying to fulfill the standards God presents in the Scriptures seems like “mission: impossible.” Humanly speaking, it is. Again and again, however, the Bible asserts God does not expect us to do it on our own.

For instance, we are told, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 2:5:17). Similarly, every believer is assured, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Jesus told His followers, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). At the same time we are told, “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13). Many other passages make similar assertions.

This underlies the essential difference between Christianity and the world’s religions: As someone much wiser than me has said, religion is mankind’s best effort to reach God; Christianity is God’s best effort to reach mankind.

When God commands, “be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), He does not ask the impossible. As we appropriate the life and power of Christ available to every believer through His Spirit, we can become transformed and experience the reality of walking “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

And THAT’S the rest of the story!