The Dwelling Richly Podcast

Faith Beyond the Palms

"Faith Beyond the Palms"
Do you remember the last time you felt like everything was simply perfect? It was a great day…a perfect day! Like the scene from the “Sound of Music” when Maria’s twirling and singing across fields of green under a perfectly blue sky, “The hills are alive...!”
It's Palm Sunday so today we are peeking in on what was probably at the time one of the most thrilling days of all history. A day so filled with hope that, had she been there, Maria would have been twirling and singing and romping her happy heart out. A day that if you were alive and had witnessed the events in person, would have been one of those, “I remember exactly what I was wearing and who I was with” kind of days! The day is referred to as “The Triumphal Entry” or “Palm Sunday”, and it surely felt triumphant! It was a great day for HOPE . . .the ultimate day! The kind of day that makes you think, “Maybe it’s all going to be ok now.”
If ever there was a “things are all going to be ok” kind of day in the Bible, surely this was it! You’re in Jerusalem...maybe you’ve been to visit Jesus...seen a healing...heard of hundreds more. All your life you’ve lived under the oppression of the Romans and the weight of the history of oppression is a defining part of your life, your family, your past and foreseeable future. And now, you’re seeing Jesus come through Jerusalem.
His name is murmured in the crowd…and called out…and shouted…JESUS!! Jesus!! Hosanna! Hosanna! Salvation has come!! If people “high-fived” back then, I think there would have been high fives all around! This was quite an event!
Zechariah had prophesied this day 800 years earlier
Rejoice greatly! Shout aloud, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and riding on a donkey. I will set your prisoners free - prisoners of hope I will restore to you double!
And the people were shouting like they knew what they felt was true! Freedom! Double restoration!
“Hosanna!” “Salvation has come!!”
Everyone’s excited! Who wouldn’t be? Miracles! Powerful, authoritative teaching! A huge following! Crowd frenzy! All this culminating as they surely knew He must be a prophet!
And while salvation did come and has come – for those people gathered and shouting and hopeful – only a few days later that very fickle crowd turned their hosannas to crucify him. Led by their emotions rather than the truth – they knew the prophecies, they had seen his miracles, they had true reason to believe – rather than trusting they shifted and went with the momentary solidarity with the louder voices, the stronger presence, what appeared to be the mightier leaders – and aren’t we tempted to be the same?
Palm Sunday is a reminder to us all of the fickle nature of our hearts. That we are not only prone to wander but we are even eager to run. Instead of holding fast because of what we know to be true, we “think with our feelings” as I literally heard someone say earlier this week.
We love the feeling of triumph, of everything feeling like it’s ok...but every day isn’t a Palm Sunday high fiving celebration kind of day – so we must look ahead to the true victory - resurrection and see him through the weekdays.
Salvation has come. Jesus did and will continue to ride victoriously – our call is to remain faithful after the Palm Sundays – to not drift away on the Mondays, or lose heart on the Wednesdays, or deny him on Friday...we do not see everything in order around us – but we must still see him – because as hope-filled it was, Palm Sunday’s celebration is just a parade announcing the better hope of the resurrection!
So, today we celebrate like we do every Sunday that we serve a risen savior – a fact that cannot be changed by our feelings, but it is often blurred by them – but we must see him – Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for all of us – thank God the party didn’t end on Palm Sunday, it was just getting started!

Hebrews 11:30-40 {Lesson 11/Day 9}

Is it hard to imagine yourself when you read of the lives of these men and women? It is for me. With very few exceptions, each of these died for their faith. But who is called to follow? Aren’t we all struggling, worried, failures to some degree? I am. And yet there Jesus is calling us with all our mess-ups, with our past, with our pride, with our vices. Our lives should be lived in the world as if to be listed right along the roll call of these faithful. Why not? That’s not pride...that’s faith. Are we going to blow it? Yep. But so did every one of the faithful listed in this chapter! But each one – like you and me – received grace from God. How could it be grace if we weren’t so weak and unworthy? Be ready. Be willing. Be aware of the cost. Practice your faith

Hebrews 11:23-26 {Lesson 11/Day 8}

Hebrews 11:8-22 {Lesson 11/Day 7}

My idea of hope and faith have been linked for a long time with waiting for God and believing that the thing I was longing for would eventually happen if I was faithful and if it was His will – one or both of those had to be true. I had hope and faith in God to heal my husband and marriage. I had hope to have more children. I hoped for my dad to be healed. If these things didn’t happen either I hadn’t been really faithful or it wasn’t God’s will. I clung to verses like “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” And while this verse is true – it’s true because it’s axiomatic. It’s not true in the sense that I’ll eventually get my desires fulfilled – and won’t that be a lovely feeling? It’s true only in the sense that my longing heart really is sick while I wait.
Two things happened that began to tighten up my view of faith and hope. The first was not getting really good things that I had prayerfully, faithfully, and with great hope longed for – I didn’t get more children and my dad went Home never cured of multiple sclerosis. Even writing those words in this moment brings me great sadness. My longings in those areas remain unfulfilled. The second thing that happened – and that has been more of a process and not a specific point in time – is a getting a better understanding of what God means by faith and hope. Abraham? Sarah? Isaac? Jacob? Joseph? – “all died in faith not having received the things promised.” Yet, here they are as paragons of faith – shouldn't they have received all their promises? Did they die heart-sick not getting their desires fulfilled? No. They died in faith knowing that “he who promised” would be faithful. It’s not that God was their waiter serving up their desires on a platter. Instead, they had the right understanding of God whose thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways.
That understanding changed me. Wanting a lot of children? A great thought! Wanting my dad to be healed? Also wonderful. Why wouldn’t God want that for me? I don’t know, but He didn’t...that’s where faith comes in. I look around and don’t see the world in subjection to Him, but I still see Him. I consider Him. I have faith in Him. I don’t let go and live a with no hope, but I look beyond the timing of my hope and remember that God’s ways aren’t mine any more than His timing is. I consider Him faithful. My hope looks to Him, and that’s beyond what I may or may not get in this life.
That’s where I am in my understanding of faith and hope. I pray continually for growth and better understanding. I don’t know what is on your hope list today, but I pray that at the top of it is “I see Him.” Your heart may be sick at the thought of not getting what you are longing for. Your eyes may be pouring over with tears of sadness at the thought of your longing never being realized. But you will see Him, and that longing will be fulfilled and that will be a tree of life.

Hebrews 11:8-22 {Lesson 11/Day 6}

45 minute study? Yep! Don't let that stop you! It's a powerful message today! Listen to the end!...
What moves you? What gets you willing to get up and go? What drives you to live the way you live? If you’re living a life that is pleasing to God then you’re moved by obedience to God. You’re willing to sacrifice your comfort to follow God. Abraham left the security of his homeland and obeyed God. He had his eyes fixed on something beyond this world. He was looking forward to the city whose designer and builder was God. Why? Because he had faith – true faith that moves. This kind of faith is willing and driven by the internal combustion of hope in what can’t be seen. Abraham also accumulated great wealth, a huge family, and the blessing of the greatest king of his time, Melchizedek. Was all that the ultimate promise he was given? No. God’s ultimate promise was the covenant to bring from his lineage the ultimate Promise Keeper – Jesus. The thought that because we are heirs along with Abraham we are entitled to great prosperity is the malignant teaching of a false gospel. Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and Creflo Dollar are among “Christian” leaders who teach this gospel. They fail to teach the reward of “joyfully accepting the plundering of property” or living with “hard struggle with sufferings.” Instead, their prosperity gospel admonishes those people as having a lack of faith when this is exactly the kind of faith that Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham had that honors God. This is the kind of faith that should define your life if you say you follow Jesus Christ today. Be armed with the truth and willing to stand on God’s Word against any false gospel. Live in true faith today, not because you’re getting rich by the world’s standards, but because you are desiring something better – a city prepared for you that has been built by God himself.

Hebrews 11:7 {Lesson 11/Day 5}

My pastor growing up, Dr. John MacArthur Sr, would tell us the story about a man who wore one of those sandwich-board signs as he walked the streets. On the front it said, “I am a fool for Christ.” People walked by and mocked and laughed, but as they went by they read the back which asked, “Whose fool are you?” The day I sat at Panera writing this lesson, a man walked by my table and stopped. Pointing to my Bible he said, “You believe that book?” I invited him to sit down, and over the course of the next 30 minutes, he and I talked about what he thought was foolishness and what I believed was the inspired words of God. “If it makes you feel better and helps you live right, I don’t care. But, don’t tell me it’s true. It’s not. I can’t believe all that.” For him, “the word of the cross is foolishness” but to me and all who are being saved by it, “it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18) He left my table scoffing at my assurance to pray for him. “If I’m going to get to heaven it’ll be on my own two feet not because of some 2000-year dead man.” Like those who scoffed at Noah while he labored for 300 years building a ridiculous structure they had never seen or imagined before, this man left my table scoffing at the only thing that will save his life: the cross. How foolish I am to spend time in the Word for a God I cannot see with my eyes. How silly to waste my time writing and studying so others can understand this God. How worthless my hours are spent praying for him and others who I know who continue to reject the cross. The cross is foolishness. The ark was too – until it wasn’t. The ark was the only way to be saved. When God’s righteous judgment flooded the earth, it lifted to safety all who had placed their faith in him and destroyed all who rejected Him. One day by faith, I know God’s righteous judgment will once again come. Those who are eagerly waiting for him will be saved – lifted above the horror of his fury. Those who have trampled underfoot the son of God, will realize exactly who they have been a fool for – themselves, and, “just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.”
I mentioned my testimony in this podcast. If you are interested in hearing it you can find it under the title "Unexpected Hope." For nearly 20 years I was in a marriage with a man who struggled with depression, control and rage issues. He was addicted to alcohol, drugs, and sex. He betrayed our marriage vows and was physically and emotionally abusive. During this terrible season I felt so alone and hopeless, yet God continually called me to stay. How could I stay under such circumstances? Why was I so "foolish?" Was there any hope? I wasn't sure, but I knew what God had asked me to do. I share this story of hope in my life in that podcast and I trust it will be an encouragement to you today. Click Here

Hebrews 11:5-6 {Lesson 11/Day 4}

Who was Enoch?
A little child told Enoch’s story like this: “Enoch was a man that used to go for walks with God. One day they went for an extra long walk, and they walked on, and on, and on, until God said to Enoch, 'You are a long way from home; you would better just come in and stay.' And he went in!’" What a simple, sweet way to remember Enoch’s amazing relationship with God. Only two people have ever skipped death: Enoch and Elijah. God just brought them both Home. And only two people have ever been commended for their “walk” with God: Enoch and Noah (Genesis 6:9). Abraham is most famous for the long walk he literally took as he obeyed God’s command to: “arise, walk around the land” (Genesis 13:17) and, “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). He was called a “friend of God.”
Friends walk alongside one another. What another beautiful thought. Consider this: God also walks. In Exodus God walked ahead of the people in a pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21) and later, Moses assured the people that, “God walks before you; He will not release you nor will He abandon you,” (Deut. 31:8). God’s desire is for all of us to love Him in such a way as to truly walk with Him. We are to speak of His teachings “when you sit in your homes and when you walk on the way.” (Deut. 6:7) The God who made a way for you to draw near to him through Jesus wants you to walk with him along that way.
Who dwells with and draws near to God? David asked and answered the same question:
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart
Let us be those women today. Women of the Word, the Way, and the Walk.

Hebrews 11:4 {Lesson 11/Day 3}

Hebrews 11:4 {Lesson 11/Day 3}
It might be a popular movie title, but the famous quote, “Dead men tell no tales” just isn’t true, is it? In fact, the life of the second man born into our fallen world not only told tales, he still speaks today. God said that Abel’s blood didn’t just speak, but his blood was “crying out” from the ground. Don’t ever question if God sees or hears you when you are crying out. If God can hear from the spent blood of Abel, how much more can he hear your prayers? “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). And how do the righteous live? By faith! If your life is a life of faith, then you will be heard. “The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the Righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).
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Hebrews 11:1-3 {Lesson 11/Day 2}

A scientist challenges God to a contest to see who can make a better human. God accepts, and the scientist excitedly bends down to pick up some clay to make his human being when God stops him saying, “Oh no, no, no... you go make your own dirt.” It’s one thing to create...it’s another all together to create from nothing. Do you ever find yourself dizzy with wonder at how this all came to be? How you and I and all of us came to be? Is it just blind faith to accept that God created it all? No. William Lane Craig summarized the position well like this:
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its beginning.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its beginning.
The author of Hebrews is teaching the same thing and goes a step further when he says that the “universe was created by the word of God.” Not only does the universe have a cause – the cause is God, and the method is God’s very breath (Ps 33). We are not like the unfaithful, the ones who “shrink back and are destroyed.” Those who believe in the God of creation are those who exercise their faith and by so doing, have an understanding of how everything came to be.
I wasn’t there when the universe came into existence, but I have faith in the One who was, and I’m convicted of what I haven’t seen – God, the Creator of the universe – the One about whom Isaiah asks, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth.” I may not be able to explain it all, but “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” This is true faith.
Faith is not works to earn the good favor of God. Good works are the result of our faith. By faith we are assured of the reality of God. By faith we accept what He already has done and will one day do. Faith is more than wishful thinking or a hunch about something. It’s an assurance based on your conviction that in spite of what you can’t see, it will be there...or already is.
Thomas, the famous doubter, said, “Let me see, then I’ll believe.” True faith says, “I believe! Now I can see!” Think about this, without God’s help a person simply cannot accept spiritual truths—they just don’t make sense to him, for, after all, you must be spiritual to see spiritual things. It is God who gives the nudge with the Holy Spirit.
Is there anything that you are holding back in your faith today? Faith is full assurance based on total conviction...no holding back. You are banking everything on your faith. Anything less than total faith is not true faith. It’s like the lady who was flying home and somebody asked her how she liked the flight. She said, “I hated it and I never put my whole weight down the whole trip.” The reality is that we’re all headed for eternity. Saving faith rests fully in God because of your conviction in where you’re headed in Him – eternal redemption.

Hebrews 11 {Lesson 11/Day 1}

Hebrews 11 {Lesson 11/Day 1}
Read and write through Hebrews Chapter 11 with me today. Join the weekday Dwelling Richly Bible study podcast Live at 7am on Facebook at LMCC Women.
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