Christian Living

BREAKING THROUGH

by paul hoffmaster
11/29/20
Free to Share

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

One of the most difficult barriers for Christians to overcome is the struggle between the natural and spiritual man.   Any person can believe the Scriptures and come to the knowledge of the saving work of Jesus Christ.  They can take God’s Word and accept the reality of salvation through faith, and become a Christian.  They can attach themselves to a body of Believers.  They can submit to the preaching and teaching of the Word.  They can learn to accept filtered Truth with no thought of Biblical checks and balances.  They can evidence their commitment by faithfully attending religious services.  They can learn the Christian vocabulary.  Satisfied their foundation is solid, they file their B.A. (born again) degree in the portals of their mind.  What happens after that is the potential of developing either an attitude of complacency or an ongoing journey of spiritual growth. 

One of the hardest things for a complacent Christian to do is to move from a head knowledge, which is fed by feelings, to a heart challenging experience that is fed by Faith.  One deals with circumstances, while the other deals with Biblical facts.  Many churches today are filled with “complacent Christians.”  The wall between the flesh and the spirit is a difficult barrier to overcome.  The complacent Christian is content with a salvation experience, whereas the spirit man is always striving to be ^Christ-like, not only in their actions but in their thoughts as well.

Prayer is used as a vehicle of communication between man and God.  Sadly many Christians petition God with a cross fingered approach.  They hope He will answer affirmatively but are not really confident that He will.  The spirit man, on the other hand, knows what it is to “pray through,” knowing that the answer to prayer depends on the faith of the petitioner, who is praying the will of God.

In the Gospel of Mark, we have the story of the father whose son was possessed by an evil spirit.  He pleaded with Jesus to help them.  He said, “If thou can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  Jesus told him that if he would believe, all things were possible.  The man cried out, with tears flowing down his face, “I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”  (Mark 9: 22-24)  The word for crying in Greek is to scream, to shriek.  He was clawing through the circumstance to the reality of Truth, based on faith, not on feelings.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to swim in the Atlantic Ocean.  On one particular day, the waves were so strong and powerful, that it was almost impossible to get beyond the breakers.  But with determination and a great deal of effort, I was able to breach the waves and enjoy the calmer waters.  Christians need to realize there is a barrier between the two natures of man.   For one to experience the fullness of the Kingdom, he needs to break through the ragging waves of doubt and unbelief.  It takes a person who is a “cross-bearer,” willing to die to himself  on a daily basis.

To get beyond our head knowledge to a heart experience takes an all-out effort.  When the struggle gets too difficult, let us not hesitate to cry out, “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.”