# 7b – A Story of Homelessness and of Faith that Purifies the Heart (Part 2 of 3)

2) Help others do the works of faith

I felt comforted that Jesus also had no permanent place to lay his head. Finally, after many nights had stretched into 11 unsettling months, my heart was ready to forgive. Only then did the situation miraculously right itself.

I was home again. In an effort to make peace, I sought out the person whose power had brought me to experience homelessness, unrighteousness, and pain. After all, he was a “positional” Christian, and under God’s law, I owed him nothing except love (Rom. 13:8 NIV). I held out my hand and he shook it, politely inquiring if my unpacking had gone well. I nodded, unable to stop silent tears from streaming down my face. Nonetheless, I was satisfied. I accomplished pono (righteousness) between us and my heart knew God was pleased.

Five months later, the Association let our manager go. Shortly afterwards, I found myself in the laundry room, sharing my homeless story with the head of the Association. I was told to hire an attorney because I had broken no lease terms to warrant an eviction. I could sue.

I considered the advice. Who had more “right” to sue than I had? Then, once again, a bible verse gently “walked” across my mind. “Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?” (1 Cor. 6:7 NIV) These were tough questions. At first, I resisted. What was God after?

“Forgive” quietly echoed in my head. I sighed heavily. I had forgiven. My heart was clean. I tossed out that good-looking temptation.

(A Story of Homelessness…continues in Part 3 of 3)

Scripture from the New International Version (NIV) of the bible.

# 7a – A Story of Homelessness and of Faith that Purifies the Heart (Part 1 of 3)

2) Help others do the works of faith

Under an evening streetlight, I silently waved goodbye to my ‘ohana (family). They watched from the window of what used to be my fourth floor residence. Then quietly, as if to match the somberness of the moment, a bible verse “walked” across my mind. “All things work for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Was God asking me to trust him no matter how my homeless situation unfolded?

I slept in my car that first night and grieved over my loss. I had nothing now except faith in an unseen God in whose hands I had placed my life many years ago. Faith told me that God had my back. Faith reminded me that God knew where I lay my head. Faith assured me that God grieved and hurt with me; that he understood my anger, my desire to lash out at the powers that had manipulated my lifestyle in one moment of time.

Relatives eventually put me up at night. By 5:30 in the morning I’d be gone, not wanting to become an unwelcome guest. During the day, there was nothing to do, nowhere to go—except to state parks. These were hassle-free at the time and provided the necessary bathroom facilities.

The alienation and mental-emotional stresses we face daily are overwhelming. Add to that the recent criminalization of homelessness by governing powers, and our situation escalates to insurmountable. No one truly "adjusts" to homelessness.

Instead, we dodge and cope.

(A Story of Homelessness...continues in Part 2 of 3)
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Scripture from the King James Version (KJV) of the bible.

# 6 – Faith: Our Inner Witness

2) Help others do the works of faith

Faith is not an assumption—“A statement accepted as true without proof”*. How long have Christians’ erroneously accepted this as faith’s definition?!

Interestingly, scholars of the NKJV Study Bible agree, the verse in Hebrews 11:1 is not a definition of faith either! Rather, it describes what faith does.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1 NKJV).

They explain that “substance” means “reality”; and “evidence” means “proof” or “conviction”. Thus, faith is the reality of things hoped for, the proof of things faith provides to convict us that what is unseen is real!

Faith is reality, proof and conviction. Without these, it’s assumption.

For instance, at the altar call we made our confession of faith. Faith provided the inner witness, which is proof and conviction that something real occurred, and we were saved: “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself;” (1 John 5:10 NKJV).

As we grow in the gospel of Christ, however, confession of faith—by itself—will not be enough. God makes known his righteousness as we grow from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17). One such faith keeps company with works!

…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17).

Faith is action manifested within the parameters of works. We don’t do faith; we do works. As we do works, our inner witness will continue to convict us that faith is present. Otherwise, the faith we have is dead.

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*The American Heritage Dictionary, Based on the New Second College Edition; Scriptures from King James Version of the bible, unless otherwise indicated with NKJV (New King James Version) taken from NKJV Study Bible, 2^nd Edition, 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

#5 - By Faith in Christ Jesus

2) Help others do the works of faith

Being saved by grace—through faith—is a gift from God; we could not do anything of our own efforts to earn God’s gift (Eph. 2: 8, 9). Afterwards, however, what we do with that gift is our responsibility, which is to grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). Grace is not a stagnant position. Grace is a growth process!

Like an embryo that is predestined to grow into a baby, so the newborn Christian is predestined to grow into the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). To accomplish this goal, the church is supposed to bring us to unity:

1)      of the faith, and

2)      of the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 4:13).

We, the body of Christ, are to provide the necessary tools to bring us into this predestination (Rom. 8:29, 30). These tools are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11, 12). They are to grow us up until we arrive “unto a perfect man…”

Perfect, tĕlĕiŏs, is to be complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.). The dictionary defines complete as “having all necessary parts, elements, or steps”; “brought to an end: concluded”; “finished”; and is “marked by the highest quality”.

Our Christian journey begins and ends by faith in Christ Jesus. So let us encourage these ministries who grow us up. If we don’t, then perhaps we not only failed “of the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15), but also of faith—to the household of faith (Gal. 6:10)!

 

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All Scriptures come from The King James Version of the bible; definition from Strong’s Concordance: “perfect” #5046 (Eph. 4:13); and Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

#4 – Faith is a Personal Feeling

1) Exploring different variations of faith

Many of us can agree that faith is personal. We base faith upon what we believe. Once our confession of faith leaves our heads and our mouths, belief drops into our emotions and become part of our feelings (Rom 10:8 NIV).

Our feelings consist of who we are—and since we are unique individuals—these feelings can sometime cause friction, arguments, or misunderstandings we never intended. Even worse, when we put our faith in areas where others find hard to follow, our faith is tested because now we stand alone in what we believe.

Jesus, too, stood alone in his day. The religious hierarchy was his most active accusers because their past faith did not recognize their present reality. Before them stood the person they were waiting for—and yet Jesus stood alone. Even on the cross, in his most desperate hour, he cried: "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?"

Today, many of us feel forsaken or alone in areas where the faith of others cannot follow. For Christians, these feelings are even more acutely felt, leaving us to feel vulnerable—abandoned to the forces that momentarily prevail.

Yes, faith is personal, so who can agree with it? Our dependence is upon the Lord, who said, "Come. Follow me". When we do, then we are truly never alone—even in the places where no one else will go. He is with us. We know this to be true. Just as surely as our faith feels it to be true. Every single day.

Faith #3 - The Household of Faith

1) Exploring different variations of faith

We have doubters within the household of faith! Remember Thomas? He had eaten, slept, and journeyed alongside others as they followed after Jesus. Yet, later, Thomas had no faith in their eyewitness testimony:

We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe (John 20:25).

There’s an understood “you” at the end of that verse. When he “dissed” them, he was calling them liars, wasn’t he!

What was Thomas’ difficulty? Simple. He just hadn’t experienced seeing the Lord for himself. That’s the arrogance, or ignorance, of holding on to one expectation of faith—our own—while excluding the faith of others. At the point, where recognition and acceptance for the faith of others ceases to be defined by love (1 Cor. 13:4-13), then we also cease to do “good” to the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).

However, Jesus gave us a remedy. Single out those who have no previous eye-witness experiences of their own, yet recognize and accept others’ faith anyway; then, acknowledge how blessed they are, just as Jesus did:  “…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Faith does not have to occur exclusively within the boundaries of our own experiences. Faith can also occur within the boundaries of others’. This is why we are called the household of faith!

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 Scriptures from the King James Version.

Faith #2 - Different Genders, Different Styles of Faith

1) Exploring different variations of faith

Most men are cerebral. They are the sum of their thoughts. Faith for men starts in their brain. At some point, their confession of faith eventually drops into their heart, where faith becomes reality. Until the Spirit apprehends their heart, displays of emotion make men feel uncomfortable, even threatened, by their emotional female counterparts.

Most women are emotional. We are the sum of our feelings. So, faith is a feeling for us. My brother asked me once, “How did you know there was a (spiritual) barrier there?” I replied, “I felt it”. Every moment, of every day, feelings are who we are—and sometimes get us into trouble if we do not apply the fruit of self-control. Until our men can accept our feelings on the same level as they accept their thoughts, we’ll have to look to another Man for emotional support, Jesus. He felt sorrow. He wept. He agonized in the Garden. He felt abandoned by the One upon whom he had come to trust. So, who better to understand and empathize with us than the person we call Lord and Savior?

God does not make mistakes. We are created to be both rational and emotional human beings. Truly we are meant to embrace both areas of our human nature? That is, until we accept, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ” (Gal. 3:28 NIV). To be “one” takes another leap of faith for both genders.