how much faith is enough?

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.  Luke 17:5-6

it seems like they had enough faith, as far as the Lord was concerned.  yes, he at times marveled at the "great faith" of some who trusted him, and rebuked the "little faith" of those who didn't; he even outright denounced the "faithless generation" that sought signs and wonders instead of trusting the signs he already performed.

yet he said that the smallest amount of faith could move mountains.

how much faith is enough, and how do we know we have it?
 

 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1 

so, do i have the smallest sureness of what i hope for, and the smallest certainty of what i do not see?  i want my children to be healed of sickness, for example.  this is what i hope for:  healing.  this is what i do not yet see:  perfect health.  how can i be sure that my children will be healed, and certain of their healing before i see it?

the verse assumes a promise, a surety, a legal guarantee from God.  like when i paid first and last months rent, and gave the land lord a security deposit, so God gives us a "security deposit," the Holy Spirit, as Paul said to the Ephesian Christians.  So, as Paul said, if God would not spare His Son, or His Spirit, and if God would give us His Son while we were His enemies, will He spare us anything else that is good and of far less value?

Of this I am sure and certain:  God is love, and God is good.  I know that God is full of compassion and great in mercy.  Jesus promised this:  Ask, and it will be given.  Seek, and you will find.  Knock, and the door will be opened.  He said if evil human fathers can give good gifts to their children when they ask, how much more will the perfectly good heavenly Father give good gifts, and His Holy Spirit, to His children when they ask?  now that i am a father, i have a deeper understanding of this verse.  i know without doubt i am an imperfect father, yet i can say with all honesty that i have not knowingly withheld ANYTHING good from my children when they've asked.  i give them whatever they need or want that is good when they ask.  if i can comfort them or help them, i do it without hesitation.  i am certain that God is infinitely better and has more power than i do.

Therefore, I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see:  That God will heal my family, and that the devil will flee from me.

how much faith is enough, and how do i know i have enough faith?
the smallest amount of sureness in God's goodness is enough.  i know that i have it, because i can't live without it.

 

A BIBLICAL DEFENSE OF SELF-DEFENSE (PART 2)

"how do i defend myself biblically?"

awareness
avoidance
resistance

as it is written,

"Be self-controlled, be watchful, for your adversary the devil roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..."

now some may object to me using this scripture in relation to self-defense.  after all, peter spoke about the persecutions of the early christians, which came from satan...and they were to ENDURE those persecutions, even the physical torments and tortures and deaths.

true.

as stated in part 1, if it is God's will for one to suffer for doing good or for the cause of Christ, and one KNOWS this, then the suffering should be embraced and endured for the glory of God.

but i'm talking about someone breaking into your home, for example, or someone attempting to mug or rape you.  is it God's will for a thief to succeed, when it is written, "You shall not steal?"  is it God's will for the rapist to succeed, when it is written, "You shall not murder," and "The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit...?"

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.  Jesus called the devil a murderer.  Thus He came to destroy the work of murder.  Murder is a violent act.  Therefore, one should be aware of violently dangerous people and places, avoid dangerous people and places, and resist dangerous people and places, as it is written, "Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you."

Yet again, some only think of these verses and principles spiritually...or so it seems.  None of us hesitate to call the police, or to expect the police to use violence to stop violence, if the violent criminal will not surrender peacefully.

But when it comes to personal self-defense, or committing personal violence, we shudder.  We hesitate.  We fear.  Why?  Where does this fear come from?

THE DEVIL

Yes, we are to be peaceful and peacemakers, as it is written, "If at all possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  But this verse ASSUMES, that it MAY NOT be possible and MAY NOT depend on you.

What do you do in those moments?

We see the necessity defense via violence with the Hitlers and Osama Bin Ladens of the world.  Yet what we do with them on a global scale is no different from what we should do with tyrants on a personal scale--RESIST!   If we had to stop Hitler's world domination, surely we must stop the bully's individual domination.  We consider it OUR DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY to resist national tyranny, but somehow make individual tyranny an exemption. 

God forbid.

Resist evil, all evil, every evil.  As it is indeed written, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Yet we forget that justice is good and injustice is evil.  We should overcome injustice with justice, unmercifulness with mercy.  And we should NEVER make the mistake of pitting mercy and justice against each other.  Think of this scripture, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful AND JUST to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness."

God is JUST in granting FORGIVENESS, meaning it would be UNJUST for God to refuse forgiveness to the one who confesses sin BECAUSE OF JESUS' DEATH.

God's justice is merciful, and His mercy is just.

Indeed, we should not seek to harm or hurt anyone, IF IT IS POSSIBLE, AND AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON US.  But if someone seeks to cause us physical harm or death, and it is not due to a governing authority persecuting us as Christians, where is it a scriptural principle to let violence happen us, or any evil for that matter?  Christ Himself refused to let violence happen to Him.  We as His followers should not unnecessarily allow harm or death to ourselves either.  Until it was time for Jesus to die for our sins, He resisted violence and death.  Until our time comes, we should resist violence as well. 

Resist all evil, physical and spiritual. 
Avoid. 
Evade. 
Resist.

As it is written, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
It is also written, "It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel."
Yet again it is written, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God."

With the innocence of doves and the wisdom of serpents, we should be aware of dangerous people, never gullible, never vulnerable.  We should avoid them if possible.  If it is not possible, we should deescalate situations, calming those who are angry, never provoking, challenging, or or insulting anyone, and never oblivious to the danger we face.  If we can't avoid or deescalate, we should call the police, AND UNTIL THE POLICE COME, we should do whatever it takes to prevent bodily harm or death to ourselves.

Does one need to take self-defense classes, martial arts, or gun courses.  This depends on each Christian and the Spirit's leading. But make no mistake, we SHOULD respect our bodies as the very temples of the living God.  We lock the doors of our houses and cars.  These are forms of self-defense.  We turn on porch lights and alarms.  We call the police when danger is suspected.  Again, all of these are forms of self-defense. 

We should lock the doors of our wills and minds to the violent, and turn on the alarms and porch lights of awareness and avoidance.  If someone seeks to break the locks on the doors of our souls, and break into the temple of God, our very body, we should stop them.

Don't get hit.
Stop the continuing attack.

This may mean running and yelling, meaning you run AWAY from danger and TO SAFETY. 
It may mean hitting the attacker in his or her eyes until they can't see long enough FOR YOU TO RUN OR ESCAPE.

Self-defense should be as simple as possible, ending in three moves or less, focused on escape!
Use gravity against a physical enemy, taking his balance or her support (meaning the legs they stand on.)  All of us, big or small, short or tall, ARE SUBJECT TO GRAVITY. 

Never let anyone get behind you, and if possible, get behind them for your attack and escape.

Take these few principles and find natural ways to practice and apply them.  I also advise you to go this self-defense.  (Warning:  Sometimes the author uses profanity.  He also seems to be atheistic in his spirituality, but the principles he gives are in agreement with scripture and plain reason.  For example, gravity as a principle of self-defense comes from God, whether he acknowledges God or not.  The principles I mention come from all that I've learned from this site, and compared to scripture, plain reason, and experience.  Thought I don't agree with all that is on the site spiritually, I agree wholeheartedly with the universal self-defense principles Mr. MacYoung teaches.) 

May God the All Powerful protect you and enable you to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Peace be with the one who reads.