Pleasing God Through Walking by Faith

Well, good morning again, brethren, and delighted to see you. Glad to get an update there on Tom. I had not heard from him about that for a little bit, so I'm glad to know a little more about the progress that is taking place. And I know different ones of us at different times have different things that we struggle with. And I'm well aware that God is well aware of what we are going through. And in part, that's part of what I want to talk to you about today. In Matthew 3, you find a record of Jesus being baptized. Now, you might think, well, did Jesus need to be baptized? Well, he wasn't a sinner. He didn't need to be forgiven. But what he said was, I need to do this to set the right example to fulfill all righteousness. In Matthew 3, verse 16, it says, when Jesus had been baptized, just as He came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were open to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting on Him. This is what John was visualizing, what he was actually a part of as Jesus had come to Him to be baptized. And in verse 17, a voice from heaven said, what did it say? This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, you find that account of this acknowledgement from heaven, from God acknowledging who Jesus was to John the Baptist and to those who were there. And they saw what appeared to be some kind of a representation of a dove. And yet, you see this recorded in Matthew, and you see it recorded in Mark, and you see it in Luke. You see John referring to it as just not so much what was said, but he said it was on this individual that I would recognize that he would be the one through whom the Holy Spirit would come. And so, you find this acknowledgement about Jesus here at His baptism. You also find this similar statement in Matthew 17.

In Matthew 17, the transfiguration, Matthew's account of it, whenever Peter and James and John were with him up on the mountain, they were given a vision. And yet, there was also an acknowledgement. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then it says, listen to Him. Hear what He has to say. And so clearly, that recognition from the Father about how pleasing Jesus as the Son of God had to be to His heavenly Father. Now, you might think, well, surely that'd be the case. He was the Son of God. He was God in the flesh. He had taken on this physical frame. He had taken on the form of a servant. He'd taken on a flesh and blood existence like all of us have. And I think, whenever we think about what it says, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You know, do we ever think about whether or not God is well pleased with us? See, how do we know whether God is well pleased with us or not?

We know we're supposed to obey God. We're supposed to pray. And even as the students mentioned here in the class, they realize I kind of grow up in this as a part of the Church of God and attend services all my life. But really, as I begin to mature, I've got to understand. I've got to comprehend the Bible. I've got to develop a relationship with God. And obviously, you can always say, well, Jesus always had that, and surely He did. But see, we ought to think about it because God wants us to be a son or daughter of God as well. So, how do you know? How do you know that God is pleased with you? I know that you see this example of Jesus, and you can say that, well, clearly Jesus knew where He came from. He had existed before the beginning of anything. He had always existed. He knew where He was. He knew where He was going. He had a perception of things that was beyond what we would have.

And yet, we're learning that. We're growing in that. I want to point out in Hebrews 11, verse 6, that in this chapter that lists the number of the people of faith from the Old Testament, it says in Hebrews 11, verse 6, that without faith, it is impossible to please God. And those who would approach Him must believe that He exists and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Now, I think that ties together with the example of Jesus. How was it that He was the perfect Son of God? How was it that He was sinless? How was it that He was fully pleasing to the Father, not only at the beginning of His life and His ministry, but later on when He was sharing the transfiguration with His disciples?

How is it that He was deemed to be pleasing to God? Well, it was because He was living by faith. See, that's what we actually find. Here in Hebrews 12, we read in verse 1, therefore, since we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that easily distracts and let us run with perseverance the race that set before us. And so, to follow the sequence of Hebrews 11, you see a chapter entirely about faith and about people of faith, and then it runs right into, and of course, not a real need for a chapter break, perhaps, but it runs right into talking about the faith that Jesus had. In verse 2, it says, as we continue to run our race, looking in verse 2 to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

I think that King James says the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross and disregarded the shame and has taken his feet at the right hand of the throne of God.

Now, here it tells us, obviously, we need to look to Jesus for the example, look to Jesus for the help, look to Jesus for the encouragement that we need to live a life that is pleasing to God, which is a life of faith. See here in verse 2, it talks about Jesus being the author, being the pioneer, being the captain, and so, in a sense, an initiator of our faith. And we realize that without him. We wouldn't be forgiven without him. We wouldn't have hope. Without him, we wouldn't have understanding. Without him, we wouldn't have our mercy extended to us. And yet, it goes ahead to say he's the beginner, the author, and then the finisher, the completer or the perfecter of our faith. Now, what is that talking about?

Well, I think you could say he's the developer of our faith, the one who can strengthen and cause our faith to grow and thrive. He wants us to be close to him. He wants us to see his example. But he wants us to live our lives by faith, walking by faith, and not by sight. See, we can easily, and everybody does, walk by sight. We walk within the physical parameters that we have.

But he tells us that I want you to walk by faith. And if you walk by faith, then you too can be pleasing to God. That's what he wants to see. And I would say that he allows trials.

He allows tests that cause our faith to develop and grow. See, that's the way to look at trials. Sometimes we can be exasperated by trials or by difficulty that we labor with.

Let's see if we look at it as, well, that's another opportunity to grow, another opportunity. And I want to show you that I'm pretty sure that that's what Jesus was doing with the disciples. See, we can please God by walking by faith. And I want to look at an example that you find in at least three of the Gospels. An example where Jesus was teaching his disciples. This is found to begin with here in Mark chapter 6. This is an example that would be very applicable for today.

It's where Jesus was walking on the water. See, we all needed to skate in on the water as we came in today. We were all trying to get through the water.

You know, the water really isn't a problem for Jesus. But here in Mark chapter 6, you see this example. It's repeated in John and in Matthew, and we'll take a look at that. But this is after Jesus had just fed. We actually find different things in each one of these accounts.

And here in Mark chapter 6, you see what had just happened. Jesus, in verse 30, you have an account of Him feeding the 5,000, with just two fish and five bread, and that was it. Somehow He fed the 5,000.

Somehow He was able to provide, and again, you have to say, well, obviously, He was able to perform miracles. He could heal the sick. He could cause the dead to rise. He could do anything. Well, how was He doing that? Well, He obeyed God. He did the will of God. He did the works of God. He did the words of God. See, all of that was He was so in tune with that that even here in this account of Him feeding the 5,000, that this was simply an example of living by faith.

If He asked the Father to do it, then He would do it.

And yet, what do you find here in verse 52 about the disciples? They really didn't understand about the loaves because their hearts were hardened.

Now, they saw what happened. They actually helped pass it out.

And maybe some of them realized more about what was going on than others, but what it means is that they just really didn't comprehend who it was that they were following.

But here in verse 45, this is where I want to pick this up.

Immediately, so this was after He had fed the 5,000, He made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side to Bethesda while He dismissed the crowd. This appears to be, just from the references that we have toward the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Sea of Galilee is called the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, the Lake Gennesterut. It's called different things, mostly from your vantage point of where you are and the way you look at it.

And yet, this appears to be where this feeding of the 5,000 occurred and where He was going to tell them, I want you to go ahead and get in the boat, disciples.

And He would dismiss the crowd. So the crowd was there. We're going to find out a little more about that in another one of the accounts. Why it was He did that. But it says, after saying farewell to everyone, in verse 46, He went up on the mountain to pray. Now, clearly, He needed to be close to His Father. He needed to have separate time, just like all of us do. We all need to make time to pray to God and to commune with God, to relate to God. But when, in verse 47, the evening came, the boat was out on the sea and He was alone on the land. So all the disciples were out in the boat. He had already told them to go out there. He had told them to go out into the sea and head toward a given direction. And yet He was, in verse 46, let's say 46, when He saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, He came toward them early in the morning, walking on the sea. And so here's a time frame of, you know, it's getting dark in the evening. Jesus sending the crowds away, sending the disciples out in the boat, then going up on the mountain to pray. And yet then, from that vantage point, He can see what's going on out here on the water. And yet, it says it was early in the morning that He would come walking to them on the water. He intended to pass them by, but in verse 40, when they saw Him walking on the water, walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost. They wondered what it was. They cried out. They all saw Him, and they were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I, don't be afraid. And He got into the boat, and the wind ceased, and they were utterly astounded. Of course, Mark adds here, they didn't understand what the loaves were about either. But you have kind of a summary account here of what happened.

You have more details in John and in Matthew as we'll go to.

But see, what is it that we learn from reading that account? Well, we can read, you know, Jesus is able to walk on the water. The disciples really didn't understand how He could do this. This was not in January when the lake was frozen over, like in Michigan, whenever in the wintertime you've got a frozen lake, and you can walk on water there, I guess. This was not the time. This was when the grass was green. This was in the spring. You know, they had just served a big meal, had everybody sit down in order, and the grass was green. It wasn't in the winter.

He was able to walk on the water, which of course, you know, He was able to do because He had faith in God. Now, it's interesting to see that in verse 48, it says, He saw from the mountaintop what was going on. Why did He send them out there? Why did He let them get into that difficulty, almost directing them into it? Well, I think we, as we think about this, we can understand more fully. It's obvious that their reaction was fear. You know, they were afraid of what they were watching, what they saw. They were seeing something that was out of the ordinary. And numerous of these disciples were fishermen. They were used to being out in the water. They were used to being on the boat. They were used to rowing across the sea of Galilee. That was not unfamiliar territory, but this was unusual because they saw Him walking on the water to meet them. And I think you can conclude from verse 48 that, you know, Jesus clearly knew they were in trouble. And I think we might also consider, does God know when we're in trouble? Does He know when we're struggling? Does He know when we're in crisis?

Well, I think you can conclude that that's the case. But as it says in verse 50, as He got there, He says, take heart. Don't be afraid. I'm here. I'm really all you need. And yet, they couldn't see that quite yet. And they wouldn't see that until later, and perhaps even until He was crucified and then resurrected. Would they fully begin to comprehend what He was showing them? He says, look, I'm the Son of God. I'm the one you need. I'm the one who's an example of faith in my Father. And if you trust and have a reliance on me, then I can provide you comfort. I can provide you calm. And of course, that's what He did. He extended comfort and encouragement to them in their distress. So I would say, if you think about this example in light of what we said earlier about, in order to be pleasing to God, we need to live by faith. And if Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith, if He's the one who is able to develop faith in us, I think that's what He was doing with His disciples. He was building their belief in God, that He was building their belief in Him. He was showing them in numerous ways how He was available to help and the capacity that He had to provide that help.

And so, I would say about that, that none of us, well, you could think about what the disciples had to think. What did they think about this? You know, they had to pretty much just scratch their head. They had to wonder later on, how was that even possible? And yet, these individuals, see, I don't know why you don't see this account in the book of Luke, but I'm going to guess, this would just be conjecture. I don't think Luke was there because he probably would have written about it if he had been. You know, he was later writing as a historian and putting things together and clearly traveling with Paul. And certainly, he's probably heard about it.

He probably heard about it by Peter or James or John or others of the disciples. But see, Luke didn't record that for some reason, and that's a pretty outstanding thing. And yet, what I'm saying is no one besides the disciples who were there on the boat and who were direct eyewitnesses to this miraculous event would have the individual conviction that Peter, John, James, others who were there would have. See, he was working with them even at that time. If he's the author and the finisher of our faith, he was causing their faith to grow. And in a sense, you know, we might think, how valuable, how precious are the private miracles in our lives that we might go through. I would say we shouldn't dismiss or overlook the important experiences that we may have in our lives. You know, I was walking out of a store the other day. This had been several weeks ago now, and I was not paying a lot of attention as far as I knew where the car was. I could see it. It was right over there. But between the door of the store and where the car was, was across a driveway and into the parking lot.

And I headed toward the car. Now, I have to say, I wasn't really looking to see what was going on.

I wasn't watching the rest of the parking lot. It wasn't a big parking lot, but you would have thought I would have seen or would have heard as I start to walk out in the street, not paying attention except just knowing the car's right over there. I find myself right in the middle of the hood of a great big truck. And again, I don't know why I didn't see that or didn't hear a vehicle taken off out of the parking lot. And yet, I'm finding myself right in the middle of the front of the hood. And I reach out and put my hand on the side of the hood and very deftly jump over to the other side. Now, you all know that I cannot do that right now. I used to be able to get out of the way if I needed to. Today, it would be a rather lumbering, clumsy...

As I thought back on it, I thought, man, did I just experience some help getting out of the way of this vehicle? And it wasn't going too fast, and yet I don't think I wanted to fall down right in front of it. I was able to go off to the side. I ended up dropping everything that I had in the bag and needed to go back and replace that.

But I found that, well, I can't believe it. I can't get out of the way like that without help from God. And I think back on that experience and think, well, hopefully that was protection. Hopefully that was help from God. Hopefully God wants me to pay more attention to his developing of my focus on him and on his walking by faith, living by faith, which is what he says is pleasing to him.

Now, I think back on a few other times in my life when I believe God fully protected me. And yet, I'm sure many of you have experienced some type of intervention, whether it's like we travel today in ways that you wouldn't have had the ability to do in the past. I'm not having to go between Kansas City and Fulton in a covered wagon or on a horse. I'm able to do that much easier today than you would have several decades ago. And yet, all of us should not discount or not value the private miracles that God may do for us, often in protecting us.

And certainly, as far as the disciples were concerned, they were surprised to see Jesus coming out on the water. They were blown away. They all were terrified. And yet, they were thankful for His presence and thankful for His involvement in helping their faith, whether they realized that's what He was doing or not. But if He's the author and the finish of our faith, well, then I'm pretty sure that's what He was doing.

I gave this sermon last week in Kansas City. And then after the church and Pat and I are driving away, pretty much everyone's gone, we're driving away and I get up and put my coat, as I often do, in the back because I don't like to drive in the car in it. And I put my phone on top of the car. Not a smart move, but one that I'd often do or I have several times done.

And then I don't think of it or think about it and we take off. And about three miles later, down a pretty busy 119th Street in Overland Park, I hear this thud, thin thud. And I said, what? My phone! You know, I look down to where it's supposed to be and it's not there. And so I pull over and I'm looking back to see where is it laying crashed or run over in the road out, you know, just not very far from where I first heard it. And sure enough, I get out, open the car door, you know, it had clunked, I guess, through the roof and then onto the windshield in the back or the rear windshield.

And there it's laying there. It's fine. I didn't have to chase it down. I didn't have to repair it. I didn't have to do anything. You know, that may be a pretty minor thing. And yet, what I'm wanting to point out is, you know, God provides blessings or maybe even miracles or protection. He wants our faith in Him to grow. Let's look at John 6 because this is another account here of what Jesus did. John 6. Again, similar circumstances. He just feeds the 5,000 in John 6 starting in verse 1.

But after they were finished in verse 16, as evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. They got into a boat and started across the sea to Capernaum, again toward the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

It was now dark and Jesus did not yet come to them. See, this doesn't quite relate exactly the same thing that you read in Mark, but it's really clearly describing this same issue. And in verse 18, it was dark and Jesus had not come. Verse 18, the sea became rough because the strong wind was blowing.

And when they were about three or four miles out, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. And they, of course, were terrified. And He said, well, don't be afraid. It's me. It is I. Do not be afraid. And they wanted to take Him into the boat immediately. The boat reached the land toward which they were going. So it was not only that whenever this incident happened that the wind and the waves stopped, but that it appeared that they were already where they were going.

Now, these disciples were familiar with rowing the boat. They were familiar, not many of them being fishermen. They were familiar with that. That just can't happen. But that's what you see as what's recorded here in John. John doesn't elaborate on all of that. But in verse 20, he does say, don't be afraid. I'm here. I'm able to help you. I'm able to see He was able to give them reassurance. And what we find in verse 21 is He boarded the boat, that there was perfect calm. And they were where they were going. Again, exactly how that happened, I don't know. But clearly, Jesus was involved in many miracles, and this had to be one of them, as He walked out there in the sea. Now, let's go to Matthew 14, because you find, in a sense, more detail. And since Mark was often writing what Peter had relayed to him, and what Peter probably preached over and over again, I don't know why Peter didn't include this in Mark. I don't know why he didn't focus on this part of it. But this is another example here in Matthew 16. Excuse me, Matthew 14. Of how it was that clearly Peter was there, and something happened immediately in verse 22.

Matthew 14, verse 22, immediately made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had dismissed the crowd, he went up on the mountain to pray, and when evening came, he was there alone. So he was up there with God. He was communing with his father. He was watching, as we'd already seen. He was watching what the disciples were doing. He was alone, but by this time the boat battered by the wind was far from land, and the wind was against them. And yet early in the morning, so this was, you know, throughout the night, he let's him battle this crisis, battle this distressing storm.

And so, early in the morning, being maybe three to six would be maybe an estimated time when that could occur. Early in the morning, he came walking toward them on the sea, and when the disciples saw him walking, they were terrified. They said it's a ghost that cried out in fear.

See, again, pretty much the same thing, but when you see what it was that the disciples were in, how did they get into that mess? Well, Jesus told them to go out there.

Being fishermen and being familiar with the water and the weather, you know, don't you think they could have figured out? I mean, most of us, we kind of know if it's going to rain. We kind of know if it's going to be heavy, or you can look off, and I know from Kansas City I can look to the west, and I can tell if it's going to rain or where it's going to rain, just by looking at the clouds. And I'm pretty sure the disciples would not have just blundered into the huge storm. It almost seems that Jesus had allowed them to get into that mess in order to rescue them, in order to increase their faith once they saw what he was able to do. And so I would think that, you know, this is an example of Jesus teaching his disciples. And even, you know, you remember John 11 and the situation with Lazarus. Lazarus died, and Jesus went and was going to raise him from the dead. But what happened in that case? Well, Jesus didn't get there in time. But it actually says that he just waited a few days so that Lazarus would be dead and would be sure he was dead. And over several days he had been dead. But see what happened? Jesus had waited around.

He didn't go immediately and solve a problem, which he was clearly able to do, and which he did.

But see, I think a similar thing was happening here with the disciples. They were sent by him out into the sea, and, you know, it's almost like he was aware of what I'm going to do. What I'm going to do to rescue them, to provide assurance to them, and to strengthen their faith. So in verse 25, between 3 and 6 in the morning, he came walking to them on the water.

Verse 26, when they saw him, you know, they had the typical human reaction of being afraid of fear of being in terror, really. They were afraid for their lives. And of course, you also have other accounts of Jesus being out in the sea, and in a boat, and in a storm. And then he's, you know, laying down on my pillow. That's what it says. It says he's on a pillow. And they come to him, said, don't you know we're about to drown? Don't you know we're about to be capsized? And he says, don't worry about it. And of course, he come to see. See, whenever Jesus is involved, whenever he is, what it says in Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the beginner and the finisher of our faith. That's what he wants us to keep in mind and to remember and to simply be pleasing to God by living by faith in that way. See, in verse 27, it says, as they cried out, he immediately spoke to them. And so, you know, whenever we cry out to God for help, and even when we might not even know yet to do that, as I think about this vehicle, I have to say that whenever, you know, I was off to the side and obviously I was okay. I was surprised I was okay. I was surprised that I had even gotten out of the way. But the lady in the big pickup was, she was just, she was, she thought she just ran over somebody. She was afraid. And, you know, she was running around and trying to see if she could help me. And I could tell I'm in a lot better shape than you are right now. Because she was, you know, I mean, she was just shaking because she thought she just ran over somebody in the parking lot, some old man in the parking lot, trying to get him out of the way. I don't think she, I mean, I know I didn't see this truck. I didn't hear it. I'm sure she hadn't seen me at all. And yet, you know, thankfully I could reassure her that I was fine. And we went on without any other thing that we really needed to do. It was amazing. But see these disciples, as they were, in a sense, sent by Jesus out here, you know, they were subject to being afraid. They were subject to fear and to terror. And at times we do get afraid. You know, we're not, we're not emotionless. We're not unable to feel the things that are going to affect us. And when we struggle, which we do, we struggle, we don't always, you know, feel the right way, say the right thing, do the right thing. But we can learn from this example because as he says, as he spoke to them, he says, take heart. It is I, don't be afraid. And so in verse 28, Peter answered and said, Lord, is which really you? I guess he must have wondered whether or not it was. He says, if that's you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, well, come on. And so Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. And so you can say in verse 29 that Peter walked on water, too. It doesn't really say how far. It doesn't seem, it doesn't say that he took 10 steps or he took five steps or he took one step. But if he was with Jesus, then with Jesus, miraculous things were possible. They were possible because of Jesus and because of His involvement in their lives.

But of course, in verse 30, when Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and began to sink and cried out saying, Lord, save me.

Whether he had gone one or two steps or five, it doesn't really say.

But as soon as he realized, I'm in trouble, I really can't do this.

He cried out and prayed, Lord, save me. And that's, of course, what we need to do. We can cry out to God for help, even in a very dire circumstance sometimes. And yet it says in verse 30, when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. And again, Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught Him and said, Well, you of little faith, I'm out here trying to teach you to have faith in me. To have faith in God, to believe in God. Trust me. Live by faith. And that is pleasing to God.

He says, you of little faith, why did you doubt?

And when they got in the boat, the wind, of course, ceased.

And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God.

You know, Matthew, I'm going to say, because you see Him writing this, I'm going to say He was probably there. He was probably aware of what Peter had experienced. Peter hadn't really relayed all that too much. It didn't reflect too well on Him. But see, we read it today, and we can learn well then that God can increase our faith. He can. He wants us to live by faith. He wants us to walk by faith. And of course, in verse 30, the physical factors caused Him to be afraid and then to doubt, and that's what Jesus said. Whenever you get distracted with all of the physical things, the wind, the waves, perhaps the cold water, whenever you're distracted by that and you don't keep your eyes on Jesus, then we are not going to exemplify the type of faith that He wants us to do.

Trusting in Him is exactly what He wants us to do. Here in verse 31, Jesus was immediately there to help. And of course, He points out in verse 31 that doubt is an enemy. Doubt is an enemy of faith. Whenever we take our eyes off of the fact that God is able to perform miracles, He is able to help us. Now, He may allow us to go through many different trials, and all of us are being tried and being tested through this life. We go through things that we would probably never imagine we would go through. And yet, God uses many of those things to increase our faith. And of course, what we see there in verse 33 is simply that Jesus and of course God are worthy of the worship of all of us. And of course, He says, they all realize that truly you are the Son of God. That was a perception that would kind of come up. It would increase and then wane, increase and wane. Depending on the things that they were subject to, they weren't just a constant in a firm conviction of that. They really couldn't even comprehend what He was telling them toward the end of his life. But we see this in a sense kind of simple example that's recorded in three different places in the Gospels. And we can learn some lessons from it. That walking by faith is pleasing to God. That God provides personal, private miracles that we can remember to motivate us and encourage us. We want to realize that doubt and fear can undermine our faith. And yet, that Jesus is always available for us in every type of trial or test. And that with Him, we can have a calm and a comfort, casting all of our cares on Him. And then we can be comforted as He wants us to. So we can do what it tells us here in Hebrews 12. See, you read through chapter 11 of Hebrews.

And you see all of these people who are stated to be people of faith. Abel and Enoch and Noah, and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and later Daniel and David and Moses are mentioned.

All of these individuals that you can look back and study in the Old Testament, but see, who is the greatest example of faith ever? Well, that's Jesus Christ. That's why it says in verse 1, Therefore we are surrounded by such a great, this is Hebrews 12. Such a great cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight in the sin that so greatly clings to us. Let us run with perseverance, a race that's set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

See, He's the one that is able to help us. He's the one who's able to provide us encouragement. He's the one who's able to rescue us. He's the one who provides the comfort and the calm that we so often need. So I would encourage us as we read those kind of accounts that we realize that Jesus was increasing the disciples' faith, whether they realized it or not, and that He also might provide situations in our lives that would be individual and private and personal to us as far as our own conviction in having faith in God and actually living by faith and in so doing, being pleasing to God, even as Jesus, as the Father said, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. See, we want Him to say that about us. The way we can do it is to keep our eyes on the one who's able to make that possible, Jesus Christ.