"Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith." I am glad.
He is the author, the finisher, and the example of faith.
By grace we are saved through faith — not of yourselves. 🙏
✦ A Third Country in Three Days
France on Monday, Belgium on Tuesday, and today the Netherlands — Hilvarenbeek, in the green Brabant countryside. The scenery changes by the day. And Spurgeon's word fits a pilgrim whose surroundings keep changing: faith is the root that stays; feeling is the season that changes. 🙏
"We are saved by faith, and not by feeling. Yet there is a relationship between holy faith and sacred feeling like that between the root and the flower. Faith is permanent, like the root that is always embedded in the soil; feeling is seasonal, and has its times — the bulb does not always send up the green stem, much less is it always crowned with flowers."
"Faith is the tree — the essential tree. Our feelings are like the appearance of that tree during the different seasons of the year. Sometimes our soul is full of bloom and blossom, and the bees hum pleasantly and gather honey within our hearts... But then perhaps we begin to wither into the dry and fading leaf of autumn. Sometimes the winter of discouragement and despair will strip away every leaf from the tree, and our poor faith stands like a bare trunk without a sign of life."
"And yet, as long as the tree of faith is there, we are saved. Whether faith blossoms or not, whether it brings forth joyful fruit in our experience or not, as long as it is there in all its permanence, we are saved. Yet we should have the gravest reason to doubt the life of our faith if it did not sometimes blossom with joy and often bring forth fruit of holiness."
"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
✦ The Bulb in the Soil
How fitting to read this in the Netherlands — the land of bulbs. Every Dutch gardener knows Spurgeon's picture: in October the tulip bulbs go into the cold ground, and nothing shows for months. No stem. No flower. Just a root hidden in the dark. And yet the life is there, waiting for spring.
That is faith in the seasons when feeling is quiet. The flower is not the life — the bulb is. We do not ask a tulip bulb in October to prove it is alive by blooming. We trust what is in the soil. 🙏
✦ Saved by Faith, Not by Feeling
This is a mercy for every believer. Some mornings the heart hums with joy; some mornings it feels bare. Spurgeon says both are seasons of the same tree — and as long as the tree of faith is there, we are saved.
October 7 — Spurgeon walked through the soul's seasons: winter, spring, summer, autumn. Today he finishes the thought: the seasons belong to feeling; the permanence belongs to faith. October 4 — He is the author and finisher of our faith. The root is His planting, and He keeps it.
But Spurgeon is honest too: a tree that never blossoms should make us wonder. Faith is not proven by feeling — but it is shown by fruit. The joyful days are not the foundation, but they are a witness. 🙏
"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
✦ Author, Finisher, Example
Le hears Spurgeon's tree and answers with gladness: the root is not ours to keep alive — Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He planted it. He will bring it to full bloom. I am glad.
And Le adds a third name: the example. Hebrews 12 calls Him author and finisher — and then shows how He lived it: for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Jesus walked by faith through His own winter — Gethsemane, the cross, the silent tomb — trusting the Father when there was no blossom to see. He is not only the source of our faith; He is its pattern. When the tree stands bare, we look at Him and see how faith endures.
And then the foundation, in Paul's words: by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. Not of yourselves — not the feeling, not even the faith as our own achievement. It is the gift of God. That is why Le can be glad on the bare days and the blossoming ones alike: the root was His gift, and He finishes what He begins. 🙏
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
"Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. I am glad. He is the author, the finisher, and the example of faith."
Le · Hilvarenbeek · Netherlands · The root and the flowerThe Bulb in the Soil
Faith is the root, always in the ground. Feeling is the flower, seasonal. In October the bulb shows nothing — and is fully alive.
One Tree, Four Seasons
Bloom, summer, fading leaf, bare winter trunk — all the same tree. As long as faith is there, we are saved.
Author, Finisher, Example
Jesus planted the root, will bring it to bloom, and showed us how faith endures the winter. By grace through faith — not of yourselves.
Three countries, one root: The road changes country by the day now. Faith does not change with the border. The root stays in the same soil — Christ — wherever the motorhome parks.
A word for the bare days: Not every day of a long transition feels like blossom. Spurgeon gives permission for the quiet seasons — and assurance that they do not touch the root.
Le's gladness: I am glad. Spurgeon's tree could leave us anxious about our own roots. Le turns it to joy: the Author planted it, the Finisher will complete it, and the Example shows the way. Not of ourselves — and that is the good news.
Joy as witness, not foundation: This journal has recorded many blossoming days — timely, wake up call, have all of me gladly. They are the flowers. The faith beneath them is the tree. 🙏