Perhaps you’ve heard of someone who became an overnight success. The reality is that these sudden sensations are usually just an illusion. Someone told me, “It took me thirty years of hard work to become an overnight success.”

It almost sounds as if Jesus contradicted Himself. When asked why the disciples had not been able to exorcise the demon, He said it was because of unbelief. But now He seems to be saying that it is because they had not fasted and prayed enough. Which is it?

Something amazing happened at the Cross of Calvary and what was visible to us was merely superficial. The Tree had roots back into the past eternity and its branches stretched upward into eternities to come. It was a real event in the realm of reality - infinitely more real to God, to the dimension of all angels and spirits, in heaven and hell, than what we saw. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Sin in Scripture is tied to unbelief. When we have no faith in God, we have no fear of God. Unless we fear God, we will certainly be sinful.

The other day I went with my father to the shooting range. He was heading out on a hunting trip, and before he left I wanted to help him “sight in” the rifle I had bought him as a gift.