Monday, January 15, 2007

What To Do With Our Faith




Last month we delved into the meaning of the word faith.  Now we need to look at what to do with our faith.  First we should review what faith is.  Here is the meaning we came to, word for word, from last month.

Faith chooses to see and believe in what is not seen.  It chooses to possess a moral conviction that its subject is true.  Faith chooses to believe in, to substantiate, to have confident assurance in, to count as the evidence, demonstration, and convincing proof of what God has promised.  It means we count things as true because He who said them is true.  In fact, He is the truth.  We must choose to see His Kingdom and its promises as real fact even though they are not revealed to our senses.  We must act upon these truths and count them as absolute fact though they remain unproved to our physical senses.

That done, let's take a tour through the New Testament to see how faith was used

Heb 11:1 (ALT)  Now faith is [the] assurance [or, substance] of [things] being hoped for [or, being confidently expected], [the] confident assurance [or, proof] of things not seen.

Heb 11:6 Tells us we cannot be successful in our Christian walk without faith. This is echoed in Rom 1:17  "The just shall live by faith." Romans 10:17  Shows us hearing the Word of God helps us have confident assurance and convincing proof in God and therefore in all He says.  Our faith is in His character and ability.  1Co 2:5  “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”  Heb 12:1-3 Shows us Jesus as the author and perfecter (or finisher) of our faith.  It encourages us to follow in His example.

There is miracle faith, saving faith, faith for walking day to day with Him, and inheriting faith.  Here is how we see faith in the gospels:

Mat 17:20 reminds us that only a little faith (mustard seed size) is needed for great things.  God meets our little faith with His HUGE ability

Mat 8:8-10 reveals the authority of faith.  God commands in faith and it must be done.  We need to understand the authority He has invested in us through faith.  We can call things as naught as though they are through faith.

Mat 9:2 States “Jesus, seeing their faith” --the faith of friends bringing their paralyzed friend to Him. Do you have friends paralyzed in their emotions, finances, relationships? You should bring them to God in faith.
Jesus many times uses the phrase Let it be done unto you according to your faith Mat 9:29

Mat 14:28-31 gives us the record of Peter walking on the water and letting fear drown out his faith. Jesus calls him “Little faith.” It is easy to be hard on Peter, but is is the only one with enough “little faith” to even get out of the boat.

Mat 17:1521 show us the reason why the disciples could not cast a demon out of a man because of their unbelief. Further it suggests that prayer and fasting bolster our faith.

Mat 21:19-21 and Mar 11:20-22 gives us the account of Jesus cursing the fig tree and it withers. Jesus here points out again we must have faith and not doubt.

Luk 22:32  shows Jesus praying for Peter's faith not to fail.
Oh Faithful God help us to have faith in Your character and ability. Faith in your power and not that of men. You are the author and the finisher of our faith. Meet our "little faith" with Your huge ability. Help us have faith for our friends. Help us to have faith and not doubt. Thank You that you do not change and we can count on Your faithfulness.


Next month we’ll look at heroes of the faith and the inheritance of the faith.