Powerball
Politicians
Partying
Pleasure
People
What do these have in common? When we put too much faith in them, we end up disappointed & disillusioned. We often tend to put our faith in the wrong things, don’t we?
Faith
…that things will get better if we just have faith. That’s a real popular thought in our culture. The problem is that, most often, it doesn’t have an object…a deep reservoir to pull from…a firm foundation to build upon…so we end up having faith in things that aren’t real. Empty Faith. Blind Faith. I love optimism, but looking ahead to hopeful results based upon faulty or absent bedrock is not faith.
God defines faith for us:
- “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
- “Whoever has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
- “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)
- “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)
This kind of faith actually works!….as long as it’s a a verb, not a noun.
I do hope that things will work out well for me, those I love, and for my countrymen….but even more, I have faith in the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated. It’s a higher loyalty. Here’s how the Apostle John described faith, in more detail:
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:1-5)
The original Greek root word used for “believe” and “faith” are the same. It literally means to “put one’s trust in.” It’s also the same word translated “trust” in the following passage….what are you putting your trust in today?
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:1-6)
3 replies on “Faith is a Verb”
Sean, thank you for the great thoughts regarding faith!
I've always appreciated the reference Jesus made to faith that is only the size of a grain of mustard seed. He stated that a very small amount of faith could move a mountain or cast it into the sea. And as you also pointed out about exercising faith, He indicated that even a small amount of faith had to be "exercised" and that it was done by simply "speaking" to the mountain, "If you say to this mountain..," In my experience, it seems as though we (I) embarrasingly shy away from speaking to our (my) mountains and that brings to mind another thought I've had. I wonder if by tagging, "If it be thy will…," on the end of our all our prayers that sometimes it could actually be demonstrating a lack of faith or unbelief? Especially, when it's clear from the Word what God's will is and we just CHOOSE not to do it because of fear or what people may think etc. And of course, no matter how much faith, however that is measured, its object is always to be that of Christ, God and the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. And that is to remind us that through the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need from God right inside us, in our newly born again spirits. As I see it from Scripture, since the Holy Spirit's power raised Jesus from the dead, then we have ALL the power we'll ever need dwelling within us and we don't need to ask for anymore. All we need to do is use what we already have by exercising our faith. I hope that's not too simple, I guess maybe we like "complicated" or like to make it complicated sometimes. I also find it interesting that for instance, we may ask God for more love to help us love someone who has sinned against us or that we just plain don't like or whatever it may be. God can't give us anymore love than we already have. We have the fullness the Godhead dwelling within us, we have ALL the love of God and ALL the fruit of the Spirit that's available right inside us! So what's the problem? I believe it's that we fail to exercise our faith and use what we already have by CHOOSING not to forgive or love that person who has wronged us. It's kinda' like prayer requests at Bible studies actually turning into gossip sessions. From my study of the Scriptures, at this point as I see it, I believe we could see more of the "mountains" in our lives moved and cast into the sea if we would simply exercise what little faith we might have by taking Jesus' suggestion and exercising our tongue in His recommended manner. Is it proverbs that says the power of life and death is in the tongue? What a powerful little "critter!"
Shawn, oops! ?
Wise words, brother! Yes, I agree that it's "that simple"…however, it is complicated indeed by our inabilities/frailties. There is always an uphill struggle when we want to walk in faith…because our own natures within us are at war with the Spirit of Jesus deposited inside us. There is a theory out there that we can become mature enough in Christ, over time, that we no longer are prone to sin. One of my Bible professors believed that, so did the Pharisees. This has a kernel of truth in it, but we will always, consistently come back to our need for regeneration/transformation. Praise God that this is not a one time event!