Simple Salvation Church of God
Prayer Request: FAITH TOWARD GOD
Name:
Anonymous
Subject:
FAITH TOWARD GOD (May 18, 2008)
Prayer Request:
Faith Toward God
Pastor Mark Stephens
May 18, 2008
FAITH TOWARD GOD
We don’t need “great big faith” in God; we need faith in a “great big God.”
True Bible faith in God is one of the greatest acts of humility we can demonstrate before God. That is why God says that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is not simply knowing that God is able; it is the belief that He is willing! To walk in the faith that God will do what He said requires great humility and trust.
Corrie Ten Boom once said: “Faith sees the impossible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” That is a true statement. We are living in a day of miracles. We may have different crisis going on in the world with gas prices, unemployment, wars, the economy and many others, but I need to tell you today that there are no crisis going on in heaven and there never will be. If we are lacking power in any area of our lives, we must ask God, “Where is our faith lacking? Where are we not trusting You, Lord?”
We established recently what the Lord requires of us. Just for a quick review let’s see that verse: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8). He refers to these requirements in Matthew 23:23 as the “weightier matters of the law.” Jesus used the word “faith” in place of or as a synonym for Micah’s phrase, “walking humbly with God.”
The Greek word translated as “faith” in Matthew 23:23 is pistus, and it means “assurance and confidence, conviction.” It is also rooted in the verb pathos or pitho, which means “to agree, to obey and to yield to authority.” That is the root of the word for faith. We can see that Jesus was making a divine correlation between faith, obedience, and humility. The three are inseparable.
Having faith toward God not only means believing God exists, but also receiving what God says concerning our lives. Our prayer life, our attitude, and our obedience to God are influenced by how we see Him. If we see God through our own ideas, experiences, and feelings, then our faith will be shipwrecked before it ever launches from shore.
Faith toward God comes as we acknowledge only what He says in His Word. It can be very humbling to think and feel one way about something, only to have God point out hat it’s not really that way at all!
Take for instance, Jesus’ disciples. They were given instructions by Him (Jesus) to cross over the Sea of Galilee one day. During the crossing, Jesus took a nap in the back of the boat. Suddenly, a great storm came upon them and the boat was in danger of sinking. The disciples neither considered the words Jesus said about going to the other side or remember who was in the boat with them.
If knowing what God has said about our situation isn’t enough, He has also given us His very Spirit to dwell in us. The presence of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in our boat! God gave s His Word and the authority to use His name, and then He took up residence inside us to guarantee us a victory. The only thing remaining in the equation is for us to believe that all the things He said about us are true! That’s not really asking an awful lot, don’t you agree?
In fear of the terrible storm that faced them, the disciples cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). Everything was great while Jesus was doing miracles and feeding everyone, but what about during the storm? So Jesus woke up and called the wind and waves. Then He turned to His disciples and asked them ”Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have not faith?” (Mark 4:40).
It is one thing to believe while everything is going great; it is another to believe during the storms and adversities of life. Anyone can shout, “AMEN” when the evangelist is jumping through the hoops and juggling three translations of the Bible. Shouting “Hallelujah” is easy when actions are not required to prove what we believe. Sometimes Christians like to be heard “saying” all the right things, but God likes to see us “doing” the right things.
As we humble ourselves and trust God during the times when things are tough we find our strength and ability to walk in victory growing. We also begin to develop faith to minister to the needs of others who are experiencing adversity. This is ultimately what God desires to work in us as His servants. Humility and faith toward God are demonstrated when we can reach out to the needs of others even in the middle of our own crisis.
When we stay determined to use the faith and ability God has given us and not quit, we can rise to new levels of greatness in the Kingdom. Let’s be all we can be in God and help others be all they can be.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
When you related to God in an attitude of humility, you can accurately judge yourself. Faith has dignity and confidence, and it provides you with a built in ability to accurately see your strengths and weaknesses. The Spirit of God will help you look at yourself honestly, so you can say, “This is where I need to change.” The truly “undignified people” are those who think thy have the ability to do something when they don’t. Such people inevitably make fools of themselves in front of others. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought, but ask God to show you your strengths and your weaknesses.
The definition of a leader is a person that people are following. If no one is following us, then we’re just going for a walk. “Followership” is an excellent test of our gifts and callings. If no one is being influenced by our ministry, then that’s a good sign it’s not what God has called us to. On the other hand, if people are truly blessed by what we are doing, it’s a good possibility God has gifted us in that area. Real humility is having the faith to admit both what we have been called to and what we have not. It’s acknowledging what gifts God has given us and what gifts He has given to someone else.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5).
The wide variety of God’s gifts are distributed throughout the Body, so we all need one another. The person who thinks he can do everything by himself, the “Lone Ranger” believer, if you will, eventually discovers an area of lack where he needs someone else. Just a quick side note: that show has been cancelled for years! If you’re trying to be the “Lone Ranger” it’s not going to work! The Lord’s exhortation to think soberly about ourselves is also an exhortation for us to acknowledge our need for one another. He designed His church to work together as a united body.
“Faith toward God” knows that it has not yet arrived at maturity. Rather, it presses forward, believing that it is moving toward the goal and toward God’s higher call!
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained…”(Philippians 3:7-12).
Paul didn’t claim that he had “arrived,” even though he wrote 2/3’s of the New Testament! “Faith toward God” is knowing that you grow from glory to glory and from faith to faith with God’s help. True faith eliminates stagnant stages from our lives. It actually eliminates “backsliding” because it constantly encourages us to go on for God and His abundance in our lives. The minute you hit the state where you believe you have arrived, something will die inside you! God is always helping us to progress and move on because He is always teaching His people new things. Every generation must hear a fresh word from God so it can grow to greater levels of glory. God is requiring us to grow in Him.
Faith also has the ability to be content with who it is without being recognized for everything it has done! While rejoicing in God’s bounty and the victories of one day, it reaches forward with every bit of its strength for more of God’s fullness and glory! It rejoices in truth, it is victorious in trials, it suffers long, and it doesn’t give up easily. The God-kind of faith is hungry. True faith keeps on growing and pressing “toward the m ark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). The best prize we can receive is not a gold trophy or a blue ribbon or even public recognition for our deeds. The best prize we can receive is the high calling of God! That is something to press toward.
Faith makes us one with God and His Word. True biblical faith is never separate from God. Many believers find it hard to understand how they can literally become “one with God.” Our “union with God” is hard to fathom at six in the morning when we are facing a harsh reality in the mirror! The truth is that it is simultaneously absolutely impossible and absolutely true! Only God could pull off such a miracle, and He did it at Calvary! Look yourself in the eyes when you can pry them open and tell yourself, “God has something good prepared for me today. I’m going to walk in His plan of good works for my life, works that He has prepared for me before the foundation of the world.
Subject your body’s aches and sleepy emotions to the unchanging Word of God. See yourself in union with your Creator. It may take a miracle, but remember that you have one! His name is Jesus, and His miracle at the tomb transforms you in your room. Sleepy or not, you are a miracle walking the earth! Even yet, according to the Word of God, you are actually “more than a conqueror” in Christ. Now be what God says you are!
Lay aside every objection and consider the most important statements about life; God says you are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). The Bible says you are the righteousness of God in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:21). These truths become reality to you when you believe what God says about you. This is what God means by having “faith toward God.”
Your spirit will be encouraged as you consider God’s words about you. They will change you. Take no credit for your victories. Always speak the truth. “He truth is, God won the victory for me. God made me in His righteousness. God made me His loved one and set His love upon me. That is why I know He will deliver me (Psalm 91:14)
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in the. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one Sprit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:10-18).
God desires to work through us as His hands, His feet, His eyes, and His mouth. He has chosen that we be His representatives on the earth. His workmen and His craftsmanship. Not only are we the work of His hands, but we are also called to carry out the very work He hands us.
By drawing near to God through repentance, forgiveness, and restoration, we stay connected and our faith stays strong!
The book of James provides the key we need to receive what God says bout us and our relationship with Him: “…receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).
Our soul (mind, will and emotions) must humble itself before it can do any changing. Our soul is the very “I will” of our personhood. When we try to tell it that it needs changing, sometimes it seems all hell breaks loose. It literally does, for the mind is the battleground of faith.
Faith has a voice, and faith has actions to back up what it believes. Ezekiel the prophet described a miraculous vision that still speaks to our lives today:
Ezekiel 37:1, 4-10 says, “1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.”
Who want to prophecy to a bunch of bones? That is no way to build a national TV ministry, but the ancient prophets of God had to do thinks like that all the time! God’s servants may look foolish, since faith is not understood by the natural mind. The Bible says, “Abraham believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those thing which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations…” (Romans 4:17-18).
Abraham had a voice and he was strong in faith. We need to be like Abraham-and not stagger at the promise of God for our lives! Call things that be not as though they were. Be a fool for Christ and dare to believe what God days about you and His kingdom. God’s destiny for us in greatness.
In the book of Jeremiah, God says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things…” (Jeremiah 33:3). He also said a few chapters before that, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). God loves happy endings, and He has planned one just for you!
Cast out your doubts, get relief from unbelief, and say yes to becoming everything God has said you are. He is faithful who called you, and will also bring it to pass!
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