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| When I put my faith on the line... |
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11:6 And 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. What the heck is it about "faith" that pleases God? Is it that God sees we are in agreement with Him (intellectual belief)? NO! It's much more! The thing about faith that pleases God is when our faith actually motivates us to DO STUFF for Him (and especially for others).
I am an introvert, and it is very difficult for me to "step out". But man oh man, has God ever responded when I've exercised faith in Him and answered His call to lead! This morning was yet another example. Today He used our men's breakfast (yet again) to reach deep into the lives of all present. The sharing and confession were incredible! I never would have imagined when we started these meetings how successful they would be in terms of the spiritual (and sometimes tangible) rewards. God has always been faithful to provide precisely what we've needed to break us down and draw us out. God is amazing!!
What made me think that we would know what to talk about? That we wouldn't just sit around talking about sports or cars, or other stuff men like? What made me think that I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself? Only faith exercised!
I'm finding more and more that faith must be exercised. If faith is to be worth anything at all, it needs to be put on the line! Risk everything and step out in faith. God is faithful, He will provide. He will reward you for stepping out in your belief (according to the verse above!)...
Remember what James said: 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. I don't think the point he was making here is that those who do nothing with their "faith" are bound for hell. I believe the point is that a faith that isn't exercised is meaningless! I pray that God gives me more opportunities to exercise faith, stepping out (beyond myself) in order to please Him! And I'll gladly pray this for you too!! |
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| To add a comment to "When I put my faith on the line..." |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| I was reading on Faith a couple days ago as well... I read in Matthew where it's talking about the faith the size of a mustard seed.. the disciples were trying to cast otu a spirit, but they couldn't do it. Jesus told them when they asked that it was because they had so little faith.... not even enough to measure up to a mustard seed! This little blurb lead me to Corinthians ( sorry I don't have the refs handy at the moment) but it says that everythign without love is pointless also. So perhaps when it says in James that Faith without action is dead .. love would be that action? At least the main action? *****this is just me *thinking* out loud |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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The Lord spoke to me through this post Mike! Go Bro! You are on a roll :) |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| I read the section about the men's breakfast and my brain went off. And best yet, I may have completely misunderstood the intent! How often do we go to something like that thinking we're going to get one thing out of it and end up coming out with something completely different? Hopefully we figure out we got something completely different and aren't one of the folks who thinks... Well that was worthless. :) I don't know if I'm making sense so I'll move along now. |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| Amen. Its like banana sandwich without peanutbutter. you cain't have one without the other. |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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Hi Kizzie! Faith and love do go together in a way (along with hope). See 1Cor13:13 (the greatest of these is love) and 1Thess1:3 (your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope). There too, faith is far more than simply believing with the mind!
Sue, it is AWESOME to hear about it when the Lord speaks through a post, thank you for telling me!! (30,000 users here, and somehow we're still a little short on that sort of thing). Norm, I added a couple of details to this last nite to make the role of faith a little clearer, hopefully you find it more easy to understand should you read it again. Yep, #15 broken again. If it were a rule, it would be a very very bad one.
Redmanjbj, right on!!
~mike |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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:) You misunderstood my intent with the intent comment. I was teasing you (and myself) because whenever I go off on a slightly different road, we seem to have a conversation about intent. It's all good. redmanjbj: So you can't have a banana sandwich without peanut butter? Does this mean you can or can't have a peanut butter sandwich without a banana? :) Since the ideal blog post got mentioned, I will point out one that I thought of when I was reading Rich's blog. And that is KISS (Keep it simple, stupid!). I love his stuff and it's so simple (yet profound) that it's humorous. |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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Well!!! there are many great comments that put one to thinking. Hmmmm...
I see faith as challenging the Faithfullness of God in Hebrews 11:6. That is, we uses our faith to see God's faithfullness in well doing toward us. I believe God is faithful even when we are not.
JR |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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| True true, JR! (and very interesting way to think about it!) One of the biggest reasons we love our Father soooo much is b/c of His faithfulness, but if we don't exercise our faith, aren't we missing out on a huge opportunity to see our love for Him grow far FAR deeper? ~mike |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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| Great blog Mike! I was asked to do something this week that I am not sure I have the enthusiasm or the energy to do, but I prayed about it and I am pretty sure that God wants me to do it, so I am stepping out in faith that He will supply me with both...I sure can't do it without Him, so I have to put my faith IN Him. |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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As of recently, whenever I think about faith, I think about Abraham. We've all become so used to hearing the words "Abraham" and "faith" in conjunction with each other, we often forget that Abraham was a pagan man in a pagan country, with no "Bible" to use as a reference, who uprooted himself and his family to radically change the direction of his life based off of 21 words the Lord spoke to Him. Now I have to think, if I'm in the middle of my pagan life where I worship pagan gods and live in a land of others such as myself, and I hear the voice of an altogether different God that speaks 21 words to me that -- if followed -- will dramatically alter the course of my life, I'm going to likely start doubting whether what I heard was actually from someone else or the creation of my own imagination, and even if it's from another, what proof do I have that it's trustworthy? That's it: 21 words and then silence. I can tell you right now that had I been in Abraham's shoes, the phrase would NOT be "the God of Jason, Isaac and Jacob", because I wouldn't have bought it, but would have walked away and dismissed it. Thank God Abraham took God at His word and said, "I trust you." And that's what God desires of us all today: our trust. |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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| Anyone can say they have faith,but it's not really faith until you put action with your faith.It's more than just words. |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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Yes, you are right, Mike. We have to put our faith on the line. I am also a natural born introvert. I've spent 18 years of my life in a shell because of low faith. I feared that I would be old and still single due to the fact that I would never grab courage to speak to any lady, not matter her beauty or conviction. Well, today, I can tell you that my faith is strong in God and what he promised me that I will gladly speak to anyone who convict my soul. The reason why I said you cannot see faith, you just have to believe it is because with my own two eyes, the circumstance remains the same. It is my action that makes my faith valid. And seeing is believing so when I start to put action behind my faith, results start to shine which makes my faith believable although the desired outcome is still not physically seen. I love your post Mike! And a lot of your friends have some really encouraging words. |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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| Hi Hands on Life! Awesome to hear that your faith is growing so much, and that there is action behind it (i.e. you've put your faith on the line!) Thanks for the great comment! ~mike |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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Faith = faith. Action = action. Faith + Action - Lord's sending = nothing. (I have faith in God therefore He's going to bless any action I do) Faith + Action + Lord's Hand = God glorified. |
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