Living By Faith

Living by Faith
I have been challenged lately with the concept of living by faith and trusting God to be in control and directing my steps. The Bible states in 2 Corinthians 5:7; “ we walk by faith and not by sight.” Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. God operates in the realm of faith. As we understand what it means to live by faith we will begin to see God move in miraculous and powerful ways in our life. The world operates on a system of seeing is believing while God operates on the system of believing is seeing. It is essential as believers to grasp what it means to live by faith, to act in agreement with our beliefs based on the Word of God. Faith was required of Adam and Eve and their faith was put to the test. They had to believe what God told them to be truth, they had to have faith in God and in the things he told them to be true. When God told them not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, there had to be faith on their part to believe God and trust Him to be telling them something that was to be for their good. Their disobedience to God came as a result of their lack of faith and trust in Him and His character. The devil brought doubt into their minds, doubting God’s character and his words. They lost faith in the character of God, that He was a God who spoke truth and really knew what was best for them. That he was good and would not withhold anything from them that was for their good. Lack of faith strikes at the core of our understanding of the true nature of God, that he is all wise, good, speaks truth, can never lie and knows what is best for us. Adam and Eve were able to be swayed in their beliefs, deceived by satan which caused them to not believe what God had told them to be true. The walk of faith that Adam and Eve first enjoyed in their relationship with God was forever changed when they acted on their doubts and disobeyed God’s command.
At the core of faith is our trust in the character and nature of God. As we come to understand God for who He truly is, we can begin to walk by faith in what He has said to be true and we can trust Him to fulfill his promises to us. Mark 11:21-24 20Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” 22So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
Our faith is in God not in our ability or in the words we speak. We have to be so confident in his integrity and ability, that we do not question or doubt the Words he has spoken to us or the way in which he operates.
Our faith is base on the character and nature of God and his faithfulness to fulfill his word. Our faith must also be in alignment to the mission of God. We must have understanding of God’s mission and purposes and align or faith with God’s mission.
Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and lack of understanding of the mission God had given to him. The disciples’ faith was challenged in the crossing of the lake during the storm. Jesus was exhausted and was asleep and they were in panic mode wondering when they would go down. 23Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
They did not understand that Jesus had not finished his mission and therefore nothing was going to stop him from fulfilling it, not a storm, not an angry crowd, not a political religious leader and no demon could prevent him from fulfilling his mission. The disciples lacked this revelation, lacked faith in God to be in control and thus they relied on their own understanding and experience to dictate how they should respond. When we are not in alignment with the purposes of God and lack understanding of the mission he is accomplishing we can lose faith quickly as the disciples did on the boat. When we are unsure of the mission, we can quickly let fear take control because we have lost confidence that God is in control.
Peter is an example of one who did not understand the mission of Jesus and consequently did not respond in faith and confidence that God was in control even of a situation that seemed totally opposed to what he thought should happen. When Jesus took the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper, Judas came with the religious leaders and soldiers to arrest Jesus. Peter did not understand what was happening, he did not have faith that everything was under control and going according to God’s plan so he responded in the only way he knew how and that was to draw the sword and defend Jesus by whacking off the ear of Malchus. When we lack knowledge and understanding we do not respond in faith but allow our fears to take control. Jesus knew exactly what was happening and he turned an ugly situation that could have resulted in a lot of lives lost by quickly putting Malchus’ ear back in place and healing him. It should have been obvious to everyone there who was really in control especially after the whole band fell over backwards when Jesus identified himself and then witnessing the miraculous healing of this man’s ear.
Lack of faith always produces fear and panic and reliance on self. Look at how the economy of the USA has been affected by lack of faith. Investors initially placed their faith in businesses that were doing well and had a great future. Some of these businesses were not telling the truth about the true value of the company and eventually this information became public or resulted in failure causing investors to lose millions of dollars. So many businesses have failed lately that investors are very cautious and hesitant about investing any money because they have lost faith in the companies to be able to do what they promise to do. This lack of faith has paralyzed the economy and until faith is restored we will not see much change. Many of the businesses caused this problem of lack of faith because they were not honest and mislead people. We will never have to worry about the truthfulness and integrity of God. God is not a man that he should lie or try to deceive us. He is 100% trustworthy, his words and actions are always in agreement. He cannot be anything other than who he is. We can base our lives upon this fact and that enables us to have faith and live by faith each day.
When we understand the character of God and His mission then we must respond in obedience to what He asks us to do. He calls us to live by faith that responds in obedience to him.
Abraham is an example of one who was called to live by faith and he responded in obedience to what God asked him to do. Hebrews 11:8-10 8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Abraham had faith that the very words and promises God spoke to him would come to pass. He was promised to be brought to a new land and be given innumerable descendents. It was a huge promise and I think most of us would have been overwhelmed by it. Yet Abraham responded in obedience and left his home to go to the land God would give him. Faith is demonstrated by our obedience to do what God has asked us to do in spite of our feelings, knowledge or our fears. Responding in faith is relying on God to direct our lives and create the future He has promised. Our lives are meant to be filled with “Faith stories” of how God directed us to do something and we responded in obedience to see God fulfill his promise to us. Each one of you has a faith story you can share that will be an encouragement to people and will help them see God for who He truly is and that he rewards those who operate in the realm of faith.
Our daily life as believers has to be lived by faith. We enter into a new realm of life when we are linked with God. We are no longer restricted to our 5 senses to give us information and help us make decisions. We now are in relationship with God who speaks to us and provides guidance for our lives. He reveals things to us in his word and asks us to believe them to be true and base our lives upon them. Jesus during his years on earth with the disciples was often disappointed in their lack of faith in Him and in God. The disciples were locked into their 5 senses, they believed what they saw in the flesh but struggled to believe what they could not see or understand. Even though they had seen Jesus do miraculous things they seemed to be very slow learners and had a difficult time applying what they had previously learned to new or similar situations.
Jesus was upset with the disciples lack of faith when they wondered how to feed the second multitude after they witnessed the multiplication of the loaves and fishes at the feeding of the 5000. Matthew 16:8 states, 8But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9“Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Either the disciples had very short term memories or they truly did not understand the character and nature of Christ and His heavenly Father.
Our faith should be increasing in our relationship with the Lord. Our past experiences with God are meant to build our faith and help us face the new or similar challenges that we will or currently are facing.
God wants to teach us how to operate in faith. He wants us to press into him to receive a word or a promise from him, a word of direction or vision. He wants to give us something we can believe him to do and hold on to him until we see its fulfillment. Many believers today are not believing God for anything exceptional. They are being faithful in what they have been given but there is something lacking and that is the challenge of faith, of believing God for something they cannot see but know in their hearts that this is what God wants to do in them and through them. Our walk of faith should be progressive because our faith should be increasing. The older we get in the Lord the more we should be using the faith we have developed to ask God to do even greater things through us. Is your faith being challenged and are you being challenged to use your faith to believe for even greater things? It is easy to settle for status quo and just live your life as comfortable as you can without risks or challenges. Many people reach a certain point and then stay at that level or perhaps even decline in their level of faith as they get older. I am always encouraged by Caleb who had a different spirit. He and Joshua had faith to believe God to go into the Promised Land because they knew God had given it to them. It was what he had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God was going to fulfill his promise. When the Israelites finally entered and conquered the Promised Land, Caleb came to Joshua one day and demanded that he be given the parcel of land he was promised (Joshua 14). Caleb was 85 years old, retirement age and I am sure he had been given plenty of land already but he was not content to settle for only what he had. There was more for him and he had faith to believe that he could take the land. May that be our heart attitude in our walk of faith, to pursue what we have been promised until we receive everything God has for us. Hold fast to your faith and continue to take action until it is fulfilled.
What are you believing God to do in your life and ministry? What has God spoken something to your heart that you are exercising your faith to see it become a reality? Real faith can make a statement, a confession that is in agreement with what God has spoken to you. If you cannot say with certainty that you have what God has promised even though it is not physically happening then you are acting in hope not in faith. Hope is good because it is the foundation of faith. Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.” Hope changes to faith when we can proclaim that we have what we are believing God for in spite of not having its physical evidence. Faith is assurance, certainty, not speculation or wishful thinking. Paul said there are three things that abide forever, faith, hope and love. Faith is before hope because it is derived from hope. Hope will say, “I hope I get the job.” Faith will say, “I got the job.” Hope says, “I hope the money will come.” Faith declares, “I have the money.” It seems like crazy talk because you are declaring things that are not as though you already have them.
Jesus taught this to his disciple regarding prayer. Mark 11:23, 24 23“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
God wants us to live at the level of faith where we know what he has said and we can boldly proclaim it to be done before it actually comes to pass. This requires us to seek the Lord and hear from him. We cannot just go around proclaiming things will happen if we have not spent time with the Lord to hear what he has to say and do not understand God’s mission or what He is doing. Some people believe that if they just confess something will happen it will happen. Oprah believes that when you confess things that you want to happen they set in motion actions that will draw those things to you. Your words will draw these things to you. She believes this to be a universal law. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. When God speaks to us in whatever manner he chooses then we can exercise faith to believe that what he has spoken will come to pass. Too often people believe that just by saying something it will come to pass. They have not heard from God, have not sought him, have not been given a word from him but they simply expect that through their confession they will force God to act and give them what they are asking for. God is like a personal genie, if I say the right things he is required to respond. Paul said, “My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I think God wants to develop and intimate relationship with us in which we communicate with him and he with us. He does not want to be our servant who does what we tell him to do. He is God and we are the ones who must come to him and seek him and find out what he desires to give us. We have to align ourselves with God not God with us.
We are called to live by faith, which means that we will be given everything needed to fulfill the mission God has given us. When God asks us to do something for him it will require faith on our part and we will need to respond in obedience to him. We must believe that He will make the provision for all that we need to accomplish his work. As we move forward in faith, God will be there each step of the way and he will fulfill his promise to us. He will provide the finances, equipment, people, training, and whatever else is necessary to carry out his will. He will give us the wisdom we need to make the decisions that we will face along the way as we seek him and rely upon him. As we walk by faith and obedience to the Lord our faith will grow and I believe God will give us greater things to accomplish as we are faithful to do what he has given us to do. Hudson Taylor who was a pioneer missionary to China and who founded the China Inland Mission which operated on faith for everything made this statement, "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies." God’s provision may come through many different sources and in many different ways but it is still God who is providing and we must have faith to believe him to do what he said he will do.
At times God asks us to do things as a step of faith that seems contrary to our thinking. One of the principles of faith is that we sow our finances in obedience to God into ministries and people in order to reap a harvest. Jesus said in Luke 6:38 38“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
This requires faith and obedience on our part to do what God asks us to do. At times God will test our faith by asking us to give toward a need when we really do not have much to give and when we do give it may be the last of what we have. It is easier to give when you have a reserve in the bank but when you have nothing left or give all you have it can be a lot more challenging. But in reality, it is no different because we are trusting in the faithfulness of God and that he rewards those who operate in faith and obedience. Most believers never get to experience this level of faith because they are unwilling to give in obedience to God at this level. Their giving is calculated according to what they feel they can afford to give and not by what God asks them to give. They keep tight control because they have not given ownership of what they have to God.
God will at times ask us to go somewhere we have never gone before or do something that is completely new to us. It will require faith on our part to believe that we have heard from God and faith to believe him to get us where we need to be and do what he has asked us to do. We move forward in obedience to God and make our decisions based on what He has instructed us to do. We often do not have all the details of how this will all come to pass but we move in obedience to what we know to do and expect God to give us further direction and provision as we proceed. We have to stay connected to God, dependent upon Him daily. Faith enables us to trust Him to do His part as we do our part. Our faith in God allows us to move forward in confidence that we will see what we have believed will happen.
There is always a delay between the promise and its fulfillment. The word God has given us that we accept by faith and believe with all our heart will come to pass will have a time of incubation, a time of testing, a time of waiting until we see it fulfilled. It is during this time that we have to hold true to what we believe and be unwavering in our faith. Though we do not see the fulfillment and perhaps we see just the opposite happening we must continue to hold fast the confession of our faith and continue doing what we know to do. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 we read of many faith stories of people who did great exploits by faith yet never saw the complete fulfillment of it. Their faith was commended because they did not waver and give up. During this time of waiting our faith matures, grows roots and is firmly established in our hearts.
Tonight I pray that your faith will continue to grow and that it will be marked by your obedience to what God has asked you to do. We are on a journey of faith and it must begin with faith in the character and nature of God. It must be based on our understanding of the mission of God so our faith is in alignment with God work. Our faith is meant to increase and grow from the experiences God gives us. God wants to give us new faith challenges to extend His Kingdom. He wants our faith to mature, he wants us to move beyond hope to true faith. This faith must be part of our prayer life in which we believe we have received what we pray for; this faith must also be evident in our obedience to go where God directs us, to do what he asks us to do and give what he asks us to give. Our faith will be tested. There will be delays in the fulfillment of what God has spoken to us but these delays are designed to mature our faith and we must hold onto the promises in spite of the circumstances, knowing that God is a rewarder and he will accomplish what he has said he will do.