Recently I read one of the best devotions on faith. From a practical side this devotion finally answered the question for me, "what does faith really mean?". Enjoy!
Titus 1:1-2 "Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,"
Faith is not conjuring up, through an act of your will, a sense of certainty that something is going to happen. No, it is recognizing God's promise as an actual fact, believing it is true, rejoicing in the knowledge of that truth, and then simply resting because God said it.
Faith turns a promise into a prophecy. A promise is contingent upon our cooperation, but when we exercise genuine faith in it, it becomes a prophecy. Then we can move ahead with certainty that it will come to pass, because "God...does not lie." from Days of Heaven upon Earth.
I often hear people praying for more faith, but when I listen carefully to them and get to the essence of their prayer, I realize it is not more faith they are wanting at all. What they are wanting is their faith to be changed to sight.
Faith does not say, "I see this is good for me; therefore God must have sent it." Instead, faith declares, "God sent it; therefore it must be good for me."
Faith, when walking through the dark with God, only asks Him to hold his hand more tightly. Phillip Brooks
(Streams in the Desert. L.B. Cowan, 1997. p 177 May 1)
"Faith is not conjuring up, with an act of your will, a sense of certainty." This statement is what caught my attention. I've said before but it's worth repeating, the faith we have in our Savior Christ Jesus is not something we came up with, it was given to us. John 6:43-44 says, "Jesus said, "Don't bicker among yourselves over me. You're not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me-that's the only way you'll ever come."" (The Message) Isn't this all the more reason to celebrate the faith you do have, appreciating it all the more because it was given? I think we struggle with our faith after we initially find it because we stop there. If we would continue pursuing God by reading His promises in His Word, our faith would turn into action and hope. The more I learn of God the more grateful I am of His grace, realizing my insignificance and His all-importance.
Grace, MB
5 comments:
Great blog Matt...I totally agree with you...God's promises turn in to prophecy. That is why we are all prophets...all of use who follow the teachings of Christ...GOD said it there for it is....and when you realize that through the prophecy in your life, you really get humbled about how idiotic we really are...We do so many unnessary things, for what? I don't know...If we truely just believe and trust..We cant go wrong..we Cant...GOD WILL PUT US WHERE HE WANTS US. and to me thats a good feeling...
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=0edec55cb25411422efd
By saying something that God already said, it makes us good readers, trustworthy followers, not necessarily prophets. Maybe I'm not following you here, explain a little more what you mean. How are we all prophets?
I feel like we are all like prophets because when we let GOD control our lives, we come upon circumstances that we can't explain, and GOD, is the only way we can explain it...He brings us through....and provides what we need, and I believe that is due to being connected supernaturally with God through Christ... then telling people about our experiences makes us prophets. We can all have the vision of what God wants by paying attention to our own lives, if you are a believer. The time you spend being connected the better you get at it, the more the lines of communication are opened.....I dont know, maybe I'm wrong...thats how I feel. Maybe I'm confused on the what the word prophet means...
I dont know, maybe that doesnt happen with everyone...maybe i'm weird...lol. I believe when God wants you to know something he will tell you....You dont have to be special. And I also believe it could happen with the Holy Spirt..he urges you to do something, even if you dont know why, or how, or even if you dont want to..But it is prophecy for that person..how did you know, to say exactly what they need to hear?....see what i mean?
Ya, I think we understand prophecy differently. The word Prophet comes from the greek word "pro phe i es", meaning before-averer. To declare to be true before it actually happens. Now you may be capable through the Holy Spirit to do this in your life, maybe even in others lives, I don't know, that's not for me to say. I'm not sure where you draw the line between calling yourself a prophet and hearing answers from God about things presently going on in your life, but I believe there's a difference. Do you know of any modern day prophets who are bringing new truths about God that hasn't already been revealed in the Word of God? What do you think is meant by this passage in Hebrews 1:1-2, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,..."? I'm just asking, I'm not sure myself because Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit in Romans 12:6, "if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith,..." That's a tough one.
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