If you have faith as a
mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20
CHAMBERS} “[…] we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us
into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. […]
God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional
enjoyment of His blessings. […] Faith by its very nature must be tested and
tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust
God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds.
Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken
isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of
life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable
result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming
against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true
to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression
of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job
13:15).”
{ELGIN} God’s intent is that
we have a serving faith, not a self-serving faith. The greatest commandment, the one that all of
the law hangs on is to “love God with all of your mind, souls and strength” and
the second is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Jesus said “No greater love has one man than
this, but to lay down his life for his friend” (John 15:13) Just like Jesus did for us. “If you want to be great in God’s kingdom,
learn to be a servant.” (Matthew
20:26) “So where do I fit in?”, you
might ask. “What about me?” Good question. What about YOU indeed! What do you think it means to pick up your cross
daily? (Matthew 16:24-26) If I am truly
living a life of faith, then I must abandon any notion that my needs must be
met before I follow Jesus .. before I put the full weight of my future in the
hands of God. Faith in God means that I
trust Him and not myself. Listen, this is
a spiritual act, not some great expression of personal will and determination. God will take you places that defy human
strength and courage. We are so puny and
God is so great. “It’s not by might nor
by power, but by My Spirit.” (Zechariah 4:6)
Our challenge with faith is remembering that it is from God and is not some
strength conjured up from way down in our inner being, and so, we must draw
close to God for faith when we are tested in this life.
Living a life of faith does
not mean that we do what we want and then trust that faith will get us out of
whatever problems our decisions have caused. It means that we live our lives in
obedience to the will of God, by the power of God, in step with the leading of
the Spirit, placing our full trust and confidence in God. So that we can say, just like Jesus, “Not my
will but thy will be done.” And really mean it. "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my (Jesus) sake will save it." (Luke 9:24)
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