Faith is a Verb

Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his
mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his
sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at him... And he did
not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:54-58

One time in the Gospels it says that Jesus couldn't do much in the town "because of their
unbelief" (Matthew 13:58). Wouldn't that be an awful thing to have said about your home, about your family,
about you? Jesus couldn't do much in or through you because of you just didn't believe Him. "Lord, why
don't You do more in our church?" Could it be because of people's unbelief?

Faith is the key. God's promises are activated by faith. Faith is not passive-it's an action verb. Don't say,
"Well, I'm just waiting here. Maybe God will work; maybe He won't." What are you doing about it? Well,not
much.

It's like the sick guy who needs to get better, but he doesn't go to the doctor. That's foolishness. You've got
to do what you can.

Like the person who's filled with concerns and wants to have hope, but has never read the Bible.

It's God promises that give us hope. How many Scriptural promises do you know? How many promises
have you memorized? How many are on the tip of your tongue? Well, no wonder you're filled with anxiety!
No wonder you don't have any hope! You're not holding onto anything.

Get your heart around some of the exceedingly great and precious promises of God! Hold on to what God
has said in His Word. Someday you're going to be in a difficult situation and the enemy will be try to pull you
down but you've got God's Word hidden in your heart. His words will flood you with courage and fill your life
with faith.

"God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible but it is a biblical concept. Faith has to be active
to be real. Remember the guy in 2 Kings 5 who had leprosy and Gold told him he had to go dip in the river?
In faith, he had to do what he could. Like the woman in poverty in 2 Kings 4 who had to collect containers to
hold all that oil God was giving her - she did what she could. Like a warrior heading into battle, he has to
pick up his weapon.

Put some action behind what you believe and watch God work.
--James MacDonald

Lord, I never want there to be a day that You can't do Your work in me because I just don't believe You.
Increase my faith today, Lord. I believe that You are able to make all things are possible. Amen.

We often believe that if we weren't the one who actually invited the person to surrender his or her life to the
Lord, we had no part in that person's salvation.
Abraham: The Footprint of an Obedient Faith

To some people, faith is a mysterious thing. Yet the Bible tells us that it’s impossible to please God without
it. Scripture also tells us it is by faith that we stand and that we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

That’s why I’m so thankful God gave you and me a faith mentor. His name is Abraham. And throughout
Scripture, God points to Abraham and says, “If you want to know what faith looks like… if you want to see
faith with flesh and bones… look at him.”
A good example is Hebrews 11:8 which says, “By 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.”

Before we go any further, understand that Abraham was a person just like anyone else. He had bad days…
he had setbacks… and he even was known to tell a lie every now and then! But there was one thing that
was true of Abraham. He consistently trusted God. And that trust was demonstrated in his unwavering
obedience to God.

So today, I want to focus on this one aspect of Abraham’s faith… and then I want to challenge you to follow
the footprint of obedient faith that Abraham has left us.

Now, the verse from Hebrews that I mentioned earlier refers to an encounter Abraham had with God
inGenesis chapter 12. Here it says the following:

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to
a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and
you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all
the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went
with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran (vv. 1-4).

If you think about it, God’s call on Abraham’s life was a pretty scary thing. I mean, Abraham was no spring
chicken when God spoke to him about leaving! He was 75 years old! When was the last time you heard
about a 75-year-old man packing up his family and moving away somewhere?

Nevertheless, notice what Abraham’s response was! He went out… not knowing where he was headed. All
he knew was that he was being obedient. This is what the Bible calls faith.

I have a friend who loves maps. And he loves to use maps to plan every mile of every trip his family ever
takes. But you know, when God called Abraham, He didn’t give him a map with a carefully planned-out
route. God just said, “Get going and I’ll lead you.”

when you know that God is calling you to do something, you need to start moving! Waiting on more direction
or detail may prove to be an exercise in futility, as well as a lack of faith.

There is no way to steer a parked car, yet many of God’s children seem to insist on staying parked until they
know exactly where they are going and how long it will take to get there.

Today, I want to challenge you to follow in the footprints of Abraham’s obedient faith by stepping out and
doing what God has called you to do. To be truly used of God, you need to learn to obey His leading… even
if you don’t understand or can’t see the outcome!

Gutsy Faith: Abraham had it, so did Esther. Do you?

It’s not enough just to try your best to act like a Christian, modifying your behavior from the outside in. You
need to invite Jesus to change you from the inside out, transforming you into an authentic Christian.

Here’s how you can stop acting like a Christian and just be one:

Let love – not a sense of obligation – motivate you.Don’t waste time and energy trying to impress God
with religious words or rituals if your heart isn’t truly in them. Understand that God doesn’t want you to come
to Him out of a sense of duty, but out of a genuine passion for Him. Strengthen your heart – your core
spiritual muscle – by staying in close communication with God through prayer and remaining obedient to His
Word, the Bible. Expect that as you seek God, you will discover more and more about Him that will cause
you to genuinely fall in love with Him and naturally motivate you to live in a way that pleases Him.
Strengthen your mind. Know that if you want to change your life, you must change the way you think.
Recognize that the quality of your mind depends on how much of God’s truth (as found in His Word, the
Bible) you believe and apply to your life. Daily pray for the Holy Spirit to renew your mind as you read and
reflect on Scripture. Don’t allow negative thoughts to remain in your mind long enough for you to dwell on
them and have them lead you in the wrong direction. Instead, choose to focus on positive thoughts, and let
those thoughts guide you in the direction God wants you to go in life. Expect that when you fill your mind
with God’s thoughts, you will naturally start to act more like Jesus and experience unshakable peace and
joy.

Don’t just go to church on the weekends – become the church all the time. Realize that the church isn’t
a building; it’s the group of believers who loves God and other people both inside and outside the building.
Don’t keep your faith confined to just a weekend worship service. Instead, live out your faith constantly.
Share the Gospel message with people, respond to people’s needs through loving service, work for justice,
disciple new believers, and engage in other activities that God leads you to do in your community and
elsewhere. Just as God is transforming you, work to transform your world. Never let complacency distract
you from your core mission to help seek and save the lost in this fallen world. Ask God to help you view
others you meet as He sees them, and to value their souls enough to give your best to reach out to them in
love.

Shine your light into the darkness around you. As you invite God to transform your life, point other
people toward the life God has waiting for them. Look for opportunities to shine the light of God’s love into
the darkness of the fallen world, dispelling despair with hope. Don’t hide from the evil in the world or be
overwhelmed by it. Instead, ask God to show you how you can overcome evil with good every day at work,
in your neighborhood, at school, and wherever else you go.

Get up close and personal with other people. Ask God to help you love lost and hurting people. Realize
that, while you’re not called to help everyone, you are called to help certain people in certain ways – and you
need to respond. Pray for God to let you know of specific ways He wants you to help meet specific needs for
specific people. Don’t hesitate to become involved in the lives of people to whom God calls you to reach,
building genuine relationships with them. Rather than viewing them as projects to work on, see them simply
as people to love.

Remain committed. Stay faithful to the ongoing process of living out your faith authentically. Realize that
authentic Christians like you, when working together, wield tremendous potential to change the world for the
better.

Guard against potential heart blockages. Combat attitudes that can block your intimacy with God. Instead
of becoming bored with your faith journey, remain bold and adventurous to keep your relationship with God
fresh and dynamic. Remember that there is always more for you to learn about God, and there are always
more ways for you to grow into the person He wants you to become. Keep seeking God, and taking risks
that He leads you to take. Don’t let your familiarity with God lead you to take Him for granted. Remember
that everything you have – even you next breath – is a gift from God. Express your gratitude to Him on a
regular basis, and live in awe of His power. Prevent lust from blocking a close relationship with God by
staying focused on God as your top priority in life. Know that this will keep everything and everything else in
proper perspective so you don’t become controlled by your desires. Overcome laziness that can block your
relationship with God by recognizing that the good works He created you to do are not empty and dead
tasks, but life-giving works that are full of purpose. Ask God to help you notice how He uses even the most
mundane activities in your life to fulfill exciting purposes. Embrace His plan for your life, and decide to do
your part to see that plan realized. Don’t let disobedience block your intimacy with God. Remember that
every small step of obedience has eternal ramifications. Whenever you sense God leading you to do
something, do it. Keep in mind that if God sees that He can trust you to obey Him in small ways, He will trust
you with larger assignments.

Pursue the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Realize that all true Christians should produce the fruit of the Holy
Spirit’s work in their lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-
control. Don’t withhold any part of your life from God; invite His Spirit to take control of every aspect of it.
Seek healing for any damage in your soul that is causing you to produce bad fruit (such as anger, fear,
jealousy, depression, or low self-esteem) in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your soul and empower you to
live faithfully.

Your Obedience is the Key to God's Work in Your Life

God wants to transform you more and more into Christ's likeness. But He won't force His power on you. If
you're passive about your relationship with Him, you can't expect to grow. God is looking for an invitation
from you. He wants you to show Him you're serious about a relationship with Him by being willing to follow
wherever He leads. Only then will you experience His transforming power.

Here's how your decisions to live faithfully can invite God's transforming power into your life:

Seek true life. Don't look for life anywhere else but in a relationship with Jesus Christ, whose life is the light
of humankind, revealing God the Father to us. Understand that everything necessary to create, sustain, and
transform you flows through Christ. His Spirit working in you is the spirit of the perfect child toward the
perfect father. Just as Christ laid down His life, decide to lay down your own life in obedience to Him,
sacrificing your own agenda and embracing His plans for your life. Trust that, in doing so, you will open
yourself up to a better life than you could ever hope to live on your own.

Embrace an abundant life. Remember that Christ came to supply all that you lack. Make God your all in all,
and rely on His unlimited power. When you feel discouraged, weary, or doubtful, pray for the courage,
strength, and faith to rouse yourself and fight rather than giving up. Decide that you won't settle for a
mediocre life, but that, no matter what your circumstances, you will constantly pursue a richer and fuller life
than ever before. Don't limit God's plans for you. Ask Him to keep you growing.

Deny yourself to find rewards in Christ. Decide to reject all ways of thinking that are not divinely inspired -
ways that don't take God into account and don't set His will supreme as the only law of life. Choose God's
ways over the ways of our fallen world. Rather than asking, "What would I like to do?," ask "What would God
like me to do?" in every situation. Don't let your own ambition rule your heart. Do nothing to please other
people that wouldn't please God. Don't place your trust in money or any other worldly resource. Understand
that everything you have is a gift from God, and trust in God alone. Deny your fears and have faith in God's
power to accomplish whatever He wants to in your life. Forsake falsehood in all its forms and pursue the
living truth that can only be found in Christ. Realize that no great works or sacrifices of your own can
possibly be great enough to earn you a closer relationship with God. Give God what He's really looking for -
an obedient heart that is willing to do whatever He asks, every day. Then expect to experience pure joy,
directly from the source of all that is good.

Break free. Don't let sin hold you a prisoner in your own life. Know that Christ died not to save us from
suffering, but from ourselves, not from injustice, but from being unjust. Understand that we are all slaves to
either sin or to God, but that when we're slaves to God, we're also free, because we can master sin through
His help. Realize that Christ alone can break sin's destructive power over you in the midst of our fallen
world. Get to know Christ, who embodies truth, and let that truth set you free by deciding to listen to His
voice rather than sin's urging.
Cry, "Abba, Father!" Don't be afraid to approach God like the beloved child of His you are. Know that He
wants you to develop into a true son or daughter, who feels at home with God and begins to think like Him
and feel with Him. Understand that this is possible when you invited His Holy Spirit to live inside you. No
matter how your human father or mother may have failed you, believe that your heavenly Father will never
let you down. Embrace God as your Father by choosing to obey Him out of love.

Recognize the difference between opinion and truth.Understand that you don't truly know anything
unless God reveals it to you. Humble yourself enough to realize that even your most dearly held opinions
can change if they're not firmly rooted in divinely revealed truth. Cling to the living God rather than your
opinions. Don't let that which is merely human obscure the divine. Don't waste time or energy arguing with
other people over your opinions, no matter how strongly you hold them. Instead, pray that if your opinions
are true, God Himself will reveal that to the people you would like to be convinced of them. Spread truth not
just by talking about it, but by living it out in front of others so they can see God's light shining brightly
through your life. Remember that the more you love God, the more His truth will emanate from you.
Mirror Christ's likeness. Ask the Holy Spirit to live inside you and invite Him to change you, so that over
time you develop more and more into someone whose life mirrors the way Christ lived on earth. Ask God to
infuse you with His light so you can reflect it to others. Shine God's light as brightly as you can by living in
obedience to Him, motivated by love. Know that doing so will dispel the darkness of this world around you
and cause other people to want to follow the light themselves.

Look forward to the resurrection. View your current, mortal body simply as a tool for learning how to draw
closer to God while you're on earth. Know that it will pass away when you leave this world, like an old
garment that's discarded for a new and better one - your glorified resurrection body. Trust that, as you
choose to be obedient to God, He will respond by revealing more and more of Himself to you. That
revelation begins here on earth and will continue forever in heaven. Start now by following God, the Creator
and Master of your body and your entire life.