Sunday 5 May 2013

The Essence of Faith


Romans 12 : 3, For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. NKJV

The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons. He has given every man, woman, boy, and girl a measure of faith. It is up to us, as individuals, where we will place that faith, and this is done through the freewill. Romans 1 tells us that all know or have the ability to know that there is a God who created them. Yet some choose to repress that truth in unrighteousness and therefore have chosen to believe a lie.

Today, I want to share with you some thoughts about the "Essence of Faith." James teaches us in his epistle that it's not enough to only believe in God; we must add obedient action to our faith in order for it to stand or to be complete. Jesus tells us in John 15, that if we love Him, then we are to demonstrate that love by obeying His commandments and honoring Him through our actions. By so doing, we will bear fruit that will show others our faith in Christ.
Paul makes a distinction between being conformed to this world and being transformed by the renewing of our minds in order that we might be able to prove what is God's will. The carnal mind, the mind that we were born with, doesn't regard God or His Word. When people choose to live according to their thoughts and not God's Word, they become conformed to the ways of the world. But God has given us our faith in order that we might believe in Him and His Word and allow the Word to change our hearts and minds. When we choose to place faith in what God says and what He requires of us as His children, that faith will begin to illuminate our minds to see as God sees and to know as He knows.

In Ephesians, we can learn what happens to the heart of man once they decide to reject the knowledge of the truth. It says that their hearts become darkened through sin, and they become fools. If we choose to allow our faith to lead us to Christ, and then follow Christ, His Word will open our hearts and illuminate our minds to know the living God on a personal level. Because we have the carnal mind to contend with, once we choose to walk by faith, we will need to guard our hearts from offense, because the mind will view God one way, but faith will reveal Him to us in a different light.

When you don't know someone, it is easier to misunderstand them, because you don't know their heart and offense can occur. This is what happens when we come to God and don't know His ways. He tells us, in Isaiah, that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are above our thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth. The one big difference between God and man is: He is spiritual, and we are carnal. He operates in an eternal realm, and we operate in a temporal or limited realm. So when we come against a mountain that is bigger than us, there will be a tendency to give up in defeat and not challenge the obstacle... thus we allow our circumstances to conform us through the heartache and the rejection of not being or becoming all that we know we can be in our hearts.

To overcome the strongholds of the carnal mind, God has given us a way of escape; that way of escape is called "our faith". As we become willing to place our faith in God and His Word, we will develop the ability to see beyond our human limitations. The Lord has promised that with every temptation, He will make a way of escape... that we might be able to bear it. Once we choose faith to overcome our limitations and mountains, there is still a hurdle that you and I must learn to overcome: now we must learn how to stand on that faith.

People will begin in faith, but once opposition comes against them, they make the mistake of not "standing" on their faith until it becomes sight. At this point, you must remember that you are fighting a war that is going on in your carnal (or human) mind. It's telling you that this method that you have chosen to see victory in your life isn't going to accomplish what you are hoping for, and it's going to make you want to look at (keep your eyes on) the circumstances that you are facing. If you begin to look at the mountain that is still defying your faith, then that is unbelief creeping into the mix. If you don't reject that line of thinking, then it can undermine your confidence to continue in faith and open your heart to the spirit of rejection. "Well God doesn't want this for me, so I won't believe for it anymore." If you have heard these words in your mind, then know it was the spirit of unbelief or rejection, because the carnal mind has already rejected God...  God also rejected it because it is rooted in unbelief. This kind of mindset is one of the first that we must overcome (through faith) in order to see our faith become sight. Let me give you an example from the Word that will clearly reveal this to you.

Matthew 15 : 21 - 28, Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. NKJV

This woman was a Gentile, a Canaanite woman who wasn't in covenant with God. Jesus was only sent to the house of Israel, so this Canaanite woman wasn't allowed to receive the children's bread (Healing for her daughter). So let's break this down so that we can understand how it can pertain to us and our faith : when man sinned, it separated us from the "life" of God, but it didn't separate us from the "love" of God. As long as we were under sin, we were under the "curse" of sin. Therefore, God had to reject us, because we had gone astray from Him in our hearts. Not only did sin separate us from the life of God, but it made us feel condemned... which caused us to believe we were unworthy to receive the blessings of God. All of this describes the carnal mind (or unbelief) to a "T".

This story of the Canaanite woman clearly depicts this separation, but notice she didn't let her position or her condition defeat her faith in Jesus as the Messiah. When the woman first addressed Jesus, she called Him, "Son of David," this meant that she believed that He was the Messiah. Now, her next hurdle would be to believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. After her initial request for Him to heal her daughter, Jesus begins to bring up the subject of her unworthiness...therefore, being unworthy (not in covenant), she would have had no right to the blessings of God. This is where many gentile believers will give up and throw in the towel in defeat. This woman took her faith to the next level. She began to seek Him diligently. Notice that when she called out to Him, He didn't answer her. This can happen to us; we seek God for a need to be supplied, but we get no response; we must then choose, as this woman did, to stand in faith until we hear from Him.

You may be asking, "What gave her the determination to overcome the public humiliation and rejection?" I'm glad you asked. True faith has within it "the essence" of that very thing that you are in need of. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Her faith allowed her to see beyond her gentile limitations (of unbelief). It also gave her the hope that empowered her to answer every statement that appeared as though Jesus had rejected her request.

Faith that gets the job done continues to pursue God... even when it looks as though He is either hiding or running from you. Remember, these perceptions come from the carnal mind that rejects God's authority over your life. As humans, we might not like for God to have authority over us, but when we're in trouble, it's reassuring when He can take that authority and calm the storms around us. Once you allow yourself to pursue God in the face of rejection, then know that your faith will bring victory into your life.

Once the woman agreed with Jesus, Jesus made a statement that was only spoken twice in the New Testament (and both involved gentile believers). He told this woman, who refused to be denied, that her faith was great. You see, faith gives us the power to come into agreement with God about His promises, whether we're gentiles or Jews. Without faith, it is impossible to please (agree) with God. She agreed with Jesus, and that hour her daughter was healed. Just keep pursuing the Lord until your faith gets your heart in agreement with the Lord. Then your faith will become sight also.

Pursuing Him Passionately,
Pastor Asa



LightSource@crosswalkmail.com

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