So how do we put our faith into action and see God work in miraculous ways?
The Bible says some important things about faith:
First…faith in Christ is essential and the channel by which His grace flows into our life at that miraculous moment of salvation.
- Prior to salvation we are trusting in ourselves, our own wisdom or way; but after salvation we demonstrate, by our faith in Jesus, that our trust has shifted from self to Christ.
Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
Second…faith has a major ingredient to be true faith, God’s Word.
Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
- Now this is important, apart from the word of God we wouldn’t know truth or God’s will or His ways. Man, without God, thinks he knows everything; he doesn’t care about what God has to say because he thinks he has something to say that’s more important.
- But God says in Romans 3:4 “…Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.”
- Now that is the problem with unbelief. Unbelief says I am right, listen to me!
- But faith says, No! Let God be true, but every man a liar.
So how do we apply faith in our lives? How do we walk by faith and not by sight? Let me illustrate it this way: Today you or I can go to a local hardware store and buy a sack of cement or sakcrete. We use sakcrete for many home projects. Now, that sack contains everything needed to become concrete if mixed with one thing, “WATER”. Without water, it’s nothing more than a powder with some gravel mixed in. Without being mixed with water it cannot serve the purpose for which it was designed.
It’s the same with God, He has put together a manual for our faith. The bible was written for us to appropriate faith in our lives. God’s word is truth concerning God and man and good and evil and everything else in this world.
Just as cement must be mixed with water for a physical chemical reaction to take place, so we must mix faith with God’s word to live out the supernatural life God has for us.
Ezekiel 33:31 – “So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.”
- Here we have God telling Ezekiel that the folks really don’t have any faith, that the truth is, their hearts are pursuing their own gain. That takes us right back to Romans 3:4. It is so hard for man to just say “Let God be true” and then walk in those truths.
Example:
Remember the Hebrews God delivered out of Egypt with a mighty hand, God provided them a great escape, an ability to worship Him again. He gave them the tent of tabernacle. He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He fed them manna from heaven and their shoes did not wear out on their feet. Tragically this generation wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Why?…because of unbelief. They had it all. They had Moses and Joshua, God’s covenant, and God’s word as he gave it to them through Moses, but they could not enter into the promised land of Canaan because of unbelief. Unbelief is the opposite of faith.
Hebrews 3:17 and 4:1-3 give a vivid account of why God wouldn’t let them enter the rest He had for them in Canaan.
Hebrews 4:2-3 says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest.”
- Unbelief is where we always stumble and miss what God wants to show us. Like the Hebrews, God has done everything in His power to show us He is faithful and loves us.
- Perhaps today or tomorrow you will be at a crossroads in your walk. Will you hang on to God’s word believing what He says to the point you will make decisions as though your prayers have already been answered? If so, you will wait on God and not get ahead of Him trusting in His answer even before it comes.
- Read James 1:21-25, “Be a doer of the word and watch your life of faith come alive.”
Conclusion
Trust God, believe His word, and believe he will do above and beyond even what we could ask. God is faithful…”Let God be true”!!
Bro Bruce Rudd