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For DILIGENCE vs Slothfulness
B
Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky
Reproduction and adaptation is encouraged
Faith is confidence that actions rooted in good character will yield the best outcome,
Even when I cannot see how.
“Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
FIVE “I WILLS”
By Bob and Trisha Hicks
Missionaries, Helping Hands for Him
I will expect the best.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
“God has provided something better for us…” Hebrews 11:40a If we are to ever become known as men and women of faith, we must learn to discipline our minds and hearts to always expect God’s best. But before we can engage in any meaningful discussion of “the best” we need to understand what “the best” actually is. God’s meaning of “best” is often quite different from the world’s because He is focused on who we are becoming rather than what we are achieving or acquiring. God’s best often nudges us into the trials and struggles that make us strong, whereas the world’s best might be to avoid the trial in order to make us comfortable. God’s best might involve short term loss for long term gain, or long term loss for eternal gain. His best might involve losing your life in order to find it again, or being brought to the end of your sufficiency in order to learn how to draw from His.
The Bible says that EVERY good and perfect gift comes from above. “Every” is an exclusive term. In other words, God is the exclusive designer, manufacturer, and distributor of “the best.” You can’t get “the best” anywhere else but God, no matter how much you pay for the imitation. Now normally, such an exclusive gift as “the best” would come with a high price tag. The best is always pricier than the better or the good. But the amazing thing about God’s best is that it is free to all His children because it has been paid for, in full, by His Son on the cross.
The problem for most of us is that God’s best often comes in disguise. Like a pineapple that is ugly on the outside but sweet on the inside, God’s best work is often done within the depths of the most unattractive circumstances. So look deeper than the surface of life. Understand that as you submit to God you are becoming more and more beautiful and sweet as you take on the character of Christ. Not only have you received the best in Christ, you are becoming His best for others as you develop His character within you. Expect God’s best and your faith will grow. Never sacrifice the best for less.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
I will make right choices based on principles of character
rather than whims of circumstance.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who suffered in a Nazi POW camp during World War II. When others fled, he chose to remain in Germany and speak for righteousness rather than leave and shout from a safe distance. He paid the ultimate price of martyrdom. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer made the case that making principled choices in radical obedience to Christ is essential to the Christian life. He argued that radical obedience to Christ was not in itself a virtue, but through the vehicle of radical obedience we create impossible circumstances for ourselves that only Christ can deliver us from. In short, choosing to radically obey Christ sets in motion the circumstances that make faith both necessary and possible.
The heart of faith will make right choices based on principles of character regardless of where those choices may ultimately lead. Sometimes right choices turn out well, and other times they turn out badly, but faith chooses to do the right without regard for its own self-preservation. Faith is willing to lose its status, its wealth, and even its life for a principle, because faith looks to Christ and not itself for its ultimate deliverance.
There is an incredible power that will begin to flow through your life when you allow yourself to start making right choices that are based upon principles of character and obedience to Christ. Over time these types of choices will wean you away from the fear of circumstances. They will strengthen your character, and bring power and calm to your soul.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
I will believe the truth and reject a lie.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
This statement sounds so logical and so easy. “Of course I will believe the truth and reject a lie,” you may be saying to yourself. “Why would anyone choose to believe a lie? Or why would anyone disbelieve the truth?” On the surface, the above statement seems simplistic, but it is far from a simplistic statement, and if followed will cut to the root of your being. Who wants to believe the truth that he or she is lazy, or immoral, or a liar, or a cheater, or a hypocrite? Yet we call off sick from the job when we’re not, we secretly violate our marriage vows, we tell “white lies” to get out of embarrassing situations, we bend the truth on our tax returns, and we don’t practice what we preach.
And who wants to reject a lie that is all dressed up in its Sunday best? We embrace lies that say we are more intelligent than we are, that we are more deserving than we are, that we are better looking than we are, that we are less appreciated than we deserve, that we are more open minded than we truly are, or that we are easier to get along with than we really are.
If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we are naturally inclined to disbelieve many things that are true and accept many things that are false. Here is where the character quality of faith is important. Coming clean about who I really am requires me to exercise the faith to believe that God will really forgive me. It requires faith to believe that He can work so powerfully in my life that I can change and become a better person. It requires faith to believe that changing my life-long bondage to sin is actually possible and worth the effort.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free…
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
John 8:32 & 36
I will not take things for granted.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
The contrasting negative to this month’s character quality of faith is the attitude of presumption. Where faith trusts that it shall be so, and is pliable to the Lord’s will and direction, presumption assumes it should be so, and gets ruffled when things don’t work out according to expectations. Faith is a joyful character quality that is naturally thankful, because faith does not assume undue prerogatives unto itself, or presume to be wise enough to know what is best in all of life’s circumstances, but those who presumptively take things for granted have no such joy. A presumptive spirit assumes certain “rights” for itself and becomes indignant when its “rights” are limited by circumstances or people.
Presumption is a pseudo sage that embraces the wisdom of its own expectations, and becomes irritable when things don’t develop as scripted. But faith is different. Far from any sense of entitlement, faith trusts in the immutable goodness of God, rests in His unknown purposes within our circumstances, and delights in the fellowship it shares with its Master.
You might be surprised to discover that presumption is also a type of faith, the most boring type. It trusts and enjoys only what it anticipates, and when the things it anticipates become commonplace it takes them for granted.
Purpose today to stop taking life for granted. Stop projecting your expectations onto people or onto your circumstances. You will never know true faith until you hitch your destiny to your unpredictable and wonderful God. He delights in shaking things up and bringing blessings that are totally unpredicted. Jesus said that the leading of the Spirit is like the wind. (John 3) You don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going, but you feel its power and see its activity. He makes the bold statement that everyone who is born of God will be carried and led in this invisible and unpredictable way. So stop clutching the ground with your talons of presumption. Let go. Unfurl your wings to be borne by the wind. Abandoning yourself to the current of God’s direction is the very essence of faith.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
I will trust those who have proven character.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17) These words of the Apostle Paul come toward the end of a very passionate section of his letter to the church at Philippi where he describes his burning desire to know Christ intimately. Then Paul turns to us, the church, and instructs us to pattern our lives after his own example and the example of other Godly men and women of character.
One of the most interesting things about this passage is that Paul does not call us to blind faith. He calls us to follow a modeled faith… a patterned faith. This Christian life that we live is not something that we just invent as we go along. We have clearly marked channels for our faith, and if we follow them they will lead us to safe harbor. Others have marked the channels before us for our benefit and preservation. The Bible is the map that guides us, and the exemplary lives of those who are recorded within its pages are the buoys that mark the channel. The great heroes of the faith like Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, David, Daniel, Mary, Peter, John, and Paul walked in faith and marked the way for us. (See Hebrews 11) Their lives, like ours, got caught in treacherous currents, were battered on the rocks, and were snagged on hidden webs beneath the waters. Then their accounts were recorded in the Scriptures to show us the way through. Read their stories in the Bible and learn to trust their example by living in faith as they lived. Read Christian biographies and mark what made the great ones great. And take notice too of the heroes of faith within your own church and community and follow them as they follow Christ. Don’t pick at their faults. Purpose to learn from their strengths and your faith will grow.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
Faith in Nature
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
The North American Flying Squirrel is an interesting and friendly creature. There are thirty-seven different species of flying squirrels, most of which live in Southeast Asia. Only two of the thirty-seven live in North America. Their size ranges from three inches in length to the size of a cat. The flying squirrel that lives in the southern part of North America is approximately 8-1/2 inches long. It is rarely seen during the day because it is nocturnal. Its diet consists of vegetation, nuts, and seeds. You might say, “really, a squirrel that actually flies?” These creatures do not have wings to fly, but our Creator made them in such a unique way that they appear to fly by gliding long distances through the air. They are named the “flying” squirrel because it appears as if they are flying. These little creatures are equipped with folds of skin that stretch from their wrists to their ankles. When their arms and legs are spread out, these folds of skin act much like a sail. The air-pressure from underneath forces the skin and the animal upward similar to the way a shallow parachute works. Depending on the height of the jump and the horizontal angle and slope of the ground, the squirrel can travel as far as 300 feet.
As we picture the North American Flying Squirrel taking its leap of faith to fly without wings, it is a good time to take stock of our lives, and examine the vitality of our own faith. Is there anything you are attempting that is outside your ability to do? Are you accomplishing anything in your life that you know is possible only through God? Faith is doing the impossible, through the empowering of God’s Holy Spirit.
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
Doubt sees the obstacles; Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night; Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step; Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, “Who believes?” Faith answers, “I”.
Faith in History
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Faith is recognizing God’s will in a given matter and acting upon it.
Oswald Chambers, (1874-1017) from Aberdeen, Scotland was not famous during his life. When he died at age 43, only three books bearing his name had been published, but they are three of the most beloved books in the Christian devotional library. His words encourage our hearts today in the area of our faith to God and for others. Chambers said this about faith:
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6