You want me to do what!

Throughout the Bible, God has made some strange requests of man. I'm reminded of Gideon in Judges 7. Think about this story for a second. Suppose God told you cut down a stand of trees somewhere. You might be thinking about what chainsaw you want to use to do the task. God tells you that you are not going to do it with a chainsaw. You sigh and say "OK, it will take longer, but a sharp axe will still get it done." God says, "No, you won't use any sharp tools." By now you are really getting discouraged at the task that is before you. You get the picture. Gideon and his men were equipped with the tools of war, but God told them they were going to jog around the city walls and shout on the last day. Most people would think that this will never defeat the enemy any more than it will down a bunch of trees. However, Gideon was a man of faith who exercised that faith and was rewarded with the victory. If we want to grow our faith we can grow it the same way a body builder builds his/her muscles. By exercising our faith we grow it. How do we exercise it? When trouble comes your way ( it eventually does) instead of fretting and worrying about it, why not pray to God and rely on Him to give us the answer. We may still have to experience the trial, but knowing that God is in control will comfort us. In the end, no one gets out of this world alive, but we can get to eternity saved. That's enough for me!

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Jesus. Some hear and believe and some hear and don't believe. We all know that, but belief is not a strong enough word to describe what the gospel means by faith (pistis). The Greek word means deeply rooted like a rock. Imagine a rock that is deeply rooted and immovable and you see the depth (no pun intended) of that belief. Belief is not faith. James 2:19 says that even the demons believe. James was talking about real faith and not just lip service. James was not talking about a works salvation. In James 2:14 James asks if such a faith that does nothing can save someone. He did not say works saves us, but can there be real faith if a person does not feel compelled to used their talents and devote themselves to learning and prayer. Everyone remembers the story of the boy who cried wolf. When they believed the boy was telling the truth the men ran out to save him. When they had enough of his lies, they did not bother when he cried, "there is a wolf."

You could talk about faith and give illustration-after-illustration of heart rending stories to no avail. It is like a person dying of thirst who uses up their last ounce of strength to reach a watering hole, but does not have the strength to drink the water. They don't have the faith to study, pray and devote themselves to God, but that is the only way to help them grow.

Then there are those who would like to change, but they don't know how. They want to have a strong faith, but they also know they have their doubts and distractions. That is where we begin. What is keeping you from having more faith? More on that later.

Faith Is The Victory

I love that old hymn. It echos 1 John 5:4 where we are told that faith overcomes this world. For many, it is the world that overcomes them. We see people with a strong faith, who worry about nothing and trust God. They seem so serene, at peace with the world and we wish we could be like them instead of worrying about everything. Ministers try every week to get their congregation to give of themselves both monitarily and in service to God. They may succeed temporarily with a sermon that guilts someone into doing more for a while. Grow their faith and you will grow their giving and service. Easier said, than done. We will explore ways of growing faith, because if our faith is growing we will be fruitful.(2 Peter 1:5-8)