The Attitude of Faith
Hebrews 11 is supposed to be the absolute tutorial for faith. The author begins with the definition of faith and goes on to explain it. This chapter details how faith has taken its place right from the creation of the world and how impossible it is to please God without faith (v6). I love this chapter because the author keeps emphasizing the fact that it was through faith that all the men of God were able to attain what they wanted from God.
Today, I am going to brush up a little on the levels of faith so that we could evaluate ourselves where we stand in our level of faith. Faith needs to grow and reach levels. We could categorize the levels of faith as
Little Faith – Mathew 8:26 A basic level of faith prevalent in spiritually immature Christians. Everything is perfect when everything else is perfect but their faith tosses as the boat tosses. The disciples in their early stages were of little faith. They were able to enjoy the company of God and second His miracles but when it came to facing troubles they wavered. Today, are you of little faith?
Faith with visible proofs – John 20:25 Here we see Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, who had been with Him and witnessed all His miracles, heard His teachings and the things that are going to happen, now doubting Jesus’ resurrection. He says “Unless I see the nail marks on His hands & put my hand and test myself, I will not believe it”. Did you notice the phrase “I will not believe it”? Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as being sure of what we do not see. Today, are you ready to be sure of what you do not see?
Faith in action – Every miracle that Jesus did turned a whole bunch of crowds to Him ? People questioned His authority, but were ready to believe Him if they witnessed a miracle. This attitude is more of a “He did it so I believe Him” -typically a faith that depends on actions. These people may easily waver when later a miracle is delayed or not done because they have faith in actions and not in the Miracle Worker. Today, is your faith based on what God did?
Real faith or Faith of Faiths – Daniel 3:13. This chapter talks about 4 young men refusing to bow before an idol. The king ordered them to be thrown into a furnace of fire. When the king questioned them they replied “O king, the God that we serve is able to rescue us”. I love the verse (v.18) which says “But even if He doesn’t we will still not bow before the idol”. Did you notice the level of faith where they stand? They decided that whatever God does is for their good; if He saves them or doesn’t. Their faith was not on the miracle but on God. So whether God saves them or not wasn’t important.
This is called the real faith or Faith of Faiths where we do not believe God for what He does or can do, but for what He really is! God is far beyond miracles and wonders. He is God Himself, superfluous, humungous, omnipresent and omnipotent. We worship Him for what He is. Our faith needs to stand on Him. We may expect many things which God may or may not grant, but our faith should not be based on what He could offer. God is God, period!!
God, give me an attitude of faith where I trust in you and you alone. I know you have the best plans for me and help me accept whatever you have in store for me. Let me to look up to you and not on what you can offer. Amen
The 3 Keys to keeping in charge of your life
In today’s world change is proceeding at an ever-quickening pace; jobs (and whole industries) seem to come and go at the drop of a hat. When those times come where you’re starting to look at the future with fear and worry, just keep three keys in mind. Some might call them affirmations; others may call them personal dedications. I call them “The 3 keys to keeping in charge of your life.”
Key Number 1: “I’m all I’ve got, but that’s enough.”
I know you’re not all you’ve got — you’ve got family, friends, co-workers, enemies, and the income tax people — all encouraging you to work. But sometimes, it starts to feel as if you’re doing it all alone. Some of us have extremely large challenges that are facing us — and yet no matter how large the challenge, you can address it a little bit at a time – as you have a faith in yourself and our Lord Jesus — the faith that you’re up to the challenge. The Lord Jesus explains in Matt 11:28, 29 that the Lord takes our burden and ensures that the burden we carry along with him is one that we can bear. “Praise God”. “You are not alone”
Key Number 2. “My future is in my control.”
“Sure,” you might say, “but what about disease, accidents, death, war, and tragedy?” Let’s get this straight right now. I do not believe that we can control every aspect of our future. I do believe we can control how we choose to view it, and utilize it. Bad things may happen in your future — but judging from my personal experience, some of the greatest growth in my life has come from the worst things that have happened to me. . If we never take on the challenges that life brings, we never manage to grow beyond those challenges. It’s this simple: things may happen, but the most important things will be when you’ve made them happen. “Yes” Jesus alone has the power to multiply 5 loaves & 2 fish to feed 5000 people but Hey!!!“Give him the 5 loaves & 2 fish that you have”
Key number 3: “Whatever the future brings, I’ll do all right.”
Troubles happen to everyone — but the people who grow from those troubles have one major difference: they believe everything happens for a reason, and that it serves them. The Bible says “All things happen to the good for those who love the Lord”. One way or the other, make a little promise to yourself, right here and now – that whatever comes your way in the future, you will grow from it. Will you be able to exercise control over everything in your life? Of course not – Things can happen that will derail your plans — and they will. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track, get your speed back up, and make it to your destination — or an even better destination. Resolve now that no matter what happens, you’ll be all right. Once you’ve made that resolve, you’ve eliminated most worry about the future.
Whether this message shakes you up a bit or not understand something very powerful. You are in charge when the Lord is in charge.Praise the Lord. Amen.
Giving to God
First let us address the question – “Should we give to God?”. The answer to this question is found in Mat 25:40 , And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ So, the answer is “Yes”, we should give to God. When we give to the least of our brethren, we give to God.
Now, let us understand, How are we to give to God?
1) We should give God with a loyal heart
1Ch 29:9 , Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. Whatever we are giving must be a whole hearted gesture to the Lord and not out of any worldly compulsion. Many give to please their pastor, church leader, etc, but the Bible says God loves a cheerful giver who gives without compulsion because of his/her love for God out of a loyal heart.
2) We should give according to the blessing of our Lord
Deut 16:17 , Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. For some of us money is the easiest thing to give. Is that what God wants from you? Right now money is easy to give – Well God does not want 1/10th of your money now- He wants 1/10th of your time- He has given you the money you asked for, Now give him your time.
3) We should give the first fruits to God
Pro 3:9 &10 , Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your
produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting
with wine. We keep the best of the produce for ourselves and give the worst of our
produce to God. We do a Electronic Clearance (ECS) from bank to bank for our car loan but
give crumpled and crushed notes to God. Give God the first fruit & the best fruit and he will
bless you to be first in all that you attempt.
4) We should give tithes to God
Mal 3:10 , Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Abraham gave tithes, Jesus thought us to give God what is due to God. Let us do so too.
To conclude, everything God has created, including money is for us to have dominion upon. When you give to God, it means that you are exercising your dominion over money and diverting it from other purposes to the purposes of God. When you have set your dominion over something that is likely to divert you from God, then God sets his blessings upon you.
As Jesus thought us frequently, giving God is a matter of the heart more than it is a matter of means. “God looks at the heart of the giver”. Let us not have any doubt in giving to God through our tithes, First fruits , in accordance to our blessing and with a loyal heart.
God Bless You.
V Chacko Jacob