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FAITH - not FORMULAS It seems that the nature of most people is to want a set of rules or a fixed formula to live by. Why? Because we are performance oriented. By understanding that this is a part of our old nature, we can better understand why the Lord is constantly changing things in our lives in such a way that we must seek Him daily for direction. The Lord doesn't want robots. If He did, He would have made us mechanical without volition. He wants us to freely give our will to match His plan. There is one key element of the Fruit of the Spirit that must be exercised to allow this to happen. And that is Faith. FAITH is a trusting commitment of one person to another, particularly of a person to God. Faith is the central concept of Christianity. One may be called a Christian only if one has faith. To be a Christian is not just to have a belief in Jesus Christ. But the word more defined means a person who is Christlike. Someone who is allowing God to make His transformations in their life. (John 5:38,39) "And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." Many good Christians are falling away from the faith because they serve the Lord mostly out of head knowledge. Believers that are not seeking to hear from the Lord will end up with a religious philosophy. To have faith operating in our lives, we must be hearing from the Lord and responding to what we hear, because responding to God is what causes our faith to grow in Christ. In the move of God that we are experiencing, there are a lot of things that the Lord wants to use us as believers to accomplish. But it's going to take faith on our part. (Luke 9:38-41) "And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither." The main obstacle to our faith is doubt. Replace every thought of doubt with a thought of expectation, taking God by His Word. Why do we come before God for anything if we don't expect Him to do something? Asking God to do miracles is asking God to act like God. Don't lose the faith; lose the formulas. - Kurt
December 1995 Newsletter | Anger | The Strong Will Pastor's Journal December 1994 | Faith - Not Formulas | As A Man Thinketh Revised: June 25, 2008. |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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