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Week Five:
Proven Faith - Part 1:
Faith is the central element in the Christian life because it is the means by which we enter into salvation. But, that’s only the beginning, from moving forward, your faith or lack of faith should shape your life and determine what happens to you when the winds of adversary blows your way. Some Christians learn to hold their footage ecven in hurricane-force gales, but other are toppled by the slightest gust. In order to understand why this is true, you must or need to examine the source of your faith. It gives us that ability to say, “ He sustained me in the past, he’ll carry me through today and he’ll uphold me in the future!” God worked this way in David’s life. When David volunteered to fight against Goliath, he said, “ Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” 1 Samuel 17:37(NKJV). David knew the God who had sustained him through dangerous situations in the past. That pattern is evident in Scripture. God takes each one of us through fearful situations, and, as we learn to obey God’s Word and allow it to saturate our thoughts, we find each trial becomes a stepping stone to a stronger and deeper faith. He had seen and experienced God’s power and protection in his life, and this developed within him a fearless faith. “So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off” 1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NKJV).
Proven Faith - Part 2
Faith is Tested by a Believer’s Commitment and Devotion to the Lord. God has a purpose in allowing us to be tested. Testing is a solicitation to do right, to give us the opportunity to grow, and to prove our faith to be true. Our testing is the means whereby God strengthens us for greater service for Him. He trains us how to live a better and fuller life in Christ. Your faith is tested by the depth of its devotion to the Lord, by the height of its obedience and by ones willingness to sacrifice for the Lord.
Inherited faith:
If you grew up in a Christian home, you probably adopted some of your parents’ beliefs. This kind of godly foundation is a wonderful gift from the Lord, but eventually, each person must assume responsibility for his or her own beliefs.
Textbook faith:
The Bible is the ultimate guide for establishing our beliefs. But that’s not the only source of influence. Books, preachers, teachers, and friends all impact our convictions. Our theology may in fact be sound, but faith is only mental acceptance until it’s put to the test.
Proven faith:
Only when we trust in the Lord through the fires of adversity will we have faith that can stand. Then it’s no longer based on what others have told us or what we’ve accepted as true but is built on our firsthand experience of His faithfulness. To evaluate your faith, consider how you react to difficulties. Do you cling to the Lord or get angry at Him? Is your attitude one of thanksgiving because He’s making you more like His Son, or are you frustrated? No one can escape hardship, but those with proven faith will benefit from it.
Purified Faith:
Most Christians would love to have the heroic trust of the men and women mentioned in Hebrews 11. Few of us, however, would willingly undergo the process God uses to develop this kind of dynamic faith. We enjoy reading about the great victories and accomplishments of those who trusted the Lord, but we cringe at their hardships. None of us want to go through suffering, yet adversity is one of the ways God purifies our faith. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 1:7 (NKJV). Picture the Lord as a master sculptor standing before a block of marble—that slab is you! Envisioning the hidden work of art within, He lovingly and carefully chips away everything that does not fit the masterpiece He is creating.
Character: One of the first areas the Lord deals with is your character. His goal is to shape you into the image of His Son, and there are some traits and attitudes that must be chipped away in order for Him to accomplish the task. His chisel exposes imperfections like pride and selfishness.
Idolatry: When anything or anyone becomes more important to us than the Lord, it is an idol in our life. To protect us, God will sometimes use adversity to strip away everything we have relied upon so that we’ll cling only to Him.The chisel hurts—it sometimes feels as if the Lord is taking away everything we hold dear. Unless you understand His goal and believe He’s working for your good, you’ll think He’s cruel. But if you trust Him and yield to His shaping tool of adversity, your faith will be purified and strengthened through affliction. “Hide Your face from my sins,And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God,And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence,And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” Psalm 51:9-11 (NKJV).