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Introduction
There are many examples of historic faith in the Old Testament
David & Goliath
Elijah & the Prophets of Bail
Moses leading the children of Isreal to the Red Sea & Crossing
Consider the Red Sea Crossing
Exodus 14:9-16
God had deliverd and proven himself
Now it was time for God to test the faith of Israel
“…that they go forward”
Application: Just like Israel God is looking for us to step forward by faith and follow him
I.
A Description of our Faith
In order to live by faith we must understand what it is.
When we think of faith we should think of three words: confidence, change & commitment
A. True faith has confidence
Illustration: We demonstrate our trust in a chair when we sit down in it - do we constantly worry about its ability to hold us?
Do we demonstrate a lack of faith when we worry?
B. True faith requires change
When we realize what God has saved us from it should produce a change in our life
If we truly believe what we say we believe then there will be evidence of it in our life
C. True faith demands commitment
After we have been saved for a while we can lose our zeal
We must be reminded constantly to commit our lives to Christ in response to his grace
Illustration: Penn Jillette is a well known atheist.
He has no respect for the God of the Bible but even in his atheistic state he has respect for Christians who share their faith.
He has stated “how much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them?”
Even an outspoken atheist understands that being a Christian requires commitment.
Application: True faith will be evidenced in our life by confidence, change and commitment!
II.
A Daily Forecast for our Faith
So if we cannot please God without faith, does this mean that we must live by faith every day?
YES!
What do you think of when you think of faith?
When we think of faith we often think of Big Decisions
But faith is often demonstrated in little decisions we make every day
Also we cannot have faith in big decisions if we do not demonstrate it in little ones
Little things are daily things:
A. Every day, there must be a step of faith
Start the day in faith - God’s Word & Prayer
How can we be ready if we are not in the Word!
Do we have a plan?
Winging it does not work!
B. Every day, there must be many opportunities
We should think of the days challenges as an opportunity to demonstrate our faith
Illustration: Car breaking down - Garage door needing to be replaced!
- all are opportunities for God to provide!
Temptations- We face them every single day
Difficulty with Spouse or Children - maybe we need to spend some quality time with them
C. Every day, there must be an attribute needed
Going to God in prayer is a demonstration of faith
“he that cometh to God”
We Need His Wisdom- James 1:5-6
We Need His Power-
We Need His Presence- Psalm 139:7-12
What is the difference between the reality of God’s presence and our feeling that presence?
- FAITH!
Weither we feel it or not - weither it is dark or light - He is Present!
Faith is being confident of His presence even when we cannot feel it!
D. Every day, there must be a reward to gain
“he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Diligence is a daily, consistent aim toward the Lord
Diligence is rewarded!
III.
A Diligent Focus on our Faith
This truth seems so simple, yet there are so many distractions that it does require a diligent focus!
A. A decision to live by faith must be made
No one is going to do this for you
Living by feeling and logic will not produce a life of faith
Illustration: Learning to play golf - the grip felt very awkward - very different from a baseball bat grip
Illustration: Jim Elliot- A young missionary named Jim Elliot developed a heart for missions at a young age.
He took his passion to Wheaton College knowing he wanted to go to a forign field and he lived with that passion throughout his college career.
He cared more for this goal than for any other temporary goal that surrounded him.
He eventually became a missionary to the Auca Indians in Equador.
He wasent there long before he was killed.
Many would have looked at his life and thought it to be a life wasted.
In his short time there was not much he seemingly accomplished.
But Jim Elliot was more concerned with living a life of faith than living a life of logic.
In his journal his wife found these words “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose”
May we learn to live our lives for the eternal rather than for today.
It will require us to choose to live by faith over fact.
B. A desire to please him must be kept
We cannot waiver back and forth between trusting God and trusting self
C. A determination to hold on must be settled
We must determine that no matter what we will hold to God
Conclusion
lets make a list of things that we can easily put our faith in:
A good secure job
A retirement plan
A savings account
Our good health
Family connections
Our freedom as Americans
Imagine all of these things were taken away… What if one day you woke up and all of these things were gone?
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