There are many interpretations of faith, but lets narrow it down to what is biblical in nature.
Lets define faith:
The Bible defines faith this way: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Another translation puts it this way: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (NLT).
Example
You work all week, payroll is done on the 30th of each month. You have faith that all the work you have done will result in a paycheck at the end of the month.
Now granted, we see this kind of faith manifest itself everyday. The type of faith we’re talking about here is supernatural faith, a faith that goes beyond the natural.
Sin Confusing Faith
There are people that go to church for decades, they are religious, but sin has them baffled. They don’t know how to use faith, they don’t believe in one way or another it can work for them and for people who are non-believers these sick church people are confirmation that religion is a bunch of hooey.
Car – If you had access to a car, but you continued walking to places in the rain and snow, wouldn’t this be a waste? You have the car right there but don’t use it, this is just like faith it’s right there, but we don’t use it.
Faith – In Gods terms faith is living and acting in a way that is contrary to the circumstance. If you’re sick and God says you are healed, yet you listen whole heatedly to the doctor and you are now on 8 different medications, what are your actions saying?
We’re not saying medications are bad, there are many cases where they save lives, but if you do nothing to exhibit a walk toward faith, then you have allowed sin to cheat you.
The Conflict of Sin and Faith
It’s a waste and it’s sad to see people living in sickness and sadness.
This is targeted at people who have gone to church for years, people who know what God promises, yet don’t believe enough to use the benefits for the “right here and now.”
Faith is believing you are healed even if at this moment you are still physically sick. Sin keeps reminding you that your are physically sick, what a mess this can be. This is a conflict many people have when it comes to faith, this is how sin uses faith against you.
That tiny little voice that keeps telling you “if you are healed why do you feel so bad?” This becomes a critical point at which only you can decide what to believe.
A Little Piece of My True Story
A few years a go I was really sick. My insides were on fire, headaches, energy drain, this went on for years. I’d went to church, I knew what God said, but I didn’t act like a person of faith.
I know what a tough spot you are in when caught in the middle. I went to the doctors several times a week for two years, they took test after test without finding the core reason for my illness. I was getting sick and tired of being sick and tired, on top of this I tried to maintain my faith by saying to myself “I am healed”, I’m sure people thought I was nuts by now.
The medical system practices science and it is very influential in its practice. So here’s the picture, on one side my mind is being feed information from the doctors point of view and on the other I’m clinging to the words I learned for years in church about being healed, faith.
The Missing Piece – ACTION
We can say a lot of things, but it takes action to make things happen.
The thing that always made me feel good was exercise. In the past few years I did very little of that because I felt so bad, but the day came when I made a decision. I decided to put God’s word to the test.
With what little energy I had I started by walking once a day. This was hard and I felt worse for it, but I was committed. You see folks, when you have a conflict inside of you between sin and God it’s like war. In war two sides battle until one is victorious and one is defeated. The only way to resolve this conflict inside of me was to choose one side and go with it right to the end, I chose God.
It took about a month and finally things started to change for the better. There were times during the month that I thought I would die and that was alright because I was already set to either prove faith right or die trying.
It’s been 3 years since that time and I run everyday now – no more pills – life is much better.
“Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
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