Living Faith
"We conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law." Romans 3:28
At times, we have to examine ourselves. Where is my faith? How can I write about faith without understanding my own faith? I tell myself, "It doesn't matter because God knows." However, in the hustle of my busy days, do I rush through a prayer instead of taking time to talk to God? Am I trying to measure my faith instead of living my faith?
The Bible holds life stories of many men and women. Each one had flaws and weaknesses. Even with those weaknesses, God found them to be righteous because of their faith. Paul uses the life story of Abraham to show justification by faith. Abraham's story starts in Genesis 12 where God said to him, "Leave your country and your father's house to go to a land that I will show you. And, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing." (12:1,2) Abraham's faith wasn't perfect. In chapter 12, he lies to the officials of the Pharaoh. In fear of losing his life, they were told that Sarah was not his wife. Again, in chapter 20, they use the same lie to King Abimelech. Of coarse, Sarah was his sister; they just left out the fact that she was his wife. Then, instead of waiting on the Lord for a son, Sarah sends her handmaid to Abraham. (Genesis 16) Now, their plans did not work out well, because they did not wait on the Lord. Finally, "Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." (Genesis 21:2) Abraham did believe, but the promise came in God's timing not theirs. Abraham never ruled a nation, but he believed God's promise. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, … through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13) With faith, Abraham left the safety and comforts of his father's home to become a nomad. With faith, he believed God's promise without seeing the end result.
There is no mention of Abraham's concerns about his faith. He simply lived. He lived his faith.
So, why do we try to measure or prove our faith? Are we like the Romans? Do we measure ourselves by the law or our church doctrine? As Paul would say, "God forbid! We are justified by faith!"
Faith comes by believing. Instead of attempting to measure my faith, I need to live my faith. There should be no faking and no lying. I want my faith to grow. Today, I commit to putting trivial things aside to make more time to draw closer to God. I desire more time in prayer than social media. I will seek to live my faith with each new day.
"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1,2
At times, we have to examine ourselves. Where is my faith? How can I write about faith without understanding my own faith? I tell myself, "It doesn't matter because God knows." However, in the hustle of my busy days, do I rush through a prayer instead of taking time to talk to God? Am I trying to measure my faith instead of living my faith?
The Bible holds life stories of many men and women. Each one had flaws and weaknesses. Even with those weaknesses, God found them to be righteous because of their faith. Paul uses the life story of Abraham to show justification by faith. Abraham's story starts in Genesis 12 where God said to him, "Leave your country and your father's house to go to a land that I will show you. And, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing." (12:1,2) Abraham's faith wasn't perfect. In chapter 12, he lies to the officials of the Pharaoh. In fear of losing his life, they were told that Sarah was not his wife. Again, in chapter 20, they use the same lie to King Abimelech. Of coarse, Sarah was his sister; they just left out the fact that she was his wife. Then, instead of waiting on the Lord for a son, Sarah sends her handmaid to Abraham. (Genesis 16) Now, their plans did not work out well, because they did not wait on the Lord. Finally, "Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." (Genesis 21:2) Abraham did believe, but the promise came in God's timing not theirs. Abraham never ruled a nation, but he believed God's promise. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, … through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13) With faith, Abraham left the safety and comforts of his father's home to become a nomad. With faith, he believed God's promise without seeing the end result.
There is no mention of Abraham's concerns about his faith. He simply lived. He lived his faith.
So, why do we try to measure or prove our faith? Are we like the Romans? Do we measure ourselves by the law or our church doctrine? As Paul would say, "God forbid! We are justified by faith!"
Faith comes by believing. Instead of attempting to measure my faith, I need to live my faith. There should be no faking and no lying. I want my faith to grow. Today, I commit to putting trivial things aside to make more time to draw closer to God. I desire more time in prayer than social media. I will seek to live my faith with each new day.
"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1,2
Hello sister Rose . I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you as well as know you and about your interest in building the Kingdom of God through the ministry of the Word. It has been a blessing to go thorugh your blog post on Living FAith. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 yrs in this great city of Mubai a city wtih a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. we also encourge young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to encourage the body of Christ and specially women in the church. I am sure we will be so blessed by the ministry of the Word. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you, your family and the ministry of the Word. My email idi s: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede
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