FAITHFULNESS (NIV)FAITH (KJV)2 Timothy 4:7 Faithfulness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit from the third cluster. Along with gentleness and self-control, these fruits especially speak to the attitudes and actions within ourselves.
What it meansThe Greek word is pistis. It is most often translated faith. As opposed to pistos, which is most often translated faithfulness. Faith seems to me to be the better translation for this fruit of the Holy Spirit. Pistis is a firm persuasion, conviction based upon hearing. Unquestioning or very strong belief in something. I often ask myself, “What do I believe is true?” Faith results from what I believe to be true. I like to look at faith as it is described in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” What God has promised to do for me, I have not seen. In fact, it is not visible to me how He will do it. Verse 3 says “the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” And verse 3 says “by faith we understand” that this happened! God makes things happen for me from events and circumstances which are unknown to me. Faith is understanding that God can make anything happen He wants to out of complete nothingness. I hope in God alone. I am certain of God. My faith is based on the attributes and words of God alone. Nothing else.
Why its importantSticking with Hebrews 11, in verse 6 it says “without faith it is impossible to please God.” In Galatians 1:10, Paul asks “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men?” He concludes with “If I am trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Like Paul, I do not want to please men. I want to please God. Without faith, I can't do that. I need to live by acting on my faith. I want God to see that I believe what He says is true. Then He will be pleased.
How to do itLook at how the people in Hebrews 11 practiced their faith.I see that “by faith”: Abel offered a better sacrific All these people did not received the things promised in their life time, but they acted by faith anyway. Furthermore, I am told that men and women of faith: administered justice gained what was promised (but did not receive it, see below) shut the mouths of lions quenched the fury of the flames escaped the edge of the sword had their weaknesses turned to strength became powerful in battle routed foreign armies received back their dead raised to life Along with these great and famous deeds they also were: tortured and refused to be released I am told in verse 39, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” When I live by faith, I will be commended. I might not see the fruit of my choice to live by faith, but I will be commended by God for my action.
Here are a couple of my suggestions for practicing living by faith. 1. I believe God has a plan for my life. I chose to believe it is a good plan. Following the Hebrews 11 theme, I find in the last verse, 40, it says “God had planned something better for us” God has a plan. He has always had a plan. He will always have a plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says that it is a plan to prosper me, not to harm me, and to give me hope and a future. Isaiah 25:1 tells me that God does marvelous things that He planned long ago. I have to settle in my mind and in my heart that God wants to do what is best for me. If I don't believe that, it will be impossible for me to act by faith and follow His plan. I will always be looking to see what the outcome is and judging for myself if it is good or not. Instead, I have to chose to believe it is good. 2. I make decisions for my life based on God's plan. 1 John 2:15-17 gives me wisdom on this. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boastings of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” My natural tendency is to make decisions for my life based on my cravings, the lust of my eyes and being able to boast about what I have and do. That is not God's plan. God's plan is for me to “die” to those thoughts. He wants me to set my “heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1-3) My decisions need to be made in light of what will further the kingdom of God. I work under the leadership of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. Not for the glory of me. When I am faced with a decision, I need to ask God what He wants me to do. I need to read my Bible for insight. I need to ask my godly friends what they think. I need to ask God for the peace that passes all understanding to live in my heart regarding this decision.
3. I believe God includes difficult things in His plan for my life for my own good. The Psalmist tells me that “It is good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71) It is important for me to learn God's laws and how to apply them. Difficult circumstances will drive me closer to God or further away. I am driven closer to God by practically applying His laws. As a practical disciple, I welcome difficult times in my life. They help me determine how much I have matured and how far I still have to go. I confess, I am sometimes embarrassed by my responses. I am ashamed to say that even today I found out how far short I still fall. I was waiting at a stoplight behind a young man who was distracted doing something inside his car after the light turned green. The three cars ahead of him went, but he still sat there with me behind him. After a reasonable time, I tapped my horn to alert him that the light had changed. No response. I waited. I tapped the horn again. No response. I waited. I tapped the horn again. No response. By now, I was concerned that the green light would expire and we would not get through the intersection. And I was a bit frustrated, so I laid on the horn. He looked up, flipped me off and slowly moved forward. At that moment, I was definitely not filled with the Spirit. I reasoned I had been patient and he was being selfish. I followed him for a few blocks until he parked. When he got out of his car, I rolled down my window and told him what I thought of his behavior. He seemed to ignore me. As I drove on, God convicted me that I should be more concerned about my behavior than about this kid's actions. I know better. He probably did not. Unless he has the Holy Spirit, he has no choice but to live a selfish life. I have choices. And today, I chose badly. I thanked God for the experience because it showed me how much I have to learn. I try to be thankful for difficult circumstances. But usually not until afterwards. ;-)
4. I accept the consequences of my actions as being exactly what God intends for me. Look at those two lists above from Hebrews 11. The first list seems to be full of good outcomes, from a human stand point. Victory, escape, strength and power. The second list seems to be full of bad outcomes from a human stand point. Torture, prison, stoning, death and persecution. From God's standpoint, the two lists of outcome are the same. They are all good outcomes. They are God's best plan for those people at that time. When I live by faith, I have to take what appears to me to be good (the first list) with what appears to me to be bad (the second list). The truth is that whatever God brings to pass in my life from either the first list or the second list is what is best for me. Only He knows for sure which of those things is part of His plan. Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were about to be tossed into the fiery furnace. Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar asked them “what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:15). They answered “O Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18) These guys were committed to go into the furnace whether God saved them or not. They believed without a doubt that God could save them. But they also knew that it was up to God to decide if that was best for them. By faith, they believed God would do right by them, even if it looked like a bad outcome (death by fiery furnace) from a worldly point of view.
5. I believe that God is big enough to get my attention and keep me from doing something outside of His perfect plan. Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” God is way bigger than I am. My faith allows me to act with the confidence that He is watching over me helping me to make the correct decisions. Of course, I can only believe this because I have previously committed to Him that I want to follow His best plan for my life.
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Posted on October 31, 2008
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