Job 13:15 π
…I live by the Faith of the Son of God.
Faith is not just some doctrine which is believed. It is a whole way of life totally dependent on God, moment by moment.
We have an idea that God blesses us for our faith, and this is true in the initial steps of our Christian walk, because our self-centeredness was related to “things” it could get; but God wants us to realize that we are to live a daily walk of faith, not a walk of carefree exhilaration as a result of blessings. When we realize this we become far more mature in Him.
We have been told by some people that we as Christians have great authority and faith, but that takes our dependence off of God, onto our own accomplishments. Jesus had perfect faith in His Father; we can have the same if we are willing to be ruled by the same Spirit that ruled Jesus. Jesus never did anything unless the Father told Him. Faith, then, is a principle of active, total trust in Jesus, which is ready to go forth with every word He speaks and not our own speaking.
Faith must be tried, so God brings circumstances to bear upon us to promote the reality of faith, to make it experiential through this trial. To turn “head faith” to genuine faith requires a fight every time, to make it a personal possession. It builds an unshakeable realization of the character of God.
The “trial of our faith” is much different than the daily walk of faith in our life. The trial of our faith can be excruciatingly deeper and often a crisis experience because it is usually the only process that God can use to get us to truly seek Him. Then we see the true character of God and surrender to it, only to surrender further next time. This brings us eventually to a place of being totally Christ-centered. Our closest example other than Jesus Himself was Paul. Paul had lost all interest in himself and had a passion for only one thing – pleasing God. He wasn’t concerned about getting blessings and things, but suffered the loss of all things to gain Christ.
Faith in the Scriptures is faith in God, and to believe in Him in spite of everything that contradicts Scripture, and then to trust God no matter what He may do or ask of you. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” ( Job 13:15; top ) – this is the most profound example of faith in all the Scriptures.
Being totally God-centered defines faith as the whole man rightly related to God. Are we willing to submit ourselves to this intimate relationship to Jesus? (Anything less is a disappointment to God.) Then His faith becomes our faith.
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