2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith and not by sight.
How do I walk by faith?
It is really easy to tell someone to walk by faith, but doing it is quite a different story. To truly understand the faith-walk, there are rules that must be followed. Without these guidelines, it is impossible to stay the course.
Rules
- You have to BELIEVE and TRUST that God’s thoughts are for your good. (Jeremiah 29:11)
- You have to understand that every walk has a reward attached. (Hebrews 11:6)
- You must OBEY what God tells you immediately! (1 Samuel 3:1-10)
- You must be STRONG and COURAGEOUS, no matter what he tells you to do. (Joshua 1:6A)
- You must REMEMBER He is always on your side. (Joshua 1:5)
Let’s take a quick look at the rules individually:
1. You have to BELIEVE and TRUST that God’s thoughts are for your good.(Jeremiah 29:11)
In the new millennium, beliefand trustare hard to find. Those of you under 35, grew up under challenging circumstances whether you realize it or not. So, the thought of God being a GREAT parent is next to impossible to believe. However, your heavenly Father is the one who gives you the understanding and ability to stand against all the changes life will bring you.
What makes him great, you ask? First, he listens. It doesn’t matter if you’re angry in the beginning. He always hears you and He always listens. Speaking to him has a way of transforming you so that in the end, you want God’s path for your life.
Let me tell on myself though:
In the beginning, I did not believe or trust that God wanted what was best for me, and as a result I created a path that led to heartache and pain. The facts were simple; since my family life was hard and the things Jesus was asking of me, in my mind, were hard, I began to believe that I was nothing more than a joke to Him. These negative thoughts altered the way I saw the Father and the Son.
Know this, God stayed true to His word and he began to send things my way which demonstrated His love for me, and showed me I could trust Him as much as He trusted me. A great parent will always give you space to work out your issues, but then they will return to help set your path straight. That’s what God does with us and how He shows us that we can both believe and trust in Him.
2. You have to UNDERSTAND that every walk has a REWARD at the end. (Hebrews 11:6)
This was hard for me in the beginning. I wanted to do things for God because I
loved Him and Him alone. I did not feel He needed to reward me. However, my thinking was wrong. Healthy families reward their members when they do something well. Mothers and Fathers want to celebrate their children’s accomplishments. This means if you’re out running the streets—no reward! But if you’re working hard at building a future for yourself and achieving your goals, REWARD!!! All of this is part of a parent’s joy. Your heavenly Father is no different.
Expectation is OK. For many of us, it takes time to learn this; in some areas we understand it well. If you go to work every day, you expect a paycheck. Allow God to show you how his rewards system works. Rewards don’t always come right away. It is something that takes time. Turn everything with God into a fun learning activity like you were playing: Monopoly,Clue, or Sorry. God wants your relationship with Him to be fun, playful, and productive. Not a game of manipulation, God will never manipulate you, and you can never manipulate God. You don’t want to eat crow with God, or have Him call you a fool.
Here’s how you play:
- The first question is: “God, what do you want me to have?” He will answer you when He is ready. But keep a pad of paper with you, just in case He answers when you’re not home. Remember, you have to believe He will answer you.
- The second question is: “God, this is what I want. How do You feel about this?”
- Lastly, generate a list and keep writing down what He gives you. At the end of 30 days you will find a lot of things were removed from your list, and a huge number of things were added to His list—things you never thought of.
It is OKto have a playful and intimate relationship with God, as a child builds blocks with his parents. It is through this play you begin to understand the character of God, and He can show you some of the gifts He has hidden inside of you.
Understand this next point REALLY well:
God only allows this to go on for a while. Consider your spiritual age similarly to your physical age. When you’re one spiritually, God treats you as He would a one-year-old child. You may burn your hand on the hot stove; you may scrape your knee, but get back up and keep moving forward.
3. You must OBEY what God tells you immediately! (1 Samuel 3:1-10)
If you’ve completed step 1 and 2, you should have a measure of belief and trust, and the beginning of an understanding of who your Heavenly Father is. Therefore, when He calls out to you, it is your job to do what you are told.
Some of you will only ever know Him saying, “Go help that person…give to this cause…go to this corner and wait on this person,” and then when the person—that you don’t know, have never seen, and may never see again—shows up, you deliver said message, gift, etc. and go on with your life. Then, there will be those of you with a bigger calling on your life and your tasks will be as numerable as the stars. Your life with Jesus will be a great adventure, including great sadness and great happiness…but even in your greatest sorrow, you will experience the joy of the Lord.
Let’s explain that another way.
You will eventually reach the point where you have joy in every stage of your life. But as you watch what people do and the choices they make, you will feel the pain of their lives and find yourself frustrated you can’t do more. Remember, your only job is to do what you have been asked by your Father in Heaven. Nothing more. DO NOT AD LIB HERE!
4. You must be STRONG and COURAGEOUS, no matter what he tells you to do.
Every now and then, God will give you a monster of a task.
(That is really dependent on you, how He designed you, and the call He has placed on your life. The bigger the call the harder the challenge.)
You will look and say: “I CAN’T DO THAT!!!” But it won’t stop nagging at you, you might even think you’re going insane. But again, all you have to do is obey. Walk through the challenge, but don’t attach yourself to the outcome. The more you follow His instructions, the easier it will become. By doing this, you will begin to see exactly how strong you are and what a great amount of courage you have. This will help prepare you for the struggles that lie ahead. Before long, things that were once hard will become quite easy. With every act of obedience, your faith will become stronger.
5. You must REMEMBER He is always on your side.
This becomes the hardest thing to do when we look at Humankind. Here’s the real deal. Man is a TERRIBLE example of who Jesus is. Man likes to make up his own rules and then expects God to make good on those rules; and then pouts and screams when they don’t get their way!
THIS IS A TERRIBLE THING.
Sadly, this is one thing that causes people to walk away from Christ Himself. Then they blame Him because of the horrific actions of man. Yet, both the Father and Son made things VERY clear.
Here is the verse YOU CAN NEVER FORGET!
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)
You heard it from the horses’ mouth! He is a Liar!
Humanity will never be on your side. And if they are, it is very conditional. The moment their expectations aren’t met, people start getting weary and frustrated and lose patience. This is forever going to be one of man’s shortcomings.
The faith-walk and remembering that God is ALWAYS on your side comes when, despite all of humanity’s shortcomings, you still follow through with what the Lord asks you and understand: No one does good, not a single one! We have all failed and even though we may not have killed anyone, does not mean that darkness does not live in our hearts.
Oh BTW, if you think you don’t have darkness in your heart, drop us a line in about 3 weeks and tell us how much darkness Jesus has opened your eyes to. You guys are my favorite. Because the moment you think you don’t have a problem is the moment you learn you have a bigger problem than you realized! Talk to you next time!
