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Monthly Archives: October 2012

Give Your Life a Solid Foundation

31 Oct

In my last post, I talked about true Biblical faith.  We learned that you can’t just “set it and forget it”.  Instead, it’s a process that must be walked out on a daily basis.  Here is an illustration that Paul used to describe it.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:16

Think about faith like a huge wooden shield, big enough for you to hide behind in the raging battle.  What is it protecting you from?  Paul says that it’s the flaming arrows of the enemy.

What does flame do to wood?  We all know that wood is a fuel.  As the weapons of the enemy hit it, the shield begins to wear away.  If you just stand still in your Christian walk, you begin to lose ground.  What you believed last year, you may not believe this year.  Your faith begins to fade.

Scripture tells us that we must continually maintain our faith.  That’s why prayer, reading the word, and fellowship with other believers are so vital to our walk with the Lord.

We need to continue in all of those things just to stand still.  If that’s the case, then I really need to build my faith for moving forward in God.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

The words being sure in this verse literally mean setting under.  The scriptural definition for hope is our expectation of what God is going to work out in our lives.  So, in actuality, what this verse says is that faith is our support or foundation.

Faith is a support for our expectations.  How can I continue to expect God’s best in the middle of the struggles of life?  My expectations must be supported.  It’s only through faith in what God has said that I can have this kind of foundation.

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
Hebrews 3:14

This is really what we want from God.  We want to share in what Christ has provided for us.  The only way this will take place is if we hold firmly to our support.  That’s why we need the shield.

If faith is not held firmly, it can be knocked out of our hands.  Make sure that you are maintaining your faith.  It’s what you need to support you through the rough times.

Question: How has your faith in God supported you in the past?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2012 in Encouragement, Faith, Spiritual Warfare

 

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What is True Biblical Faith?

29 Oct

Many people talk about faith.  Few live it out to its full potential.  It all comes down to how you perceive it.

Is faith a single response to Scriptural teaching, or is it more than that?  The next four posts will deal with this important concept.  If you haven’t yet done so, take the time to subscribe to this blog via e-mail so that you won’t miss any of these life-changing installments.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Hebrews 10:39

Whether we want to admit it or not, faith is an on-going process.  In our society we like to “set it and forget it.”  That’s not the case with Biblical faith.

Faith is a walk.  It’s the path God leads us on from godlessness to perfection.  We start out our lives with no knowledge of Christ or His Word.  God takes us from where we are to as far as we’re willing to travel with Him.

What we find in this walk is that along the way there are always choices. These choices come at regular intervals – usually when we least expect them.  These points are like forks in the road ahead.

It’s then up to us whether we accept or reject truth when we see it.  Each new piece of knowledge comes with a choice.  Do I trust God and His Word, or do I continue in the old direction I was headed?

It may sound like a “no-brainer” as to which path we take, but based upon my experience, it’s a little more complicated than that.  We sometimes tend to stick with what we’re comfortable with, even though it’s wrong.

Choosing to trust God in a new way is a big step.  There are those who come to a hard decision and simply stall out.  There are others who start out trusting the Lord, but then when the going gets rough, they “shrink back.”  Why do we find it so hard to totally surrender to God’s will?

This is the problem – faith is an uphill climb on an icy slope.  When we come to a new choice and decide to stop, we begin to slide backwards, whether we intended to or not.  In the above verse, the word destroyed means ruin or loss.  Just standing still causes us to lose the ground we’ve already gained.

In our Christian walk, you have to put effort into it just to stand still.  If you want the power of God’s salvation working in you, then you have to keep moving forward.

Where are you in your walk with Christ?  What choices are you wrestling with?  If you find yourself at standstill – where did you stop, and why?  Most Christians don’t deal with these questions because think that faith is a one-time event.

Make it your goal to make the tough choices and then keep moving forward in Christ Jesus.

Question: What’s the hardest decision that you’ve ever had to trust God for?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2012 in Faith

 

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