The Audacity

On July 29, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 4: 21

Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised.

This verse was written about Abraham who is called the father of faith. This is the picture of faith; not questioning whether God is able to fulfil His promise to us. Verse 20 reads from the NASB thus: “Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Abraham did not waver. He was fully assured that the God who made him a promise was well able to deliver on that promise. Fully assured, not partially, Abraham was convinced that God would come through.

After reading this verse I felt compelled to look up assurance and assure in the dictionary. This is what I found.

Assurance: 1. The act of assuring. 2. A statement or indication that inspires confidence. 3. a. Freedom from doubt; certainty. B. Self-confidence. 4. Boldness; audacity.

Assure: 1. To inform confidently, with a view to removing doubt. 2. To cause to feel sure; convince. 3. To give confidence to; reassure. 4. To make certain; ensure.

Wow! Those are strong words. I love the boldness with which we can be assured that God is with us and for us. Can we even go so far as to be audacious? Sure we can and some are. We can have absolute certainty that the one who promised is prepared to follow through on His promise. What, then, makes us different from Abraham? That is to say, how many people do you know personally with audacious faith? My goodness but I would like to aspire to be known as one with that kind of outrageous, radical faith. Can you imagine how much the locals made fun of Abraham and Sarah? People probably said, “Oh, you know, they are those ‘faith’ people. They think they can have a baby at their advanced ages because their God made them a promise.” Oh that we could be that daring, that bold in our believing. Jesus said that with just a little bit of faith, nothing would be impossible to us (Matthew 17: 20). 

God is mighty and able to deliver on all His good promises. Do you believe it?

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Audacious Faith

On November 20, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 14: 23

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
I’ve got to tell you the truth about this verse. I have been avoiding it for weeks if not months. I wrote it down on my verse list a long time ago and every time I look at it I decide it just seems too negative to write on. I like bringing the good news and words of encouragement. None the less, there is something our Father is trying to say, especially when we combine it with yesterday’s Word of the Day.  

Okay, so now we can finally nail down exactly what sin is. It is everything we do or say that is not from faith. Wow! Pardon me while I go repent……. Alright, I’m back. That is a lot to bite off isn’t? But we just learned yesterday that these are the very things which end up putting us in chains. So, here is why the out pouring of the Holy Spirit was so critical. We are to live every single moment in faith and we can only do that when we become acutely aware of the indwelling presence of God in us and with us. God, in His three persons, is with us every minute of every day. The problem comes in when we do not acknowledge His presence.

What is faith anyway? Well, Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Did that clear it up for you? Perhaps not. I like that definition and I draw upon it often but I also have to translate it for my personal application and this is how I use it. At its base, faith is simply “trust in God.” It is that assurance that God is proactive in my life. I love the word assurance. The American Heritage dictionary defines assurance as freedom from doubt, certainty. You’ve got to love that. It even goes so far as to use the words boldness and audacity. I love it! Am I audacious enough to simply believe God? Or even to believe that God is God? 

People of faith have resolved these big questions in their hearts. Many of us have assented to the idea intellectually but faith arises from your spirit. It does not issue from you mind. Those who walk in faith have a deep, abiding trust in God in their gut. Now, you cannot reason with these people. Don’t even try. Their assurance is not a product of reason. No matter how cogent your argument, it will not prevail because they are not listening with their minds. God has persuaded their hearts and the heart muscle is much stronger than the brain.

How can we become as bold as they? How can we learn to walk step by step in faith and trust? It all begins with that relationship with the Father, doesn’t it? Think of anyone you trust. Haven’t they proved their trustworthiness through the course of your relationship? But also, didn’t you have to extend a little trial trust in the early stages of that relationship? You didn’t begin trusting them with the big things, did you? So it is with God. We try to trust him to give us a new car when we haven’t even trusted Him with finding our car keys yet. So start small. Run some experiments. I literally trusted him to find my car keys once. Then you can try a little bigger test. Keep going. You will soon trust him for big things. Don’t worry if you miss it now and again. You will find that practice helps you hone your hearing and your ability to follow his leading.

I want to live in this space that Paul intimates in today’s passage. Can you imagine if we all walked in audacious faith 24/7? Even when we sleep we would sleep in faith. Let’s give it a go. It sounds like a great way to live.  

We would love for you to share your faith stories on our blog because it will encourage me and others. That site is www.iveyministries.blogspot.com. Come visit and leave us a note.

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