More on Faith
If the big deal is the One in Whom I put my faith, and faith involves looking upon that One, the logical response is for me to get a really, really good look at God! Thus the title of Tozer’s chapter on faith, “The Gaze of the Soul.”
Notice that when the Israelites looked at the bronze serpent that was lifted up on a pole, in order to receive healing they didn’t have to beat up any snakes. They had to LOOK at what was lifted up. There are times when we have to stand in the face of the enemy, but that’s another subject for another blog discussion.
We already know that we need faith in order to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and we all want more faith. Now here’s a puzzle: If faith comes by hearing the word of God, it would seem that the more of the word I have memorized, the more faith I will have. But I see that this is not necessarily true. I’ve been a disciple of Jesus since I was 12. But it wasn’t until just a few months ago that I discovered this truth about faith:
It’s not enough to believe that the word of God is true. I must give my attention to it. This is the gazing of the soul. Here is where the discipline of building good habits with God’s word begins. It’s about renewing our minds. And it doesn’t mean just putting verses into my head.
Last fall our 18-year-old son suddenly became very ill and was hospitalized. It took them five days to figure out what was wrong with him. He had temperature spikes to 104 and an infected liver, among other things. I knew I needed faith to help me deal with this situation. So I brought a CD with Scriptures about healing to play while I waited with our son in the hospital room.
The Scriptures were being spoken in the background. Several of these Scriptures I know by heart. In my mind were these thoughts: I wonder what his temperature is? When is the doctor going to come in? Is he still dehydrated? Where is the nurse with some fresh water? The hepatitis A antigen came back negative. I wonder when the B and C are going to come back? I wonder what the infectious disease specialist will have to say? etc., etc., etc. I was giving my attention to the illness – to the problem.
Then the voice on the CD said, “It’s not enough to believe the word of God is true; you must give your attention to it.” The locomotive of my thoughts suddenly crashed into a cement wall. I immediately began to intently listen to every word of God that was being spoken, and I deliberately meditated on what it said, turning over in my mind what each statement meant. Because these truths in God’s word are so wonderful, I started to thank Him for Who He is and what He promises in His word. When a particular word especially gripped my heart, I prayed in the Spirit and became more deeply focused on the Savior. By the end of the CD, I could literally feel the faith that had grown within me.
Our son has a call of God on his life to full-time ministry, and he’s pursuing that. As I’ve prayed for him over the years, the Lord has assured me that this will be fulfilled in his life. After this focusing my attention on God’s word, I was reminded of that truth, and I knew, with no hint of doubting, that if the doctors came in and told me our son had a terminal illness, I would not believe it. I didn’t just know this because it’s something I heard. I knew it deep within my spirit, the same way that I know deep within my spirit that I am a child of God – nothing can ever shake that knowledge from me. That is faith -- the ASSURANCE of things hoped for
So I discovered that, to have faith about something, I need to find the particular word that God has to say about that thing, and I need to meditate on it for periods of time. The word has to get deeply imbedded enough in my spirit so that it becomes faith. It’s simple – but it’s not necessarily easy. It’s only easy when we actually do it. By the way, our son had an Epstein-Barr viral infection which attacked his liver. He is now fully recovered.
I don’t have to “work up” faith or be “educated” in how to have faith. I need to fix my eyes on God, the object of my faith, and intently listen to and meditate on the word He gives me for my situation. Faith is built. If I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, I’m on the firm foundation. For the rest of my life, I want to focus on Him, and my faith will be built. Two things help me do this: The Word of God and the Spirit of God.
Tags: Spirituality, Christianity,Faith
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