{"id":2474,"date":"2012-08-28T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T05:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/?p=2474"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:24:51","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:24:51","slug":"twrac-047-measured-faith-belief-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/applications\/twrac-047-measured-faith-belief-enough","title":{"rendered":"TWRAC 047: Measured Faith (Belief Enough?)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Please click TWIRL 047<\/a><\/span> before proceeding if you have not done the recovery lesson.<\/span><\/h5>\n

\u201cWhy call Me<\/em> Lord when you don\u2019t mean it?\u201d<\/h3>\n

Honestly, what keeps you chained in your recovery journey and Christ-centered life from fully receiving the miracle of the best of the new life experience that God wants and has for you? I was honest about myself earlier in this article. Now it is time for you to be honest with yourself. For me, the matter is full surrender to God\u2019s calling on my life for every hour of every day. If that sounds like a bit much for you, it\u2019s a bit much for me too. But truth is truth.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t even brought up yet the issue of sin\u2026 you know\u2026 declaring to God that you love Him but then at times living as though He doesn\u2019t exist; also true of me. Maybe it\u2019s entertaining lusts of the eyes and imagination. Maybe it\u2019s coveting material prosperity. Maybe it\u2019s harboring resentment and jealousy. Maybe it\u2019s living in shame, or loneliness, or living in fear. Maybe it\u2019s being overrun by anxiety and stress. Maybe it\u2019s being selfish with your money. Maybe it\u2019s being selfish with your time; even if you\u2019re always too busy. Maybe it\u2019s holding on to your obsessions and addictions. You likely know even though it might always be clear to you, and certainly God knows.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why do you keep calling me \u2018Lord, Lord!\u2019 when you don\u2019t do what I say?<\/strong> Luke 6:46<\/p>\n

The word \u2018lord\u2019 is a word of authority. The name Lord for Christ is a name of trusted authority. I call Jesus Lord all the time. So why don\u2019t I believe and respect, even revere, His lordship all of the time? How is it that I can call Him Lord and then live as though I do not trust in, respect, and certainly revere, His authority, ability, desire, and willingness to bless me to the full with abundant life as promised in John 10:10? Why do I not fully believe in the promise of Ephesians 3:20 that God can and will do infinitely more in my life that I even dare to ask or imagine?<\/p>\n

How about you?<\/h3>\n

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 When you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22 But don\u2019t just listen to God\u2019s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don\u2019t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don\u2019t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.<\/strong> James 1:5-8, 22-25 (NLT)<\/p>\n

If you appear to live like you have measured faith it is because you are divided between what you want and aspire to in the flesh and what you want and aspire to in relationship with Christ. In relationship with Jesus, you are transformed into new life by the renewing of your mind. Paul writes that you in fact live this transformed life having the mind of Christ having received God\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

We have received God\u2019s Spirit (not the world\u2019s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us\u2026 We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.<\/strong> 1 Corinthians 2:12, 16b (NLT)<\/p>\n

I could go on with promise after promise. The issue is, if you are limited to a measure of faith it is because you are divided and unstable in who and what you are in relationship with God. You are divided between the new you in Christ that you see when you look into the mirror and the old you that you remember and cling to when you walk away from it; me too.<\/p>\n

What a life it would be<\/h3>\n

Why it that we struggle so to believe all of it? As long as we hold on to the former life in the flesh by choice, we choose to forfeit so much of God\u2019s best; not only for us, but for our families, loved ones, friends, and so on. That\u2019s right. When we surrender all into the full blessing of abundant life, those we touch in some way are also touched by the blessing. When we choose limited blessing because of divided loyalty limiting faith \u2013 confidence \u2013 in what we say we believe in, we can limit the blessing to those under our influence.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll put this back onto I-statements. I need to do what the Word of God says and what I know spiritually and intellectually to be true and reasonably sensible for my life; because it is good and right and it is God\u2019s best. Even something as small as a mustard seed that fully believes can move a mountain and experience the full blessing of abundant life. So why measured faith? From revelation of truth comes belief. From belief in truth comes faith. From faith—confidence in what you believe—comes surrender. From surrender comes obedience. Why not let go into total surrender if I believe in the truth of the Word of God? Do I believe enough that I am confident in the promises and assurances in the Bible? Or, is what I believe clouded by entitlement (sin)?<\/p>\n