“We are the righteous and we live by faith. We are not of those who shrink back unto destruction, but we are of those who believe and are saved” (Heb 10:38-39). “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It is the evidence that we will receive the things we do not yet see” (Heb. 11:1). When a man approached Jesus and asked, “Master, what must I do to do the works that God requires?” Jesus replied, “This is the work that God requires; that you believe in the One whom He sent.” In John 16:9, Jesus said, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me.” Revelation reveals the startling conclusion for those who refuse to believe in Jesus, “But the cowardly and the unbelieving, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft (this includes astrology) idol worshipers, and all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire” (21:8). And in another place, “All that is not done in faith is sin.”
Armed with these Scriptures, what sort of people ought we to be? How do we live by faith and how do we know we are living by faith? Paul states in Romans, “We are called from among all nations to the obedience that comes by faith.” We obey the word of God by faith. Let’s unpack that and see what it lives like. The Lord God said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you that you may be the children of your Father in heaven.” You know that there are certain people that do not like you and would take advantage of any opportunity to hurt you. It doesn’t feel good, but what are you to do? Get on your knees and start praying for that person. Oh, and the prayer doesn’t go like this, “O Lord, please hit them with a lightning bolt!” No, your prayer will be moved by the Holy Spirit and will cry out for salvation and redemption for that person. Maybe the person is also a Christian and the two of you are at odds. By faith, you obey God and you go to that person and you work through the issue until you are at peace with one another to preserve the unity of the Body of Christ.
Maybe God is dealing with you about tithing and you are resistant because you don’t know how you’ll pay your bills if you pull out your tithe. Bottom line this . . . you cannot afford NOT to tithe. By faith, you take the first 10% of your income and you pray over it and you present it to the Lord with a humble heart of gratitude, remembering that all that you have and all that you are is from the Lord and it all belongs to Him. You rejoice with a cheerful heart and present your tithe to the Lord. Now, you can by faith hold the Lord God to His word. In Malachi He promises, “Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse that there may be meat in My house. Test Me and prove Me in this, and see now if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you will not have room to receive, and I will also rebuke the devourer for your sakes.”
So, you’re facing a mountain of debt and you are unsure, but you bravely step out in faith, take God at His word and tithe your first tithe. All of a sudden, this incredible surge of faith wells up within you and you begin to pray over your finances and remind God that “He promised to meet all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” You tithe again, and even more faith wells up within you and spills out onto your lips that begin to recount His blessings and sing His praises. And then . . . your water heater breaks and your car breaks down and you get a collection notice in the mail from some old debt you didn’t realize you had. Everything in you screams out, “Give up you fool! Tithing doesn’t work! See, you have to take care of yourself first!” That shout of faith that was welling up within you seems to fade in the din of all these negative voices poking at you, fighting for your attention. And then you remember the Word of God, and in your weakness and with the faintest whisper of a voice you cry out, “BUT GOD!” “But God who is faithful promised me that if “I was willing and obedient, I would eat of the fat of the land.” He promised me, “I know the plans I have for you, to do you good, and not for calamity, to give you a future and hope, and I will restore your fortunes”(Jer 29:11). “I will restore unto you the fortunes of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” I will restore unto you the years that the locust and the palmerworm and the cankerworm have eaten.” “I will restore unto you the double portion.” “My God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!”
What is happening now is the fight of faith. You are fighting the good fight of faith and you will win because, “Praise God who always leads us in a triumphal procession through Jesus Christ.” You have now hit what we call in Experiencing God, the Crisis of Belief. Do you believe all those nasty, negative voices, voices that others might even call logic, or common sense or sound reasoning? The Bible calls those voices, “the fiery darts of the Wicked One.” Or do you obey the Word of God? Door A or Door B? Oh my God, which door . . . which door?
And then, with all the strength and faith you can muster, you choose to obey God by faith, and you stand on the Word of God, and you tithe yet again, and again, and all of a sudden, the heavens break open over you and the blessings of God pour down upon you and overtake you and you don’t even have room to receive all of His marvelous blessings, because, “The blessing of the Lord abides upon us and the blessing of the Lord makes rich and He adds no sorrow to it.” You begin to sing His praises and shout the victory and you begin proclaiming the Word of God all over yourself and your family and you begin to pray like a Warrior of Prayer, and you begin to praise like a skilled Levitical singer, going out ahead of the army and you win the battle. You obey God and then you experience Him in all His glory, and as you rejoice with all the saints and the angels of God who are cheering you on, “because you are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” you receive unexpected checks in the mail. God even moves on President Bush to release a tax stimulus payment! Someone offers you a better job with higher pay. That hot water tank just needed an element replaced and the car just had a loose spark plug!
That, my dear brothers and sisters, is living out the Word of God by faith. That is Not shrinking back unto destruction. “Blessed are we who believed, there will be a performance of those things promised us by the Lord!”
I encourage you to stand strong in your faith and in the power of His might! Hold fast to the Word of God and you will be transformed by the renewing of your mind in his Word. You will be changed into His image and likeness and the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep you.
God bless you
Jodi