Faith, in it's biblical definition, it is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.
The broader definition that has so much meaning in my stand - and anyone else that is trying to do it on the Word of God - is that faith is a firm conviction based upon hearing. Based on hearing the Word in it's most basic sense - that Jesus is the Son of God, was crucified and rose again on the third day. That He died for our sins. You must already be convinced of that or at least have a heart open enough to seek the answer for yourself instead of just taking someone's word for it. The bible tells us to try ALL spirits to see if they are of God. And you may "try" God, as well. He welcomes it. At any rate, you're convinced already of something, or you soon will be. The question then becomes, is it going to work FOR you or AGAINST you?
That should occupy anyone that wonders if they have "faith".
So what do we do with it if we know we do have it?
To have faith means you are fully persuaded that God IS who He said He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. There was a time I had faith but I wasn't "fully" persuaded. That was what led me to quit seeking Him for a while. I can tell you that the result of that is pure havoc and pain that is too much for me to endure alone. After the mountain He walked with me around through my MLC and all that I have seen since He brought me out, how I could walk away is almost a wonder to me today. But I do understand why I did that. I did it out of hopelessness and guilt right after I signed the separation agreement in October of '06 AFTER putting up one hell of a fight for the better part of a year BEFOREHAND. That shook the foundation of my faith more than it could withstand. However, having been handed all the tools of the "trade" so to speak, BEFORE the MLC, I guess that I'd end up where I am today was a given. Ironically, those very same things that caused me to walk away from God -hopelessness and guilt - drove me back to Him 3 weeks ago. Thankfully we are under grace as opposed to the Law, in which case I'd have been burned at the stake a long, long time ago, I promise you.
I have found that the hardest thing to control when standing in faith is my mouth. I STILL have a tendency to speak death sometimes more than I speak life. That is a testimony to my worldly situation though, which looks very overwhelming at times. If I am speaking anything other than life over or about my situation, I am not in faith. I am in my flesh. I'm going to be trying to be there less and less in the coming weeks and months. I am not getting a good head start though as I have already had to bite my tongue more than once today. Well, at least we have a clear "course outline" .
It is our words and our actions that release the power that is behind us as believers. We can either release the power to destroy, which is contrary to God's Word that He WILL RESTORE THE YEARS, and therefore a LACK OF FAITH, or we can speak life and all of the promises God HAS ALREADY GIVEN to those who believe. It is always OUR CHOICE. THAT is the "free will" so many intellectually arrogant people like to harp on. So many people think that to believe in God would weaken them. I am here to tell you, it does exactly the opposite. Faith will make the smallest and quietest person stand up and slap a giant. There's one preacher I heard say "faith will make a tadpole slap a whale". That's a funny image but it is really true. I feel like I'm like that tadpole to be standing against what I'm about to stand against. I have never been a person to take any kind of stand. I've been called to take this one, though. I tried to get out of it and just live my life how I saw fit for the last year but that turned out to be disastrous and my spirit was never at peace. I felt all along that I would have to "go back" but until I'd dug my way down to rock bottom again, I was hellbent to do it by myself. Thank God that part is behind me now.
I am actually anxious now in a good way. Previously the task ahead of me scared me to death. Now though, I find that I am actually looking forward to seeing how God is going to bring about these changes in my family.
Too bad they can't change the date of my membership here and roll my posts back to zero.
