Faith

[claude]

FAITH

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

What do you think? Does each get the same amount of faith, or would you possibly liken it to the parable of the talents, Matt. 25: 14-30 where each got a different measure and was rewarded on how they used it? On one end of the spectrum one used his allotment and it grew, on the other one hid his allotment and consequently lost it from disuse.

Or perhaps you have a different take entirely?

[buckwheatpaul]

Faith comes from our belief in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit....the amount of faith will be what God gives you and I submit that it grows as our faith in God grows....

[rl69]

Luke 16
10“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

As we grow and show we can handle what we are given we are given more.
Now with that said I don't know that my faith has grown? my understanding has defiantly increased. But faith As I understand faith is the same as when he first showed himself to me

[Wayne Smith]

I liken it to muscles. The more I exercise the more I can do with the same muscles. Does my faith grow? Or does my ability to use it increase? Given that the outcome is the same, how can I know?

[GhostHawk]

I agree with wayne.

We are all born into the faith as little children or baby's.

A baby is so weak it may take it 2 years to be able to support itself and walk.

In 20 if it keeps itself active and uses those muscles it may run a marathon.

I think my faith is bigger, stronger, more secure now than when I found it.
But I am still an imperfect human who is liable to slip, fall, fail. We all make mistakes.

The greatest one I think is not giving enough, not being loving enough.

[jcwit]

Remember, regardles of how much Faith we have we are all still sinners, just by being human, this is whyChrist died fo us on the cross, to remove all our sins is we only believe and ask for redemition.

This is thereason I go to Confession!

[1johnlb]

The NKJV reads, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. As in He gave us what we needed to believe. When He delivered me from the darkness I was in, it was a measure of faith, that caused me to keep seeking. When He healed me even greater faith, was dealt. When He began to heal those as He moved me to pray for, even greater faith.

I like the parable of the mustard seed, because it took just a little seed to grow into a great tree. It's up to us what we do with that measure of faith. We can just hold on to it or we can grow from it.

Another verse I like; faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God. My first measure of faith in this verse was as it says , we get faith from hearing the word of God preached but as my faith grew I came unto greater faith in this verse that as I read the word out loud my faith grew even bigger ( the Spirit of faith comes unto the sound of God's word, it definitely changes the atmosphere). Thirdly, even greater faith came for me in this verse, faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God, as in the Rhema word of God.

[Thundarstick]

Heb 11:1-3
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Actually the whole chapter. Just remember, we don't practice a blind faith, our faith is substantiated by fulfilled prophecy, supernatural miracles before crowds of witnesses, a teacher become savior rising from the grave and ascending to heaven! Yes, you can prove a case for your faith!

[Blackwater]

I kind'a think that Faith, the real deal, is something that has to grow, really, as we "study to show thyself approved." The conversion experience is the most difficult to describe thing that a human can experience, I think. I think of it as the beginning of real, mature, fully formed Faith. I know when I first made my own personal commitment to Christ, I had lots of questions, but for a time, simply had the assurance I needed that the answers would come with time and study and consideration. Whenever I considered, and did not find the answers I wanted, I figured it was ME who was lacking, and not our Lord or His teachings. Yes, I got frustrated along the way. That's just simply the human response to not knowing something we truly WANT to know. But ... and this is the key, I think ... if we TRULY want to know, we'll simply keep at it until we DO know. And that can be a matter of a long time, during which, I think, Christ prepares us to receive the answers we seek. I know I had my ideas early on, and some of them have been displaced by real, firm convictions about my own personal Faith and what Christ has or has had in mind for me. I've never dealt with frustration well, but thanks to the Lord, I've learned to deal with it MUCH better than I traditionally have. I'm simply OK with His time schedule of revealing things to me now, and less adamant that it "has" to occur on MY schedule, simply because I want it.

Truly, wisdom is something that comes to us dearly, and by degrees, and only when we're ready for it. And sometimes, as in my case, one must maintain his Faith for a long time before real understanding can come to him. I'm now MUCH more comfortable with God's plans for me, and MUCH less insistent on my own time schedule and achieving "wisdom" the "easy" way! I've come to accept that I've always been more passionate than I have been smart! But ... therein may lie one of the "secrets" of real understanding?

[jmort]

Most every church is afraid of Faith, and you hear zero teaching on the second most important function of the Body of Christ. Love is most important and faith is # 2. Without Faith it is impossible to please God. Most churches are as dead as a door-nail when it comes to faith.

[Thundarstick]

. Most churches are as dead as a door-nail when it comes to faith.

Boy howdy! It must have been some task to have attended every church so you could judge most of them dead of faith!

[jmort]

I have been to many churches. Never once heard any teaching about faith. 12 week series on being a good parent or whatever, that is what I have heard. More psychocology and less Bible. I guess you and some others are blessed to be in churches where faith is taught more than never.

[Thundarstick]

jmort
I have been to many churches. Never once heard any teaching about faith. 12 week series on being a good parent or whatever, that is what I have heard. More psychocology and less Bible.

And this is what happens when a church leaves the Bible for it's core teachings! We have had a heated discussion in our congregation about the core mission of "the church", but can anyone say you can teach core values like faith, without ministering to people's human needs? I do ocassionally attend services at churches that arn't of the same denomination I normally attend, and listen to several more on the radio from time to time. I'm amazed at the number of sermons I hear where there's NO BIBLE quoted in the whole sermon!

[jmort]

^^^^
Sad but true
Not picking on Joel Osteen, seems like a good man, but he is the prototypical example of what I am seeing. My wife made the point to me a while back, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew she was exactly right.

[1johnlb]

Not standing up for J.Olsteen, but scriptually, every part of the body is to work within it's gifting. If exhortation and/or encouragement is his gift, he's exactly where he should be.

[Thundarstick]

Whoa! When I first read that I thought it said extortion!

[rl69]

Me to lol after all it fits lol

[Wayne Smith]

I firmly believe that every believer can, looking back at their lives, find and identify miracles that God has done for them. Maybe big things, more likely little things, but miracles none the less.

In the Old Testatment God continually tells the Israelites to remember what He has done for them. I think it behoves us to do the same, to make a list of the miracles He has done for me. It makes it personal and direct - God acting in my life. This builds faith.

[Good Cheer]

Wayne, you're right.