Levels of Faith In the Life of the Believer - Part 1

Welcome to the intense podcast fictile Stanley for Tuesday, February 22. Sometimes believers in Jesus life circumstances because that's the question learn to replace doubt with trust as the series continues when you face difficulties and trials. Egyptian life.

How do you respond to respond without fear and anxiety and rodeo do you respond by faith and if you respond by faith what level of faith you say what you mean by what level of faith. That's right. What level of faith and that's what I want to talk about in this message and that is the levels of faith in the life of the believer and if you think about it that all of us have. That is, God has given to every single person the gift of faith. It is in making a difference whether you are a believer or Christian or not.

You do have faith. In fact, all of us every day about life exercise our faith. Something can be as simple as reaching for the water faucet you reached the terminal because you believe when you turn the faucet you're going to have water or for example when you pray, you believe that God is going to hear you because the promises of his word, and he's going to hear and answer your prayer. And so the truth is, all of us have faith, we live by every day. The believer has faith, the unbeliever has faith. The only difference between a believer's faith in young believers faith is this the believer's faith is God directed and the unbelievers faith is self-directed. Looking within their own resources looking at themselves trying to believe that somehow they going to be able to make life work and manage their affairs in life. So I do understand that the people oftentimes think that as a nonbeliever you don't have faith you have the gift of faith because he's given that gift everybody is very evident in Scripture that faith is very very important in the eyes of God, and he sees faith is very important in our life. And so what we want to talk about in this message is this how to raise your faith and level let's face the fact that there will be challenges in our understanding struggles in our faith.

We all going to go through the you first become a Christian.

People tell you that God will do this and do that we struggle with that sometime. Even we read the Scriptures and we sable this is what God says we still struggle with a wide the simple reason we come along in life and we go back feeling we go by site.

We oftentimes affected by what other people say what they do their counsel in open terms of their living in the dumps and have no faith in you.

Begin exercise faith.

They criticize you for being prideful when you say wobbly guys who do thus and so so we all have to we have to deal with those kind of things yet God delights in answering the prayers of the children he delights in proving our faith, and he delights in rewarding our faith because it is a vital part of her life.

The longer you live. Think about this.

The longer you live, the greater your faith ought to be the stronger it out to be. That is, the higher the level of your faith ought to be on an ongoing basis for the simple reason you have all the experiences of your past, you have got your faith in God's word. Then you see what God is done in other people's lives and what happened on the basis of that your faith ought to be going all the time of their many people that I meet whose faith level is still where it was. They got say the trusted Jesus Christ as their personal head, but they haven't grown in their faith and then they wonder why God doesn't bless them. You know you meet people who are just moaning and groaning about life and it is make a difference. What's happening around them. They still find a reason to moan and groan.

Why doesn't God bless me.

One of my have another this and whether they have this and I don't have it.

Why don't I have a better job Watanabe while not able to improve it just may be that it's all wrapped up in your brain and in your mind how you think about yourself how you think about God and think about this your whole eternal destiny, your whole eternal destiny is determined by your faith in the living God, you been granted the gift of faith, but it it's misdirected in life and you don't directed toward him and you don't place your trust in him and you ignore his word and ignore his son the Lord Jesus Christ you will pay an eternal penalty. Think about how absolutely essential and important faith is all through the Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke, especially what you find is, geez, that theme of his relationship to these people as needy people who have a health problem, whatever it might be. It's always listen based on their faith member.

He said one occasion he couldn't do in America is in a particular place because of their unbelief that inhabited faith. They were entrusted and oftentimes you and miss out on God's best blessings because we won't trusted. We don't believe that he loves as we don't believe that he will provide a needs. We don't believe the heel healers. We don't believe that he cares that much for us but if you look at his ministry.

What was a continuous thing. It was been implicitly mistrusted faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, then that's what he did.

Then look at the things that he said look at look at the teachings of Jesus and you and I could just start for example in the book of John.

If you want to just infect you over and over and over again for what is sometimes in these 20 chapters he's dealing in situations and conversations and and and all the way through it.

It's believe believe believe me, here's an interesting fact when you read Matthew Mark Luke and John. The word faith is found numerous times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke the word faith is not even mentioned in the book of John. His word is believed maximizes where reports are different is no real difference except simply this. If you notice that that with John this action would lead. Does this mean that either either of these disciples are writers were different. No issues that either believe or faith come from the same root word one is just a different aspect of it. So here's what you find in the teachings of Jesus. For example, though he taught all through Matthew Mark Luke and John will want you to say is that John's emphasis is believed, for example, he says in John three naturally notice he said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that those who listen believe in him, he says, for example, if we believe in him that what will not be judged. He who believes shall never thirst. He who believes in him even if it dies, should live, and he says, for example, he said to his disciples, have faith in God.

This is an Mark and then for example, in John he debated in those 59 verses of eighth chapter after he dealt with this lady who'd been calling the doctor the rest of that chapter from verse 12 on he's dealing with his conversation. These Pharisees about trusting who he is. Believing all the way through encouraging his disciples to believe in him and he said, for example, the Peter one time.

He said Peter Satan's going to sift you, but I'm going to pray.

He said I'm gonna pray that your faith will not fail you in this time of testing and so all through his ministry. His healing ministry.

What was that they made was a theme in his healing was faith believe trust him and his teaching ministry all the way through the Gospels, what is he doing he's teaching them to believe him to trust him and over and over and over again. You see that now.

So if that's true in his ministry in his day. If it was so important that he magnified the subject of faith nothings changed because usually in our lifestyle and our lifetime in the culture in which we live in makes no difference what generation what culture faith is at the bottom.

Faith is at the top, faith permeates every aspect of our life. So either we will live on.

This lower level of faith.

All will graduate and will listen will grow in our faith and our understanding and will happen is your lifestyle change. Once you move from level I and you begin to operate on level II, and a level III. Your life's going to change your attitudes going to change or listen you. It's going to affect your health.

It's not that your attitude is can affect your relationships. It's going to affect your visions and effectiveness of your opportunities. It's going to affect your goals in life is going to affect what you able to produce in the fruits of your life. I know that what ever you looking for in life and those things that that you like the hope on which one. Pray for once you move all of level I and moving the level II and the member level III. Your life's going to change the Christian mice can take a whole new excitement. I hold a sense of anticipation and things that used to bother you and where you and fret over things used to pray and cry out to God, one asking and asking and asking and all of us have prayed and asked God to answer our prayers. We know that this is the will of God. Yet we ask him to do it. Thank you very much. We get off in 30 minutes later we doing so will I hope so will I think Solon not sure what got. I know that's what you said so we just give them all, reasons for doubting him one of these levels of faith. How do we distinguish distinguish between them. What does God say about. That's what I want us to consider primarily so I want to give you. Listen, I want to give you a level that normally give your word so you can remember in the first level is the first level in Scripture of faith is little faith little faith and I want to remember this little faith is restless faith. Little faith is wrestling little faith. For example, is saying I know we can, but I'm not sure he will little faith is struggling struggling because it's a whole new perspective on on the way we live and what you listen carefully.

The reason people stay on level I wrestling faith that is struggling, faith, laboring faith is because their focus is on the circumstances and their focus is on themselves, their resources what they think they can do and when you listen when your focus is on your circumstances and your focus is on yourself. Your focus is on your resources. You not going to be able to believe God for much is just not gonna happen because all of us have limited resources for those abilities and talents and skills of finances and so as long as you're asking and your belief system your own level I. It is the level of struggle, uncertainty, doubts, laboring, and what happens even a fun that what you were looking for in life is always seems to be a little bit beyond the servant yet realize this. Yes, ask yourself the question was my focus if I really believe that he's the God he says he is that he has all power that he loves me unconditionally that he's promised that his word I will never leave you nor forsake you.

If this is really and truly what he says and this is who he is and I'm probably one way, but if I'm still struggling more than likely part of the reasons that struggle is I don't know what God says part of the reason that struggle is listen, orient my thinking the way the world thinks.

From the way God thinks this is why listen you got to be in the word of God leading the world got his what he says. That is programming out thinking to think the way God thinks a funeral program your thinking to think the way God thinks your visit. You let the world program your thinking to think the way they think you know what they say you do it you can do it, you know, stand up, speak up. You can do it.

Make it work and what God says allow me lean on me.

Trust me, does that mean you're an active and passive know it doesn't, it means that your perspective is change that major focus is different little faith, listen little faith is always wrestling little faith is always struggle a little faith is always laboring. Level I is a laboring wrestling struggling faith and that is not very God wants us to be this go back to Matthew will stay in Matthew, for a few moments here listen to getting this six chapter, Jesus is talking to his son.

Heroes and their concerned about what they got aware that concerned about what they going to eat that concerned about all these things and so he says to them in verse 25 ligament.

For this reason I sent you. Do not be worried about your life as to what you eat, what you will drink know if your body is the what you put own is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.

So he goes on talks about birds and flowers and how God takes care of them and then his what he says.

He says I say to you, speaking of the leaders of the field in verse 29 did not even Solomon in all of his glory clothed himself like one of these.

But God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith in the words why you fretting over these things that God has promised back in the 17th chapter and let's look at this passage.

This man brings his son and the very real and the disciples couldn't cure and you come down to verse 19. Then the disciples came to Jesus problems that why could we not drive out this demonic spirit and he said to them, because of the littleness of your faith in his what you see in each of these passages somebody suffers as a result of little faith, listen this care. God doesn't want you living on the level of little faith, struggling, laboring wrestling over the will he. Maybe he will maybe he won't. That here is a perfect example of that and because if you look in the Scriptures that they're all kind of examples of how Jesus operated people saw the look of the will and Mark chapter 9 for a moment is a perfect example of how this happens. You recall that in this passage.

For example, verse 20 they brought the boy to him when he saw them immediately.

The spirit threw him into a convulsion and falling to the ground. He began rolling around and foaming at the mouth and he asked his father how long is this been happening to him and he said from childhood.

Now watch these next couple of verses is been happening all of his life. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.

Watch this but if you can is the father speaking but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us listen to Jesus response and Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible to him who believe this is not what Jesus said listener told my boys. If you can, all things are possible. And that's not what he said. He says if you can help us, have pity, risen Jesus, it what you mean. If you can, all things are possible to him who believes in immediately the boy's father crowded and said I do believe, help my unbelief. Perfect example of what kind of faith little faith and little faith is what kind of faith wrestling faith struggling faith, laboring faith, he said, Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief. Now all of us have been there at some point in time of the other and this is not to say that you will never hit a circumstance in which you will maybe feel that their situations and circumstances that try airplane, and God understands that, but he doesn't want us staying there.

We may hit one of those but he wants us to do what the move from level number one of struggling wrestling laboring faith.

The level number two and that is a perfect example of being there a meeting of the boys father crowded and said I do believe, help my unbelief.

What was he saying he was simply saying you know I'm believing it but I'm having a hard time adding them struggling in God honor that I watch this carefully so I want to say again that does not mean that God won't answer your prayer when you are in level number one struggling because he understands why you're there, not the truth is if you stay there. Then you don't expect God's best bet is not where that's not where he wants to he want you moving up. Which brings us listen to level number two. So think about this level number two we moved from little faith now to great faith.

Great faith is reaching faith great faith is not willing to stay on level I labor listen great faith is not willing to state an NYU labor and wrestle and you doubt that you fear in your full of anxiety. Great faith is willing to reach out its reaching faith, reaching faith values are what's reaching faith well this is faith maturing faith is beginning to mature now faith now is because it beginning to stand on the truth of God's word. Great faith is willing to believe what God said because that's what he said is needed to prove that's what God said. Then he believes that God will do it and this faith listen is focused on God, not on the circumstances. Great faith is focused on God, not the circumstances which means whenever you're in a situation or circumstance, whatever it might be your focus can be on the circumstance. How big it is, how long it's been how bad it is how deep it is. How wrong it is.

That's not the issue. The issues who is this god with whom on daily. This God is bigger than all my circumstances.

This God has the power to change any circumstance in the life no matter what it is.

Great faith is. Faith is what is beginning to reach out. This is a faith missing that's willing to wait and you see this. What gets us in trouble. We fret and we puma level number one. It doesn't happen the way we expected to give up and quit and watch this.

It's not a sin, the struggle with your faith is not a sin.

Here's the sin the citizen you give up say, well, you know, I've tried not brightened up and have him forget it, then you have sin because you express it, just puerile unbelief. Listen great faith is willing to persevere. Great faith is willing to hold own great faith says I'm not given up great faith. Listen, is willing to wait.

No matter what no matter how long great faith is not going just quit. It's trusting God. Listen with full expectancy and then he'll do what he says because he is who he says he is. Thank you for listening to part one of levels of faith in the life of the believer.

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