It’s a Matter of Faith

A MEASURE OF FAITH
Chapter One

Have you ever considered just what faith is and how it works? God’s word defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The Strong’s Concordance defines faith as truth, to agree, assure, believe, have confidence in, obey, trust, yield, to rely by inward certainty and constancy in such profession, by extension, the system of religious truth itself. That’s a mouth full but it tells us that faith is trust in something without a doubt that it’s true.
God’s Word says in Romans 12:3 (KJV) “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”. He gives everyone a measure of faith. That’s men and women alike; we’re all the same to God. That faith is there from birth. It’s up to us how we choose to use it. It’s what we do with our faith that counts. We can use faith, or we can lose it. I’ve put faith in four different categories to help you see what I’m talking about.

1. Those that ignore faith
Some people choose to ignore faith. These people are usually convinced that what ever happens, happens and there is nothing they can do about it. They may say things like: “Everything bad happens to me.” “It’s just my lot in life.” “I’ll never amount to anything.” “My mother died of cancer so I’ll probably die with it, too.” Do you know someone like that? I like to call them “the nay sayers.” They may ask, “Where is this person you call God? He’s never helped me when I needed help. Never mind that I need help all the time because nothing good ever happens to me. Nothing good ever will happen because they don’t have any faith to believe that it will happen to them. This kind of negativity can kill the little faith that you may have.
A woman I know. I’ll call her Gloria, seems to always make negative statements about everything. If it’s raining or snowing, she’ll say, “I can’t go out today because I might slip and fall.” When she sees someone, she’ll ask, “Did you have a bad day?” Or she’ll say, “I’ve got a cold. I hope it doesn’t turn into pneumonia.” Do you see how damaging these statements can be? God’s Word states in Proverbs 18:20-21 (KJV), “A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” This means that what you speak with your mouth is what you reap the benefit of. If you speak good things, you’ll reap good things. If you speak bad things, you will reap bad things because you speak what you believe to be true. If you tell yourself long enough that you can’t do anything, you start to believe it in your heart. You really believe you can’t, so why even try?

2. Emergency faith
Some people only call on God when things happen that are out of their control. They like to tell people that they’ve gotten along alright without God’s help so far, so there’s no need to call on Him. Isn’t it funny how people who seem to be so in control of their life and don’t think they need anyone, are so quick to say, “God, help me,” when a situation suddenly gets totally out of their control? I’ve heard people who claim not to need God until their car suddenly veers out of control and their life flashes before their eyes. Suddenly they’re screaming, “O, God, help me!”
Emergency faith gets pulled out when it’s convenient. Every other day of that person’s life, they don’t need God. At least they don’t think they do. Then the doctor tells them they have a tumor and will have to have chemotherapy. Suddenly they’re saying, “God, why did you do this to me?” Or, “God I know I haven’t paid much attention to you, but can you see your way clear to fix this?” Then they add, “If you want to.” These people don’t stay plugged into God. It’s like trying to turn on a light when you haven’t plugged it in yet.
Revelation 3: 15 -16 (KJV) tells us, “I know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor cold: I would rather thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” You need to decide whether or not you believe in Him. Faith is not just a part time thing.