Connecting our Dependency with our Faith

Over the last few days I have been focused on dependency…on God. We are continuing our focus on encouraging words regarding connecting our dependency with our faith. Let’s get started. It’s a connection you cannot live without.

Let me start with a question today: 

So what decisions do you make on your own? I always like to make personal and business application when I am studying God’s word, but really there is no separation. It’s all a part of our every-day-walkin’-around-kind-of-life. 

Personally, do you decide who you are going to marry, where you are going to go and when, what you are going to buy (car, house, furniture, clothes)? 

Or what about business, do you decide what you are going to do (buying a business, or what job to take, or what investments to make, or who to hire or promote)? 

What role does God play in all of this? Does it depend on the depth of the decision being made, or are there other factors? It’s about connecting our dependency on these things with our Faith.

The “HIGH-way” of Faith – not just a side rode.

So let me present this opportunity to chase a side trail (really it’s a major highway).  Your faith!  If we could measure faith, where is your faith?  If “world overcoming” faith is in Cape Horn of South America, where are you?  Are you stuck in your country or state, or are you actually on your way? Maybe you’ve made progress and are now traveling through other countries, maybe you are in Central America? Maybe you are even in the northern part of South America?  Or are you in Cape Horn?   I believe our level of faith shows our level of dependence on God.

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

When I graduated from Indiana State University (I like to refer to ISU as Larry Bird University), I had this verse reference on my mortar board. That’s how I felt when graduating from college – I couldn’t SEE where I was going, so I had to walk by FAITH. So let me ask you this question, “How are you walking?”  And how well are you walking? How well you are walking is determined by your faith.

What Word or Phrase Describes Your Faith?

If you could only use one word to describe your faith, what would it be?  I’m not an expert, but I know in ‘working out’ that there are many different levels people are in physically.  It’s in regards to how long they’ve been working out, and how long they work out when working out, as well as their food intake. 

Are You Developing Your Spiritual Body?

I guarantee you the reason people have what is considered ‘competition’ bodies is because they’ve been working out for quite a while and when they go, they are very strategic and decisive about what they do and how they do it for at least an hour and usually more.  And often it’s several times a day. AND they are very specific about their food intake (and they are all natural).  They have “great” physical bodies and stamina.  I would have to say that I have a “wavering” physical body and stamina – no explanation needed as to why – I don’t put in the work they do. 

How Would You Describe Your Faith?

Did you know that God mentions various kinds of faith?  Levels of faith mentioned in the bible vary from great, little, strong, weak, wavering, growing, sincere, world-overcoming (I like this one), genuine, patient, golden, mountain moving, child-like, none, and much more. And for each level mentioned in the bible, that must mean there is an opposite of each. I would say there is a parallel between working our bodies out and our fitness level, and how we develop spiritually.

We All Start With a Measure of Faith

In Romans 12:3 Paul tells us that God gives to each of us a “measure of faith” and I believe this is our starting point.  From here it’s up to you to develop your faith.  Determine your starting point. Is it:

• no faith,
• weak faith,
• wavering faith,
• insincere faith,
• fake faith,
• impatient faith,
• ant-hill moving faith (as opposed to mountain moving faith) 

Then praise God you know where you are, and now you can start developing it.  Ally (like a second daughter to us) is a Fitness and Competition Coach/Trainer. She analyzed where I was (not a pretty picture) to determine a program for me to start from in order to develop physically/health-wise.  You can do the same spiritually.  It’s actually pretty simple, like working out, with a program to follow.  Discipline/action is the hard part.  I will spell it out in more details to follow.

Challenge for today – On a scale of 1-10, pick a point that you feel correlates with your faith level – 1 is no faith and 10 is world-overcoming faith (Cape Horn Faith).  I advise that you don’t pick 10 – that gives you no room to develop and improve and you would have to ask for forgiveness for lying.  😊  Now that you have a number in mind, what will it take to make it one or two numbers higher.  Now just like with a business owner would do, fill out a Critical Path plan to follow, and begin to make your way to great and world-overcoming faith!  Be a great person of faith!  So be it.

Note: Make a comment below on something you got from today’s post and I will send you a free overview of how to develop a Critical Path in your life.