Topical Bible Study 9/18-9/25/09

[HeChangedMyName]

Relationship with God
Building authentic faith in God

• What is authentic faith? How does God define it?
• Find examples in the Bible of people exercising faith.
• What are some ways that you can practice being faithful to God

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."--Heb 11:1

In this definition given by the Bible, faith is referred to as a "substance of things". Merriam Webster defines substance as "essential nature"; " ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change"; "physical material from which something is made or which has discrete existence".

So is faith tangible? Can you make something out of your faith? Can you create change out of your faith?

"for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."--Matthew 17:20b

Apparently faith can move mountains. Jesus wouldn't have said it if it were not true. But how? How can faith move a mountain? Is our faith power broken or out of commission?

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."--James 1:5-6

Being faithful can't be half-hearted and still be effective. True authentic faith must be unwavering. Authentic faith requires fearlessness and it requires trust in God to do what he said he would do according to His word.

"And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."--Matthew 8:26

While in the ship, the disciples were afraid of what the storm would do to them, not having the faith and trust that Jesus would keep them during the storm even if he was asleep. Wouldnt the all knowing son of God still be able to save their lives even in his sleep?

"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased."--Matthew 14:30-32

By this point Jesus had been preparing his disciples and teaching them and showing them the power that they had within themselves. Even with Jesus's teaching, some still didn't have the type of crazy faith that defies even gravity and physics. Fear stops faith. Where fear exists, faith can't florish and where Faith exists, fear will die.

Practicing faith may come differently from one person to the next. For some people it takes trial and error. For others it takes a tragic event. For some others it takes God performing a miracle for someone to have faith in him. How can we practice being faithful? What can we do in our daily lives to build our faith and stamp out fear?

 

[HeChangedMyName]

Bump Bump Bump

 

[empressaja]

Please forgive me for sounding daft , but what are we to do? Are we to just discuss or do we add scripture as you did?

Thanks

 

[HeChangedMyName]

We can add, discuss, either or both. lol

 

[topsyturvy86]

Ok, I like talking about faith because I always learn something new.

I agree with everything you've written. In addition, the way I understand authentic faith is faith and trust in who God IS ... in everything that He is rather than what God does. I don't know if that makes sense but i'll try to explain.

I used to wonder about having faith in God about specific things like a particular job and I had a problem with it. My problem was that what if it wasn't the will of God for me. I'll have faith and then be dissappointed because God's will always superseeds. Even Jesus prayed for God's will to be done when He wanted something specific - Luke 22: 41 - 42 "and He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”"

I think Authentic faith also includes having faith in the will of God. The righteous judgement and perfect timing of God. That he is a good God and can only do good things.That He is a merciful God and is our healer, I can go on and on. Basically, that He is everything that He says He is and will do everything that He says He will do ... in His time.

I'm not saying I don't believe in praying for specifics, I do. I believe the Father already knows what we want before we even ask but Jesus taught us to ask and we shall receive. Phillipians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I have no questions though about praying for other kind of specifics like healing, restoration, breakthrough because we know it is the will of God in His word. He IS our healer, our provider, He came so we might have life and life more abundantly.So having faith in these kind of specifics is still faith in who God is and that He would do what He said He would do.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

Ok, I like talking about faith because I always learn something new.

I agree with everything you've written. In addition, the way I understand authentic faith is faith and trust in who God IS ... in everything that He is rather than what God does. I don't know if that makes sense but i'll try to explain.

I used to wonder about having faith in God about specific things like a particular job and I had a problem with it. My problem was that what if it wasn't the will of God for me. I'll have faith and then be dissappointed because God's will always superseeds. Even Jesus prayed for God's will to be done when He wanted something specific - Luke 22: 41 - 42 "and He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”"

I think Authentic faith also includes having faith in the will of God. The righteous judgement and perfect timing of God. That he is a good God and can only do good things.That He is a merciful God and is our healer, I can go on and on. Basically, that He is everything that He says He is and will do everything that He says He will do ... in His time.

I'm not saying I don't believe in praying for specifics, I do. I believe the Father already knows what we want before we even ask but Jesus taught us to ask and we shall receive. Phillipians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I have no questions though about praying for other kind of specifics like healing, restoration, breakthrough because we know it is the will of God in His word. He IS our healer, our provider, He came so we might have life and life more abundantly.So having faith in these kind of specifics is still faith in who God is and that He would do what He said He would do.

ITA with the bold. Faith isn't about us, it's about believing in the truth of God.

 

[Renovating]

"How can we practice being faithful? What can we do in our daily lives to build our faith and stamp out fear? "

We can practice being faithful by trusting in God daily for everything, no matter how big or small. For me personally this can be anything like not worrying about missing days from work when my son is sick and trusting God to provide for us regardless of what happens. Trusting God to be a shield over our physical bodies and our minds. Refraining from useless worrying is a good way to practice being faithful.

" Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." Proverbs 30:5

"The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. The Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him." Psalm 37:39-40



To stamp out fear and build our faith, we should reflect on the blessings and times that we were delivered in the past. I would always hear older people say that God is the same today as He was yesterday and what He did back then, He WILL do it again. Before I thought it was just a cliche, but now I know it to be true for myself. I am still human and feel afraid at times, but when I look back over MY life, I can see the glory of God at work in my life. I think it's so easy for us to have the "that was then and this is now" mentality, but instead having that what-have-you-done-for-me lately attitude towards God, take some time to rejoice in past deliverances. Ask yourself, if God had not delivered you/ your family from ____________, where would you be?
Never let the gratefulness end. Let the spirit of gratefulness reside in your heart indefinitely. (even if it's been years since your deliverance)

To build our faith, I think we should constantly meditate on God's word and position ourselves to hear the word as much as possible, since faith comes through hearing the word.

 

[PinkPebbles]

"
To build our faith, I think we should constantly meditate on God's word and position ourselves to hear the word as much as possible, since faith comes through hearing the word.

I agree with this statement 100%.

I believe that we have to guard our eye sight, ears, and heart because the issues of life flow through these avenues.

When I feel discourage I have to ask myself what did I see, watch, or hear that made me feel discouraged? What did I allow in my spirit to throw me off course?

However, when the word of God constantly flows through these avenues (eye sight, ears, heart, etc) it strengthens our faith in the Lord. And it quickens us to handle challenges according to the word of God.

I believe in order to have faith in God; you have to get to know God. And we get to know God through His word.