OWNING A FAITH THAT BREATHES

F. A. I. T. H.

Faith is to be a lavish, even outrageous, element of the human fabric.  By it one peers into those gigantic oceans of possibility and potential.  Our physical sight (whether actual eyes or fleshly-curbed imagination) cannot walk into the arena of the God-stuff and succeed without the armor of deeply believing.  Otherwise, life will always wither in fear.

We are just too weird.  No one likes fear; yet we often hide beneath its canopy for assumed protection.  This is a stifling and unconscious move which aborts the High-Powered thrust of what can be; what could become.

Mediocrity becomes the norm when belief is forced to sit down and be respectfully quiet.  Dreams die in this room.  Hopes fade.  Progress is lost....all in the name of not appearing absurd or out of step.

Francis Schaeffer spelled this out decades ago when he referenced the activity of the Spirit within us.  The fruits are normal; not to have them is not to have the Christian life which should be considered usual.  There are oceans of grace which wait. Orchard upon orchard waits, vineyard upon vineyard of fruit awaits.

There is only one reason why they do not flow out through the Christian's life, and that is that the instrumentality of faith is not being used.  This is to quench the Holy Spirit.

When we sin in this sense, we sin twice; we sin in the sin, and this is terrible, as it is against the Law and the character of God himself, our Father; but at the same time we sin by omission, because we have not raised the empty hands of faith for the gift that is there.

Faith that breathes takes work.  I feel badly for those of us who have a church; yet seem to have very little stirring of faith while either sitting or serving.  These have opted for hoping for the best in life without connecting to the dynamic of God; His Holy Spirit.

Owning a faith that criticizes others is to drive into one dead-end alley after another of nothing more than kindergartenish one-up-manship.  To possess a vision of courage and bravery to dare enter passageways of conviction regarding the strong productive arm of God is surely fresh air to the heart-lungs of believers.

May we dare to take the boat of faith out to the raging, even exhilarating, tempests of the sea rather than polishing it while always anchored in timidic safety along the shore.