What is Absolute Faith?

When we talk about having faith in God, what does that mean. What are the components of absolute faith? I am not a Bible scholar, I am just a person who has experienced the grace of God. So, in this post, I would like to talk about what I see as the parts of absolute faith.

In my Sept. 27th post, "Dorothy with the Sparkling Blue Eyes" in the testimonies section, I explain that my mentor Dorothy spoke to me about absolute faith. She said that oftentimes Christians pray, even pray earnestly, and then speak defeat or try to take things back into their own hands rather than waiting for God to take care of things in His perfect timing. This behavior negates their prayers.

So, from my perspective, one of the components of absolute faith is trusting God. Trusting, even when circumstances seem daunting, even when the solution is a long time in coming, even when we don't understand. Trusting that God has a plan for us that is for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He will see it come to pass, if we let Him, because His word does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.").

Another aspect of absolute faith is believing that God has the power to change circumstances. One example of this is in Luke 7:6-10. To set the stage, a centurion had requested that Jesus heal his slave. "Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."

The centurion understood chain of command; that when the person with the top authority gives an order, all those under him fulfill it. Who has more authority than God, Himself, who created all that is? No one. Therefore, we can trust and believe that when God is involved, He will get things done according to His purpose.

One thing that I have struggled with in my life is thinking that I know what is best for myself and others. This is contrary to absolute faith. Natalie Grant has a great song that addresses this issue. It is called "King of the World." Copy and paste the link below to listen and read the lyrics.

In essence, it talks about how we try to make God who we want Him to be rather than remembering that He is the King of the World and we are not.

Where are you on your journey toward having absolute faith? If you want to grow in that area, just ask the Lord and He will help you. Remember, Jesus said that He would ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit to be your comfort, your guide, your counselor, one who leads you in all the truth. Don't hesitate to ask. God wants a relationship with you and will always help you. You can trust and believe that.

What's the Attitude of Your Heart?

There are various Scriptures in the Bible about the attitude of your heart. In Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God". In 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him'. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." And in Acts 13:22, "After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, he will do everything I want him to do.'"

How do these Scriptures apply to us? In my opinion, it is important to reflect on the attitude of our hearts. What is our motivation at the root level? In the past, I tended to want to be controlling, so sometimes the attitude of my heart was to manipulate others for my purposes. I have come to learn that manipulation is not loving, consequently, it is not God's way. On occasion, during my marriage, if I was getting a little off track, my husband would ask me to reflect on the attitude of my heart. When I did, I would realize that I needed to adjust my thinking about something so that my feelings and behavior about it would change and then the attitude of my heart would be aligned to God's desire for the situation.

Another component to being a person after God's own heart is obedience. To be open and teachable to allow God to work within us. As we learn more about God and what He wants to do in our lives, we become more open to be obedient to do His will. For example, in Mark 12: 28-31, Jesus tells us what is most important. "...of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one answered Jesus is this...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these."

Then, lest we love according to our own understanding, in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8, we are given the specifics of what God's love looks like so that we can emulate that in our own lives. "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

In reflecting on the contents of this post, how is the attitude of your heart? I encourage all of us to think about the attitudes of our hearts and if anything needs to change, to ask the Lord to help. He will.

God's Got a Fix For You

I had a friend who had a saying that always brought a smile to my face every time I heard her say it. Her name was Edna Weaver. She was a pastor and she was filled with God's joy. She always wanted to encourage others by letting them know that no matter how long it takes, God has a plan for you that is for good and He will see it come to pass. Here's her quote:

"God will fix a fix for you, and if you don't get fixed by the fix He fixed for you, He will fix another fix to fix you."

As I am writing this, I am reminded that although God wants the best for us, it is up to us to cooperate with His plan for us. He wants to fulfill His plan for our lives, but since we have free will, He can only fulfill His plan when we allow Him to.

What does that mean? In my opinion, when we try to do things our way, according to our understanding, we can only go so far. Sometimes, with some people, a lot can be accomplished, but it is not God's best for us. When we seek Him and do our best to understand His ways and how He wants us to live, we will fare much better.

I used to think that I knew best for myself and everyone else in my life. What I have come to realize is that, since I don't know all circumstances that are involved with others and what my future might hold, I am much better off trusting that God is God and He knows best. Consequently, I have chosen to do my best to seek the Lord in all that I do and trust that He is working on me and those for whom I pray to bring about His best in each of our lives.

A couple of the benefits of doing things God's way are peace and a lack of stress. Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

So I would encourage all of us to seek the Lord, allow Him to "fix a fix" for us, and rest in His peace.