Working Your Faith Muscle

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I'll never forget walking into the gym at Porter-Gaud School at the insisting of Coach Utsey. He told us us if we wanted to be great football players, we had to be strong. That would come with lifting weights. So, this 120 pound weakling headed for the gym. When I go there, I saw for the first time a machine that I would have a love/hate relationship with...the universal weight machine. All I had ever seen was free weights, but this was much more technologically advanced, for the 70's that is. Not only was it a new machine, it was also going to be a new way of lifting weights, negative repititions.

Here's how "negatives" (as it came to be known) worked. You lifted the maximum weight that you could on the machine. The coach saw what that was, he made a simple calculation and told you where to start lifting. Here's what was different. Once you lifted all the repititions you could at the weight he had determined for you, your spotter would then lift the weight back up with your help, and you would slowly allow it to come down. Believe me, you had to let it come down. Now you did that until you could no longer hold it up for any length of time. Once you were able to pass 10 repititions, you moved up 10 pounds and the process began all over. I went from barely being able to lift 100 pounds to lifting over 200 pounds from my freshman to my sophomore year. That not only doubled what I could lift, but it was also considerably more than I weighed.

Here's what was happening. When my muscle burned and was forced to go beyond what it was able, it strengthened my muscles. So, when I tried to lift the same amount of weight the next time, it became and easier. When the muscles built back, they were stronger and bigger and were soon ready for heavier lifting. There is very little difference when it comes to our faith.

To most of you reading this, you consider faith what I would define as "saving faith," but our faith cannot remain the same as the moment we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. There is so much more. So, my challenge is that you will dive into "active faith." This is the kind of faith that Jesus told us that we could move mountains is we would only have faith as small as a mustard seed.

So, as I see it it, there are 2 requirements to the kind of faith Jesus desperately wants us to have:

1) Have faith

2) Use Faith

As followers of Christ, we "have faith" when we take God at His word and allowing God to be God in any and every circumstance (John Phillips, Exploring Romans, p. 85). We need go no farther than Abraham in the book of Genesis and explained in detail in Romans 4. Abraham went where God told him to go and believed God when he told him he would have a child to carry on his line in order to bless every nation:

For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3 HCSB; See also Genesis 15:6)

It was his belief that God was pleased with. As we should know, without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrew 11:6). It was his faith that brought about the beginnings of a movement that would change the face of the world, not just the middle east. That is mustard seed faith. God used the faith given to Abraham and grew that faith into the huge mustard tree we have before us today as those who follow of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

How do we know that Abraham had faith? He used it. Think about it, he left his home. He went to a foreign land. He waited on God to fulfill His promise. Abraham exercised the faith given to him. You got to read this:

He did not waver in unbelief at God's promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. (Romans 4:20, 21 HCSB)

He was fully convinced. how did that happen? Through exercise...of his faith. It began many years before when God told him to leave and go and he did. It starts small (a mustard seed) and becomes big (a mustard tree). That's how faith works.

If you have never exercised faith, today is a great day to begin. Start believing and asking for something small, watch God work, and receive your answer. Repeat the cycle, only make it bigger this time. Soon, you will see God begin to do things that you thought was reserved for the greatest of biblical characters. Remember, "For every one of God's promises is "Yes" in Him. Therefore, the "Amen" is also spoken through Him by us for God's glory." (2 Corinthians 1:20 HCSB). Grab a hold of some of that "yes" in your life and see what God can do. As you excercise, you will see growth and strengthening. It can be the best thing you have ever experienced in your walk with Christ. Just exercise. That is the CORE of strengthening your faith.

Exercising daily,

Pastor Trey Rhodes

See you Sunday at Oceanside Church. More on how our FAITH can change our lives like we never believed possible!

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