"your faith"

(1Corinthians 2:5) “That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Although this is a quote from Paul I want us to consider Peter’s commitment to Christ in the background and he is often the first to act when we study the gospels. He was a man of action with his faith in Christ. We see his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and the finished work of Calvary; which in turn feed his faith in God and when we apply a similar type of reasoning it will feed our faith in God. Although faith is a gift from God it is still often accredited to the individual as “your faith”; “that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1Corinthians 2:5) - Any gift starts out as a gift form the individual who supplies it; it is not earned or worked for. But once it is in someone’s possession they are now the rightful owner, it is theirs. The outcome of an individual’s faith results in the saving of their souls when executed correctly. But we must never forget that we in ourselves had nothing to do with our salvation, for it is a gift from God; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) – Everything about our salvation hinges upon that fact, it defines us. However we must never neglect our responsibility in applying ourselves to the “good works” that have been created in Jesus Christ for us to walk in. We need to find them out and then commit. The question than needs to be uncovered is how do we fittingly benefit from the gift of faith which God has imparted in some measure to every believer? We simply need to obey His voice and I have just been reminded about Peter and his fishing expedition, bless the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen!

“After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” (John 21:1-7)   

The Lord Jesus often makes his entry on the back of faith, it is a marvellous revelation; in other words He is most glorified when we as Christians are in our deepest need and He come to our rescue with a display of grandeur. Here we see that they simple obey His commandment "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." When applying human reasoning to this request it could be viewed as ridiculous, but faith in Christ drove them to obey Him, which resulted in an act of mercy that left absolutely no doubt that He alone had come to their aid. I see no boast in their fishing ability even though they were skilled fishermen but the abundance supply was all the Lords, He knew were their nets needed to be. God is sovereign and all knowing, we are not!  

It is a terrible thing for a man to become dependent upon others when it could be avoided, it destroys his self-esteem. Needless to say pride is never welcome in the Christians survival; it will always be resisted by God. However we have a responsibility to work in order to eat, this has been the sentenced past down as a consequence of sin from the beginning. The question I need answered with a clearer understanding is how I reconcile the need to work as a man and my application of faith in this area of my life. How do I correctly marry the two?

I desperately need to understand the difference between trusting God for my provision and my responsibility as a man to work in order to provide. The Lord Jesus taught his followers who seemed to be going through rough times a very valuable lesson; “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34) – I was once a gentile (my old mans nature) and I am instructed to rather stop thinking with that mind and to put on the mind of Christ with an emphasis place on “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”. Therefore is it enough just to live by faith in my application to that commitment and wait for God to lead the way regarding work coming across my path or is there still a need for me to strive for employment? This is my dilemma!

Obviously an easy blanket conclusion can be arrived at when viewing the topic with the mind of Christ; “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8)   

I am convinced about some truths that we receive from the Bibles teachings, which need to be worked into the equation in order to find the correct solution. The love of money is the root of all evil and therefore it should have very little bearing in what motivates us; it is obvious that we mustn’t be driven to store up treasures in this life, but we must work in order to eat. We must also be content with what we have and not covet another mans goods. I am also instructed to apply faith into the provision that will be mine when I trust and obey my God. But when I see a potential lack of the necessities required for daily survival the lines get blurred and this is where I need to find grace to be strengthened. Just like the disciples toiled all night to be blessed with a net of fish, I too have toiled in differing areas of my life to be blessed and have struggled, but I realise that my faith in God my Father is all I need to be victorious. And yet this is the trial that I now face. Please help me understand the difference between my needs and my wants for I am at a loss in this area of my life, I need your help, I cry out unto you. Opened my ears so that I may obey the commands of your voice, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone