Celebrate Grace-Be Full of Faith
Luke 17:5
We are to celebrate grace by being full of faith. I want to have full faith in the promises of God, and all of His promises to me are due to grace. I don't deserve grace, much less the gift of faith. I want to have faith in future grace.
The first book that I ever read by John Piper was Future Grace. This book gave me a better understanding of initial faith in Jesus for salvation and for future faith in all the promises that God makes...they are Yes in Jesus. I really began seeking out to see God's promises to me as His child and desired to trust Him.
The Christian life is not just living knowing you are saved banking on an event to count on, it is living as a saved person. It is obeying God to the point of death, it is desiring God every day over desiring anything or anyone else. The Christian life is even more than that. However, it is not about being a consumer driven people that want to have church "done" in the way that makes them feel happy and cool. The faith filled christian life is not about how many books we read or how faithful we are in attending christian conferences, church, and coffee shops. The christian life is all about having faith in God and living in light of who He is, knowing that this will glorify Him and even satisfy us.
Piper says that some of God's greatest gifts can be His biggest enemies. Our faith in His gifts and His working in our lives, good things, can take the throne, replacing God Himself. Do I strive to know God and make Him known? Do I take care of my soul? Do I attend it and protect it? What things are in my life that are wanting my faith?
We can celebrate grace in the body of Christ by being a body that desires to place our faith in God for who He is and what He says He will do. We should champion those who are striving to trust in God's promises. We should lovingly redirect those who are trusting in methods, trends, stats, and men. God wants us to trust Him. The Holy Spirit desires to remind us of all truth and fill us with more and more faith. God give us faith!
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:30And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Matthew 8:26Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:21He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Mark 4:40
