Faith-based, Part Two
A man of God is Christ centered, faith-based and grace driven. Faith must have an object of faith. Our faith is only in Him. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Have you ever wondered about the meaning of the Word of God? Jesus Christ is the true meaning of the Word. Life itself has no meaning apart from Jesus Christ. He is the object of faith… He is the word of God made flesh. In him we live and move and have our being. To approach God, we must present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and wholly acceptable unto Him who is our reasonable act of worship. And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. If any man is in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away. All things are become new. Transformation means to be changed completely. It means to be totally unlike we were before…radically different today from what we were yesterday. We’re continually being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ by staying in close proximity with our Lord. In light of the gospel, the good news of our Lord, all other things will come to naught. A man of God who is on target presses toward the mark of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Transformation, mission, and an intimate relationship is what Jesus Christ wants for his disciples. If we’re on mission, he will transform us if we intentionally walk in close proximity with him. Our mission is to lift him up and to glorify our Father in heaven. As we walk in fellowship with him, he will lift up our lives and bless us exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. Our blessing is in seeking the Blessor. When we we walk in the light as he is in the light, the love of God will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
To acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, our lives must be deliberate, intentional and purposeful. Our mission is to decrease that he may increase. As Paul said, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” A man of faith is not afraid of losing, for he has already given his life on the altar of service to his Lord. What is it that you value most? Are you willing to lay your children on the altar for God so that he can care of them? Faith based means, “all my trophies at last I lay down.” To be a man of faith means to “let go and let God.” God doesn’t ask for us to understand. He only asks for obedience to his Word with a loving and a willing heart. Wisdom and understanding will come with the doing of the Word. A man of Faith who makes faith based and not fear based decisions will receive God’s deliverance. Faith means to take believing action according the the Word of God.
God has given us certain “unalienable” rights as his children and as citizens of heaven according to his Word. The first is that “Jesus is Lord.” Our trust is in the Word of God and not in the word of man. We’re called to serve “at the pleasure of our Lord.” When we make his word our word, then his good pleasure is our good pleasure. When our will is his will, then it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. Our identity is not in our own accomplishments… Our identity is only in him.
Therefore, keep your eyes on the prize. As the apostle Paul said, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses (of the faith of the believers who have gone before,) let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Therefore, I press toward the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. When we trust him with the burden we’re carrying, he will lift us up…for he said, “Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael