Loving & Active Faith

Moving in faith. It’s something we all want to say that we do right? In all honesty, my faith was challenged yesterday morning. 

I got back home from my morning outing and from the moment I walked through the door you could tell there was something in the atmosphere. It might have been smoke from the fire or the stove. Either way, I liked it, and I pulled out my camera and started filming. I filmed and messed around for a while until my teammate walked in and started speaking and reading from the New Testament. What he said was something that in one way or another, I’ve heard before, but like I said it challenged me this particular morning. He then began to speak his mind; I will paraphrase his words. 

“If we as people who were once evil give good gifts to each other as parents to children, then let’s get it together, step out in faith to bring kingdom, and eagerly ask / desire for the gifts of the spirit from the Father himself.” He spoke in reference to the scriptures listed at the bottom. 

After he finished we were excited and ready for the day and we set out for the Lord to establish our steps. We helped our ministry contact with the church that he runs and then we were surprised when he announced that we would be playing a football match that day with the kids. I changed my clothes and also my shoes, and ran down to the football field. The composition of this field was an elite combo of grass and mud – I fell in it, just so you know. Only a quarter into the match, a younger boy took a very hard fall after a very hard collision with another boy slightly larger than he. In all honesty I thought he was faking at first (because everybody knows that men turn into little babies when it comes to soccer injuries) but when he didn’t join back into the match we knew something was wrong. He sat on the bench and my squad mate motioned for our ministry contact.  “We’re going to pray for him to be healed.” As the game proceeded in the background, my squad mate and our ministry contact prayed over the boy’s leg. 

He had doubts. He didn’t even try to get up, and didn’t move an inch from the bench. He watched the game for maybe about five minutes before he decided to get up again, but the moment he moved to walk the instant shock on his face was more than apparent. As soon as his leg stepped onto the ground he looked right at my squamate like a deer in headlights. His eyes were wide, and within a split second he was smiling and jumping around again. My squad mate just looked the boy in the eyes and pointed up towards the sky. “Jesus Christ,” he said. All Jesus. 

I will say it for the third time: THIS CHALLENGED ME! 

How many mornings do I wake up and ask of the Lord to give me the gift of healing. How many times do I look someone in the eyes and say, “Be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ”? For lack of better words, this really forced me to step it up, and I wanted to challenge all of you in the same way. This is how: 

Are we willing to ask the father in faith every day for the best of gifts? The gifts and authority of the Spirit, and not the things we can give to ourselves and by our own power. For the life altering and earth shaking intervention of the Lord himself, rather than simply praying for tiring circumstances to cease. We are told that we will face many hardships in this life because of the gospel, yet are we not called to be pure in heart (motives for relationship with the Father included)? I have a challenge for the church back home: Pray bigger, then walk out boldly and humbly, and let us not take the name of the Lord in vain asking for our own flesh’s subconscious will to be done. 

Pray as the apostles and disciples, even as Jesus himself did. How much authority and how much freedom are you walking in as an adopted son or daughter in the kingdom God? Faith without works is dead, so let us not fall into cultural norms of idolatry of money and pleasure and success. Let us seek first His kingdom, and seek first His righteousness. We are His; let us heal and cast out the enemy in his name. Above all, let us live to bring nothing short of His glory and kingdom here on earth and be willing to count the cost of wearing and bearing a cross around our necks. To count the true cost of being a disciple, and to count the cost of true love and true loving. 

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Matthew 7:7-12 

Mark 11:24 

Pvb 8:17 

Luke 11:11, 6:31 

Matthew 21:18-22 

Genesis 6:5 

1 Corinthians 13:2-3