My dear friend Joy at Grace Full Mama, a missionary in Indonesia, is experiencing constant power outages and is unable to post on today’s chapter. I’ll host Chapter 6 today in her stead, and look forward to her being able to join us soon!
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We are in Chapter 6: “Look and Live!” of Because He Loves Me this week. This chapter is the last chapter of Part 1. Part 1 has led us through a deep understanding of what we believe. Part 2 will take us through the practical application of how we can apply the Gospel to our daily lives. After many weeks of considering WHAT the Gospel is all about, WHO we really are in Christ, WHY we do not stand condemned…this week, we are looking at HOW it is that we can partake in all that has been discussed up to this point.
The how is through FAITH.
Consider these thoughts Elyse makes in this chapter:
“That’s what faith is–a looking away from yourself to Someone else.” (p. 98)
“Leaving nothing to our abilities, Jesus himself initiates our faith, and he’ll oversee it to its perfect completion. We’re to rely totally on him, the ‘one on whom (our) faith depends from beginning to end.” (p. 102)
“We don’t have to have a great faith; we’re just commanded to believe that God will do what he says he will do.” (p. 103)
“Even though the amount of faith we have cannot make us any more or less justified, the strength of our faith will grow in direct proportion to our exposure to God’s Word, particularly as it highlights God’s love for us in the gospel.” (p. 103)
I grew up thinking that faith was something I had to muster up, that depended on my own faithfulness and determination. I thought of faith as me pursuing God, rather than God pursuing me. That is not the Gospel; that is not Grace.
Instead, the picture of the father running toward his repentant son in the story of the Prodigal Son is true picture of the Gospel, the real image of Grace. That “while we’re still far away, his compassion overwhelms him and he runs toward us” He is not standing around, waiting for us to grovel and prove that we’re properly sorry. He doesn’t allow us to come to him as hired servants. No, if we’re going to return to him, then he is going to enjoy the pleasure of graciously blessing us with all the riches of full sonship.” (p. 100)
He is the Author and the Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He simply requires that we BELIEVE who he says he is…and look to HIM for ALL things. That is good news indeed!
Welcome to Week 6 of the Because He Loves Me Book Study! We’re so glad you’re here. Join us next week, for Chapter 7!
Now let’s talk about it…
1) Do you think of yourself as possessing faith, and yet, disbelieve who God claims to be? What ways do you struggle to believe him?
2) Has this chapter challenged you to define faith differently than you may have believed previously?
3) What struck you the most about this chapter?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can do so in two ways…
*Leave a comment below, and feel free to discuss with others there!
*Write a blog post either answering these questions or with your own reactions to the chapter, and link up your blog post below! (Remember to add the title and url for the specific post and not your blog url and name. Thanks!)
And please grab this button if you are joining us so that others can find us here!
(It’s not too late to read along. If you haven’t purchased a copy of the book, you can do so here.)
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Thank you for your insights! It is SO true that we don’t have to have “great faith” and that we must just believe who God says He is that He does what He says He will! You hear the phrase that someone “can’t forgive themselves”…the important thing isn’t “self forgiveness”, but instead agreeing with God that He offers forgiveness in Christ. The object of our faith is the GREAT ONE. Praise the Lord that it is all about Him! He is SO good to us!
I also blogged at mylifeasrobinswife.com
Blessings!
“…agreeing with God that He offers forgiveness in Christ.” Exactly! I am so blessed to hear and read your thoughts, Diane. Thanks so much!
Thanks so much for the words to the song in the post on your blog, Diane! I had not heard the song before so I youtube’d it (is that a new word?) – how beautiful, and just what I needed this morning as the anxiety is starting to well up inside of me before I go off to teach. We do have to keep looking toward God and Christ, which takes the focus off of us and puts it where it should be. It is tempting to want my students to like me, to laugh at my jokes, to be inspired by my words. But to what end? If I am bringing glory to God in the ways that I present material and the ways that I respond to students, THAT is what matters. And the fruits of the spirit … including joy and PEACE will be mine. I can taste it!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. They are a blessing to me this morning.
You are very welcome Kendra! I am so glad that the Lord used them in your life like He did in mine
. Bringing Glory to God is where it is at for sure! May we both remember that in the midst of our days! Blessings to you!
What an amazing idea! Of course like many folks, I grew up thinking that if only my faith were strong enough… what? I don’t know what, but I knew I was lacking, that I wasn’t good enough, that my faith wasn’t strong enough. I don’t think I believed that the Almighty was a vengeful and punishing God, but He didn’t have to be – with Satan’s help, I punished myself enough! I see now that in many ways, that is its own kind of self-centeredness. It is certainly not Christ-centered.
How wonderful to know that the faith I have is enough. And if I feel lacking, I can pray for that too! I continue to be blown away by these concepts that should be Christianity 101 but somehow I never fully grasped them. The whole point of having faith and grace is that I’m not in it alone.
I used to wish I had the faith and strength of David and other Biblical figures. I guess it never really dawned on me how royally they goofed too – how very human of them! Funny how you can know something and not know it at the same time. Regardless, I know it now and I have been spending each day marveling at these amazing truths!
Thanks so much, Ruth & Joy, for introducing me to this book. It seems to be just the right message at just the right time.
I relate to so mcuh of what you describe here, Kendra. Feeling not strong enough, not faithful…and being self-centered, not Christ-centered. So often we gloss over these truths that are foundational to our faith, but I so appreciate that Elyse reminds us that THESE truths are the truths that if we don’t understand rightly, can affect everything about how we see the Gospel active in our daily lives! Thanks for taking the time to share these thoughts, Kendra!
I love what you wrote, Kendra! You summed up what I was thinking much better than my rambling.
I loved all the quotes that you wrote on your post, Ruth; I too underlined each one. The simple truth of this chapter, faith is believing God will do what he said he will do, is incredible. I have felt I have lacked faith so many times and that is why things have/haven’t happened, my prayer “didn’t” get answered, or why certain situations haven’t changed. This chapter made me realize that faith is not about me but rather about Him. It seems so logical now. My focus hasn’t been on Christ. It hasn’t been on what God has done or promises made by him… I know some promises but they were “out there” rather than a daily thing.
My definition of faith has to change at this point. When I think of faith, it has been something I have to do…my belief, my effort, or what I am doing. I never thought about faith as believing God. Certainly, I did that for my salvation, but never as a moment by moment acceptance in the truth.
I think what struck me the most in this chapter was when Elyse said to look away from the book to something else and then back to the book (pages 97 and 99). I honestly thought, could it be that simple? I just looked away? That’s all He wants? All He requires is for me to focus on Him. That takes me back to all the previous pages of this book which have made me see I am still doing everything in MY strength… well, trying to do it! I have always admired people that seemed to handle anything that was sent there way and it is really believing God is too good to send harm to any one of us, although a situation may look horrible. This whole chapter just made me see God as more real, more loving, and more merciful than I did before.
This is great, Deb! How many times do we trust and have faith in God, and then… before we have allowed Him to complete the job … comes the little “but…” Or “I wish…” so-and-so could come into the faith. Or “too bad…” such-and-such isn’t possible. Wow, what a lack of faith!
I keep catching myself having strong faith and then hedging around it at the end. What do they say?: Anytime we say “but” it negates everything we said prior to that. “I love you completely, BUT…” Sadly, I do that with God all the time and don’t even realize it.
“I know you will deliver me from this adversity – BUT if you can’t (yikes!!)…” That feels very different to me than allowing God’s will to take place. Absolutely, our deliverance may not look the way we think about it looking, but God WILL deliver us if we ask him – and if we have faith!
Wow. So much to ponder. So much grace!
By the way, I am really enjoying the fellowship with all of you over this book. What a true blessing for people from all over the world to be able to be united in fellowship and studying God’s word. I am blessed many times over by your words.
I was so hesitant to start writing on these posts: I was in such a negative place! I am amazed at the work God is doing in my heart. I have caught myself saying something like, “but” or “I am” … and then I stop, I honestly never realized how much I do it. My thoughts were working against me so much by not focusing on the gospel! I can’t get over the need for it on a daily basis now; this book hasn’t changed the fact I still sin, but the way I react to it has changed and that has been freeing…allowing God to have credit for what He has already done. It has been such a blessing to me to be able to hear people share the truths of God’s word. I am so grateful for this opportunity.
Isn’t it wonderful that God works on us where we are! The more we LOOK toward Him, the more easily we see his help and grace. Sounds like a “duh” statement, but sometimes I have to remind myself to look up, to Him. So glad to hear God is working in you in such amazing ways, Deb! Hang in there.
Yes, Kendra, it sure seems like it should be SO simple, but that seems to be what we miss. Thanks for your comments; they were very encouraging!
I’m so blessed to read through these comments and the interactions you all are having. It is really awesome to see how the Lord is molding each one of us. Thanks so much for all your thoughts, Deb and Kendra. Hope you ladies are having a blessed weekend!
You’re welcome. Thank you for hosting this book study and leaving your comments.