"I'm stepping out on Faith...Just stop it!"

I was having a conversation with a relative of mine, I do that from time to time, and as we were speaking the conversation went in another direction just out of the blue, because they do that when we talk. Suffice it to say the conversation now took on a whole other feel from one of casual banter between two relatives with equal abilities of sarcasm to one of total and abject hostility towards the new discussion we found ourselves engrossed in thanks to them.



Now, allow me to give a little background of my relative and I. We both have a deep and abiding love for the Body of Christ i.e. believers in the Lord Jesus. And, we share our experiences with one another on the day to day experiences we have with believers as well as with non-believers. The latter being the bulk of conversation and how the Lord allow us to be able to come into contact with someone during the course of the day and able to show forth some grace to them and thanking God how some doors were then opened to share the Gospel in some small way.



However, this days conversation turned toward believers and their ideas of what they call walking in faith or as my title says: stepping out on faith. I guess the best way to describe is with analogy:
Me: Hey where you going, I thought you said you didn't have any gas?

Them: I don't, but I'm stepping out on Faith that the Lord will get me there and back.

Me: *telephone rings* Hello...Yeah, I'll be there in a little while; just let me go by the gas station first.

I hope this makes clear what I'm trying to say about some of these "stepping out on faith" decisions. Once explained a lot of them are nothing more than the desires of the individual trying to spiritualize their decision which turns out to be nothing more than running out of gas unnecessarily.

So, let's all stop and ask ourselves the most important question we can ask ourselves before taking this leap into "stepping out on faith" which is: Is this what God is telling me to do or is this what I want to do? Everything we do shouldn't be lumped under the umbrella of faith when it comes to the decisions we choose to make because the scriptures tell us faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen; which is solely based off of what the Lord has spoken and not just on what we desire because all our desires may not be in line with God's Will for our lives.

Have you ever "stepped out on faith"? Have you ever "stepped out on faith" and it wasn't what God wanted?

"What's the impression we give?"

I was reading the scriptures and I had noticed something interesting when Peter had followed Jesus after they took him from the garden how someone said he (Peter) was with him because of the way he spoke, and again in the Book of Acts; Peter and John was taken notice of by the Sadducees by their boldness and how they had been with Jesus.

The same is said about the people one deals with every single day. We all have heard the sayings of 'birds of a feather' and 'lay down with dogs you'll come up with fleas'. These sayings are depicting the types of persons one has relationships with and the characterization are the means by which people identify you.

So, it should come as no surprise when you say one thing about how close you are with the Lord and everything about which people see and hear come from your mouth is how close you are with the other fella...you know the devil. This happens when you are merely a passer-by and not a resident of the Word of God.

Let's strive to become permanent residences of the Kingdom and take on the recognizable signs of being a part of that Kingdom.

"Driveway or Highway Bridge?"

Have you ever seen how some driveways made when they use concrete? And, have you seen the work that goes into making highway bridges? Well, I was contemplating on these two things and I have found that all concrete isn't the same.

Although, concrete may look the same to the untrained eye, I like the way that sounds because it gives the illusion that I have a trained eye when it comes to concrete; which I don't but I know a guy and my guy told me about the differences in laymen terms of course.

The driveway and the highway bridge both start out with the necessary forms to pour the concrete into in order to get the shape desired. The driveway, however for the most part when the concrete is poured that's all there is to it. The only thing left to do is the smoothing of the concrete to remove any rough spots or jagged peeks and points. The highway bridge starts with forms as well, however inside their forms are steel rods called re barb, and also there are steel beams, and as I stated earlier there is a different consistency to the concrete which allows it to dry more firm when the concrete is poured.

Once the driveway is complete you can drive on it, but there is a limit to how much weight should be on it. When something is placed on the driveway which exceeds the weight limit it will cause the driveway to crack and give way. However, the highway bridge is not only designed to handle a great amount of weight it also is built into the structure a type of spring mechanism; which when the weight is exerted on the bridge; the bridge tends to give a little allowing for the weight and then it springs back to it's original position.

The question today is; what type of believer are you? Are you the driveway saint which was built in an afternoon and now some of the cares of this life can park in your life with little difficulties, but when the full weight is applied you tend to crumble and break apart? You have the form of godliness but no power to hold you together. Are you the highway bridge saint, which has been meticulously worked out from the leveling of the surrounding areas to the forms which houses the spiritual re barb that holds steadfastly to the concrete/Rock. And, when the cares, situations and struggles come you are able to bear up under them and spring back into position once the pressures have past.

So, which have you been lately?

"Restoration By the Book"

There are countless types of restoration projects one could engage themselves, and they seem to vary from project to project as to difficulty.

I have watched some shows on television that show the restoration of cars, homes, motorcycles and a few others. The one thing I don't recall them showing is how they went about restoring the project by the book, but they have taken the viewers through the process step by step.

I have seen the results of some restoring projects first hand where they did a seemingly good job, but as you inspect the work more closely one tends to find slight inconsistencies that shouldn't be and had they gone strictly by the book these inconsistencies would not have occurred.

Sadly, this tends to be the case with some believers who are driven by some unseen force to "Fix" everyone they come into contact and seems to be showing some sign of fault. They begin working on persons in the fold and have on the surface helped the individual through whatever the issue or situation. However, as one begins to watch it becomes very apparent the person is no more better than they were in the beginning.

Galatians 6:1 tells us when we see an individual overtaken in a fault; then as we are led by the spirit, we are to restore the individual back to a proper place in God. And, furthermore we should consider the fact that we could very well be in the same position.

Helping bring someone back into a right standing with God is a mandate we all have as believers, but we are to do it...By the Book.