Building Muscles of ....

 ... Faith

Today’s Text: 1 Kings 18:22-36

 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by…

Words of Ministry

"I wish I had great faith." These are words that almost every Christian has said at one time or another. But faith is like a muscle, which must be exercised in order to become strong; just wishing cannot make it happen.

Christians are to believe God, not only for salvation but for everything. Rather than a spiritual "plateau," faith is actually a process that involves increasing degrees of trust throughout life. Little faith hopes that God will do what He says; strong faith knows that He will; and great faith believes that He has already done it.

Elijah was a man of great faith. He saw increased challenges as opportunities for God to do His work—and the prophet believed Him for the supernatural. So can you. The Lord may not do every miraculous thing you ask of Him, but He does some extraordinary work in and through each person who is obedient and willing to trust in Him.

You may be thinking, I am not good enough for the Father to use me. The Scriptures are filled with examples of weak and flawed people whom the Lord used to achieve His purposes. He is looking, not for perfection, but for individuals willing to believe Him. He not only works through people of faith; He transforms them.

Start by reading God's Word to learn what He wants you to do. Each day's situations and needs are opportunities to trust Him. Ask the Lord to bring to mind verses that apply to your circumstances. Trust Him and do what He says—your faith "muscles" will grow, and He will be glorified.

Who You are and Who You Would Have Been

“It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God.” —R. W. Dale.

Words of Ministry:

The Bible and life are filled with stunning contrasts. We need those contrasts to put things in perspective. What's one of the most important contrasts? It’s the contrast between what life looks like when we are “in Christ” and what life looks like for someone who is “out of Christ.” (I just made that phrase up. Don't go looking for it in your concordance!)

Without that contrast we lose the “full picture”—we lose perspective on the Great Story of the Gospel we are living in. When that happens, we lose the reference point for our true identity in Christ as we forget who we would have been apart from Him:

“There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they don’t know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” —Romans 3:10-18

Let's be clear about this: someone who is “out of Christ” is also dead. It’s the crisis: There is simply no way that a Holy and just God could have fellowship with someone like that. Be eternally thankful that the story doesn't end there!

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” 

Ephesians 2:4-5

In Him we have life and can have fellowship with God. This made possible by His grace. So the one in Christ receives eternal life, and the one out of Christ receives death. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

PRAYER:  Righteous Father, may the contrast between these two passages soak deep into my soul… and then may the truth of who I am in Christ leak out into my life. Amen.