Step Of Faith
Give God praise, give Him thanks, give Him opportunity to show His power, give Him your tithes, talent, and time and in time you will see the floodgates of heaven open. Take a a step of faith and you will see God move.
“One day Jonathan son of Saul said…Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost…Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree…On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost…Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” Jonathan climbed up…The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out…Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this…All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 14:1-52
What does it mean to you to live by faith? Does that simply mean you read the Bible sometimes and show up on Sundays? Jonathon showed what it means to live by faith. Everything about how he lived showed that he believed that God was great, powerful, and with him.
Slow down and read this passage for a minute. Contrast Saul who was king and Jonathan who acted like the King of Kings was with him. Saul sat under a tree. Saul sat back and did nothing. How does sitting back and doing nothing honor God? It didn’t then and doesn’t now. Saul was living the Sunday Christian lifestyle. Maybe the person who does not go to church or the Sunday Christian who sits at home and watches online but doesn’t engage community. No judgment if that’s you, but what’s the goal of gathering? Is it so you get fed or are you living your glorify God by giving Him your best? Sitting under a tree or in your pajamas might not honor God. It really depends on the state of your heart. He was disengaged and doing nothing.
Look at the heart of Jonathon. He believed in the power, promises and presence of God. Why else would you go up against an army when you are outnumbered unless you believe that you plus God is a majority?
He said come on let’s go perhaps God will act on our behalf. He had to climb through difficult terrain with cliffs on each side. That sounds terrifying! But Jonathon had bold belief and it honored God. It is by faith that we please God. Jonathan gave God an opportunity to use him and God showed up. Some people are just sitting back and wondering why God‘s not moving but it’s because they need to move. Where have you sat back but you feel God nudging you to go out on a limb, climb a cliff, and pick a righteous fight with an injustice in the world?
What if everything we did, we acted as though God would show up and that His power would be evident at work in and through us? How would that change our approach to life? What are you doing in your life that could only be successful if God showed up? Where in your life are you demonstrating faith?
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalms 100:1-5
When was the last time you felt truly alive? What energizes you most? The life of faith following Jesus is a life of passion, energy, and purpose. Listen to the words of David. He says shout and sing with a joyful heart. This is not a dead end, dreary life. The life of faith is bold, beautiful and belts out songs of Thanksgiving.
Why? Because God is so good, faithful, present, gracious, and worthy of our praise. His love endures forever and He is faithful. How will you praise him today? What are you thankful for? Before you ever step out on a limb and do something bold, God wants you to fill you with the knowledge and belief that you are His and He is with you. He wants you to be so full of the Spirit that you believe nothing can come against you and win. He wants you to enter His courts each day with thanksgiving that you would know He calls you by name and has a purpose for your life.
“I will get up now and go…I will search for the one my heart loves…Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go…come out, and look, you daughters of Zion. Look on King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown…on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.” Song of Songs 3:2, 4, 11
Think about the connection between how Jonathon approached life and how the bride of Solomon pursued love. There is a continual message, a call to action and movement today. Is a call to trust in the king and to go. If the bride did not believe she could find her love she would not go. But love is always waiting to be found.
What marked the day that King Solomon was full of joy? What day was he crowned? His wedding day. The day where he became one with the one his heart loved. Jesus said I have calmed that you might be one with me like I am one with the father. It is an invitation to intimacy. It is an invitation to a new life of love where we are crowned and called.
“Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire…I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify…against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me…Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me…Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them…you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
Malachi 3:1-18
Have you ever wanted to have the answers to the test before you were before tested? Wouldn’t it be nice to have the teacher’s audition so you knew everything that was on the test? God does not want to leave anything to doubt. He wants to let you know exactly what following him looks like in the Bible says that it is by faith that we please God.
So where does he look? The Bible says he is a refining fire and he starts with your heart. What do your actions say about whether your heart trust/ God? Do you trust him with your talent? Are you using your talent to help bring justice and righteousness to the world? Where do you volunteer or serve? This moves beyond compensation and into the question of your calling.
What is your checkbook say about how you trust God? Jonathon stepped out and tested God before he climbed the hill by asking for a sign. God says test me in your giving and see if I do not open up the floodgates of heaven. This is not the prosperity gospel where we name it and claim it. This passage is a deep connection between living by faith and how we follow Jesus faithfully. We do it through our actions and one of those actions is with an area that can have an incredibly strong hold on our heart, our money.
The Bible says you should give at least 10% of what you have. The truth is, we should always grow in our giving whether it is money or our might. The word tithe means tenth. Do you believe that everything you have is from God? If you do, then, you are never really giving God anything. You were simply returning to God out of what he has already given you.
It’s pretty crazy to consider that God says that there are people who rob him. People who steal from him. He says when you do not return to me your tithe you are robbing me. The beautiful thing about the Lord is how well he knows us. He meets us where we are. When He says test me, He is calling us to take a step so that we would see a sign of His faithfulness. You can never out give God. He will always move when we move. His word can never be broken. He knows that we will have doubts and fears and that is why he invites us to test him. He says test me in this and see if I don’t open up the floodgates of heaven and overflow your storehouses.
The test is truly pass or fail. We are not judged on sliding scale and it’s not a comparison game. We all get the same wages, and the question will be what we do with what we have been given. God says there will be a day where there is a distinction that is made between those who feared him and served him and those who did not. It is by faith that we demonstrate that we trust the Lord.
“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name…It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people…All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life…This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people…It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom” Revelation 13:1-18
The Bible says there will be false gods, including Satan and a beast who society will worship. There’s a fascinating connection between the challenge to honor God with our money, trusting Him at all times and the truth that there will be a time where the ability of people to use their money to buy things will be impacted by their faith. The text says that it calls for wisdom and truth tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The questions always come back to who we trust in and who will we choose to serve.
The critical verse is in the middle. John tells us that difficult times require patient endurance and faithfulness. Remember in our first text that it was in the middle of the battle that Jonathan chose to move by faith. It was through a dangerous cliff against a stronger army that he was tested. It is at the hardest moments against at times overwhelming odds like Jonathan saw against the Philistines or like we read about during the time of the beast that our faith will be tested most.
What life do you want? Do you want to be like Saul and sit back under a tree or do you want to be like Jonathan who lived with expectation? Today is a day to declare who you will serve and take a step of faith. It is a day to walk with the mindset that says perhaps God will do an extraordinary thing with my ordinary actions. Perhaps as I give God my best He will give me His best. Perhaps I can be bold in believing that I can make a difference because the power of God living in me makes me a difference maker. So take a step of faith, try something bold, and enter His courts with thanksgiving praising His Holy Name because His love and faithfulness lasts every generation.