But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, -Hebrews 11:6 

 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”-Ephesians 2:8-9 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:

And I Will Become Their God

Psalm 105:2&4
 Deuteronomy 5:7
If they stand up and sing My praises,
Then on their knees worship Me freely,
If they seek Me to the ends of the earth
And seek no other Gods before Me,
If when they consider this world I’ve made
And its beauty fills their hearts with awe,
Then I will make them My people
And I will become their God.

James 1:27 & 2:15-16
If they are kind to every soul they meet
And always helpful in times of need,
When their neighbors are cold if they clothe them,
And the hungry they hasten to feed,
If they show love to all of My children,
Never focusing on their flaws,
Then, I will make them My people
And I will become their God.

Micah 6:8
If they will walk humbly beside Me,  
Always doing that which is just in My sight,
If they always choose to show mercy,
Without judging what’s wrong or what’s right,
If they choose to mute the call of the world
And they resist the allure of applause,
Then, I will make them My people
And I will become their God.
~Linda Troxell © 04/27/2022

Faith is not a Feeling

Before I begin I want to state something clearly and firmly, Faith is not a feeling. It is not a function of our feelings; nor is it dependent on our feelings; we must not confuse faith with feelings or treat it as if it is a feeling. Faith is something we can have regardless of what we are feeling. I know that is a lot of redundancy, but I feel the point requires redundancy. Because I cannot count how many times I’ve heard faith spoken of as a feeling. 

I imagine some of you are wondering why it even matters whether or not faith is a feeling. And to tell you the truth, it wouldn’t if so many people didn’t believe that their feelings are something they have no control over. 

For example, if something “bad” happens, let’s say you just cashed your paycheck and you lose your wallet with the cash inside, How do you feel? Many individuals believe that there is a prescribed feeling for that situation. Maybe it’s panic, or anger, or fear. Whatever it is, they believe they have no choice about what they feel because the situation dictates their feelings. And if it is suggested to them that they don’t have to feel that way, they would most likely say, “But anyone would feel like that if they lost their entire paycheck.” 

There are a great many people in our world who have never been taught that their feelings are the product of their thoughts. They don’t understand that they have a choice about what they feel, nor that by changing their thoughts their feelings will change in response. Paul said as much at least twice in the Bible. Once in Phillipians 4:8, the other in Romans. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

These same people and many, many, more believe that it is the feeling of faith that allows them to believe in God. When in truth, faith is a gift given to us from God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”-Ephesians 2:8-9 

Faith is not a feeling but a gift from God that we nurture by our decision to believe in Him. It’s important to know this because believing that faith is a feeling over which we have no control, robs us of the very gift faith offers. Faith is a gift that frees us from uncertainty. And uncertainty is a favorite tool of the enemy. 

If he can engage us in the mental exercise of “But what about…” he can stop us from thinking about God. But, when we have faith, what we believe is a settled matter. No longer are we tempted to engage with the enemy and wrestle with the doubts he plants to distract us. 

Bold faith allows us to be determined about what we believe. And we can support our beliefs with prayer, worship, and hearing the Word of God. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17. In turn, prayer, worship and reading the Bible increase our faith.

When we have bold faith, if the enemy shows up with his “what abouts” we simply remind ourselves of our faith and we dismiss him. No engagement necessary. 

On the other hand, if we can only have faith when we feel it and feelings come and go depending on the circumstances of the moment, then what is the point? Do we only pray when we are feeling faith? Do we wait to worship or praise God until our circumstances are conducive to feeling faith? 

If we believe that faith is a feeling over which we have no control we will only be able to find solace in our faith when we are feeling it. And it’s my guess that all of us probably need the solace of our faith more when we aren’t feeling it than we do when we are feeling it.

I have sincere concern for those who continue to think of faith as just another feeling that’s out of their control. I wonder, can they understand the true importance of faith, that without it we cannot please God? And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 

It is by faith that God sets apart those who belong to Him from those who don’t. He loves it when we have enough faith to believe in Him and seek Him without the need to see Him. And He rewards those who seek Him. However, the kind of devotion required to seek Him can come only from a place of deep faith. 

If faith is a feeling  like any other, that comes and goes, and rises and falls depending on our mood or our outward circumstance, it is unlikely it can motivate the kind of desire required to seek God or to worship Him. Because, seeking and worshiping God is not a light and leisurely pastime. 

No, it takes commitment and persistence. That kind of persistence is rarely found in those who believe that their prayer life is determined by a feeling over which they have no control. Seeking God, to a large extent, is done through prayer. And, persistence of prayer is more likely to be found in those who know that prayer both creates and increases faith. For, they understand that each time they pray, their faith becomes stronger.

When we understand that faith is not a feeling but a decision to believe in and honor the God of the universe, we will be able to also understand that our faith can coexist with any and all feelings. It’s important to know our faith is not threatened by rage or pain or confusion even when those feelings are about God and His actions, or inactions.  

We can have faith even when we aren’t happy with God. And if we don’t, it’s a sign that we need to pray. We need to pray for bold faith. It is bold faith that allows us to trust God to make the final decisions as well as to trust the decisions He makes, regardless of how we’re feeling about Him at the moment. 

Bold faith allows us to praise God even in the midst of our disappointment about something He has done or has not done. And praising Him when we are disappointed or angry is an acknowledgment that He is sovereign, that we have faith despite our displeasure, and that our trust does not depend on our feelings but is a part of our faith. 

We should be able to trust God and praise Him despite our feelings because our praise has nothing to do with how we feel about God’s decisions and everything to do with how we feel about God Himself. When I first became a Christian and was still wobbly in my faith, I was afraid to pray for the one thing that, in my mind today, is the hallmark of ultimate trust and faith: “Your will be done.”

I was afraid because I thought that it would give God permission to make my life painful or frightening. And at that time in my life, my biggest fear was having fear, itself; to paraphrase President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

But, step by step, as I learned to trust God more He taught me that bold faith prayers and praising Him in the darkest valleys is how we show Him that we trust Him completely. It shows Him that we trust Him enough to invite Him into our lives and depend on Him alone for our provision. 

I don’t know why I ever thought that God needed my permission to do painful or frightening things in my life if that was His choice. Of course, many of my thoughts and feelings have changed as my faith has grown. I might find it laughable but for the sadness of spending so much of my life ignorant of God’s goodness and the feeling of safety that trusting Him brings me today. 

It is so easy to begin a prayer in which our only intent is to praise Him and then suddenly end up asking for something. We need to make it a point to pray and praise God for nothing more than our gratitude that He is our God and He is always good.

We know we need faith to please God. And we know that God rewards those who seek Him. The most direct way to seek God and to increase our faith is through prayer. However, a BIG HOWEVER, we must not forget that the first purpose of prayer is not to ask God for anything, but to give God everything. 

Prayer is first and foremost a way of pleasing God by giving Him glory, praising Him, and offering our gratitude. Once we firmly understand that obligation and we are regularly praising and glorifying Him in our prayers, then we can consider our other obligations in our prayers.

We cannot forget that in addition to the glory, praise, and gratitude, we owe God every time we pray, we too have an obligation to always be humbly submissive to our sovereign God and His will for us. We know that humility before God is powerful, and that submission before God is powerful. And so it follows Humble submission before God is super powerful; let use it as such. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. Job 22:27

Only once we understand our prayer obligations, can we consider our rights in prayer. Because we believe in Jesus as our Lord, His death gave us some rights in prayer. Those rights are to pray to God directly, personally, and expectantly.  

Don’t think these are insignificant rights. If you remember, at the moment Jesus died on the cross the veil in the temple that was meant to separate God’s dwelling, the holy of holies, was split. Until that point only a high priest could enter God’s dwelling, and only once a year. So the right to approach God’s throne and pray to Him directly, personally and expectantly, is a sacred right given to us only by the death of God’s Son.

Let’s Pray

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: 

thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm 23 
We pray this in the name of Jesus, AMEN!

Points for Pondering and for Prayer

Or

Perhaps for Putting Pen to Paper

1. Were you taught that your feelings are produced by your thoughts and therefor you can change them?

Whether you were or you weren’t, write a bit about how you understand this concept and which way you believe to be true today.

2. Do you understand that there is not just one way to feel about a situation?  

Take for an example the illustration in the article about losing your wallet with all your money in it.

Do you understand that one person could find it devastating and another decide not to worry about it?  Write a little bit about what thoughts would lead to each feeling.

3. Do you think of faith as a feeling?  Do you perceive the difference between it being a feeling or a belief?  Write a little bit about how you understand the difference between faith being a feeling and being a belief.

How might it make a difference to you whether faith is a feeling or a belief?