“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That was the haunting question Jesus asked his disciples in Luke 18:8 NIV. It’s a question that makes us squirm a bit. But it shows exactly what Jesus is looking for in us, his people. He will NOT be searching our lives for status, fame, money, perfection, popularity, a great marriage or well-behaved kids. No, the question is, will Jesus find evidence of faith in you and I. The answer lies in whether we allow our belief to be transformed into immovable faith.
I’ve been trying to come up with a tag line for my blog, something that really stands for the banner I want to wave. And I think I finally have it thanks to Jesus’ question. A FRUITFUL WOMAN — Living Fruitfully by Swapping Sunday Belief for Immovable Faith.
Are we, God’s children, a people of only Sunday morning belief or a people of moment by moment faith? I ask this of myself as much as I wish you to seek your own answer. The reason? Because faith is what Jesus desires of us. Faith is what makes belief in Christ come alive. It switched my heart from a life of stressed out striving to a life of excited joy in Jesus.
Faith in Jesus doesn’t always change our circumstances, but it changes everything about how we live in our circumstances. – afruitfulwoman.com
What is faith?
Faith in Jesus doesn’t always change our circumstances, but it changes everything about how we live in our circumstances. So we need to ask ourselves what we think faith really is. To me, faith is living like what we believe about Jesus, through truth in the scriptures, is actually TRUE every moment of our day.
*Faith is waking up identifying that we are loved children of The Living God, not some project God has to repair.
*It’sClinging to the fact that Jesus laid down his everything for you and I individually, not thinking grace is for everyone but ourselves
*Faith is about believing that our prayers go straight to the ear of our Father instead of into the abyss of nothingness.
* And it’s knowing in our bones that we are not alone in the struggle, that the Holy Spirit is not some weird myth but a living and active member of the Triune God. Trusting him as our helper sent so we don’t have to walk this world alone post Christ’s resurrection. And following as we feel God’s Spirit as us to wait, stay, go, trust, be silent, speak up, or stand firm.
How do we strengthen our faith?
When we write our beliefs on our hearts through time spent with Jesus reading his word in our Bibles and in prayer, we put our feet on solid ground for the day. With God’s word on our hearts and his presence near in prayer, we can more easily see light through the darkness and therefore love our people more like Jesus and less like ourselves.
When asked what the greatest commandment to keep was, “Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV).
Loving God with everything you’ve got is more than a Sunday coffee date. It is an everyday affair that sustains our souls when the world around is trying to break off pieces. – afruitfulwoman.com
Loving God with everything you’ve got is more than a Sunday coffee date. It is an everyday affair that sustains our souls when the world around is trying to break off pieces. And when we love Jesus with our everything, loving others becomes more of our natural default instead of our sacrifice.
Fight the Good Fight
So I rededicate this space, afruitfulwoman.com, to everyone like me who is sick of struggling for joy, peace, patience, and goodness and wants to experience these divine qualities in abundance through Christ. Let’s start living like Jesus really loves us, that the Father counts us as his own, and the Holy Spirit is ready to do battle with us in our hearts as we stand firm in FAITH.
Let’s each of us in our circles of friends, family, children, marriages, churches, schools, jobs, be light and love as we point to the grace of God. And let’s stand firm so that Jesus will find fruitful faith instead of empty religion in our hearts when He returns.
Let’s start living like Jesus really loves us, that the Father counts us as his own, and the Holy Spirit is ready to do battle with us in our hearts as we stand firm in FAITH.
– afruitfulwoman.com
Andrea Chatelain 