May we be a people that proves their faith to be genuine by cooperating with what He said to be the most important things in this life to do: love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love others the way you love yourself. How do we do that? How do we know we are doing that?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind...as the old Bob Dylan song says. Sitting here, thankfully inside, a strong Spring wind is buffeting the world around me. Indeed, wind is a powerful geophysical force of nature that has profound effects. A heavy wind such as this carries an overwhelming evidence of its presence. It's difficult to deny or escape its forceful presence. Jesus taught about this in John 3, while discussing salvation with Nicodemus. You can't see the wind, but you see the effects of the wind. You don't know where it comes from or where it goes, but you can feel and hear it. You know it is a real and powerful force. Though it is rattling and very undesirable for picnics, years ago, I realized these strong winds are reminders of God's great, powerful love for us. They are reminders of invisible realities, including the legitimacy of faith. Faith is the answer, my friends. It's how we "do" the two greatest commandments as Jesus compelled.
My late friend, "Wild" Bill Thurman, with whom I spent many a day, training dogs and hunting, used to encourage me to pray for the inanimate things such as faith, hope, and love. All of the fruits of the Spirit come to mind from Galatians 5:22. He claimed we are too wrapped up in the physical, tangible requests of building our own personal kingdoms. We long for heaven, so we pray for everything and everyone to be perfected. But God is moving and working in each and every situation, delivering answers to our prayers in His time and in His wisdom. He might say we therefore have weak and undeveloped or atrophied faith muscles, as we wait and trust Him.
Some applicable faith verses...
"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." Heb. 11:6.
"When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in the world?" Lk. 1:18.
"The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." Ps. 14:2.
"My righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." Heb. 10:38.
"The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love." Gal. 5:6.
"Ye of little faith." Matt. 8:26.
"Do you still not believe?" Jn. 6:36.
"I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail." Lk. 22:32.
"He could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief/lack of faith." Matt. 13:58.
"Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the 5,000, and how many basketfuls you gathered?" Matt. 16:9.
"So that your faith may not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." 1Cor. 2:5.
Faith. He's looking for it. He's counting on it. He wants it. He expects it. It's how we prove we love Him. He is the source of a solid positivity that allows us to stand in the face of trials with full assurance of His goodness and provision. He will faithfully honor our faith. It pleases Him to do so.
