PASSING ON OUR CONATGIOUS FAITH
Author Nancy Bauer, Washington
I’ve been attending Beth Moore’s Bible study
at our church on the subject of “Believing God”.
If you’ve ever seen Beth Moore, you’ll understand
the title of this article…CONATGIOUS FAITH. She has what I like to call
“spiritual radiation”. I can’t help but say “I WANT THAT!”
Her faith is contagious and evident as she
teaches us about believing not just IN God but believing what He says….BELIEVING
GOD!
We are learning who God says we are and about
the faith to believe Him. In Romans 4 we are told that we are sons and
daughters of Abraham even if we are not Hebrew. It is because of Abrahams’
believing what God promised to him, even while Abe couldn’t SEE God, that God
chose him and his seed as God’s very own chosen people. Those who believe in
the Unseen God by faith, are those of Abraham’s
‘seed’…His ‘seed’ is us. All the promises Abraham received are also our
promises because we are his ‘seed’.
Beth Moore suggests we read Romans 4 twenty
times during our nine week study in order to understand it, remember it and
allow it to settle into our spirit in a lasting way.
I had read Romans 4 sixteen times in the New
International Version of the Bible and still didn’t
quite understand it.
I picked up the Message Bible to try to read
simpler words and maybe receive a better understanding. I came to Romans
4:17-25 and heard the Holy Spirit say ”God has given
you promises, too, Nancy. Substitute your name and God’s promise for you with
Abraham’s name and God’s promise to him. Then pray that back to Me. Claim God’s
promise for yourself. Stand on faith in His promise for you.”
I did as He told me and power for His promise
to me has grown in my spirit. I BELIEVE what He told me!
I printed out “MY PERSONAL STATEMENT OF
FAITH IN GOD’S PURPOSE/PROMISE FOR ME” and shared it with all at the Bible
study. They felt God’s power in that prayer.
I have felt lead to share it with all of you,
too.
If God has given you a promise or a desire
for your life…it’s His purpose for you. And as we have learned in our class, we
need to stand on His promises in faith, and “speak those things that are not,
as if they were.” Praying God’s Word is praying God’s will.
Try it, and see what God will do for
you….and then PASS ON YOUR FAITH!
ROMANS 4:17-25 (The
Message Bible)
MY PERSONAL BIBLICAL
STATEMTENT OF FAITH IN GOD’S PURPOSE/PROMISE FOR ME
I, (YOUR NAME)__________________
was first
named (called by God) to
______(YOURPURPOSE)________________________________________________
and then BECAME, by
speaking through faith,
______(YOUR PURPOSE)_______________________________
_
because I dare to trust in
God to do what only God can do;
raise the gift
of_______(YOUR PURPOSE)_____________________________
to life in me. With a
word, He makes something out of nothing.’’
When everything seems
hopeless, I will believe anyway, deciding
to live not on the
basis of what I see I can not do, but on what
God said I WOULD do. And so I was made and
created by Him to
__________________(YOUR
PURPOSE)____________________________________.
God Himself said to
me “You are going to be a
______________________(YOUR PURPOSE)________________________________________,
____(YOUR
NAME)______.”
I will not focus on
my own impotence (lack of power or strength) and say; “It’s hopeless”…I will
not tiptoe around God’s promise asking skeptical questions. I will plunge into
the promise and come up strong, ready for God, sure that God will make good on
what He has said.
ROMANS 4:17-25 (THE
MESSAGE) 17-18 Abraham was first
named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God
to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make
something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed
anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on
what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples.
God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family,
Abraham!"
19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence
and say, "It's hopeless”……..He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking
cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong,
ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it
is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him
right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said
about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the
conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set
us right with God.
Wanting to radiate
the faith of God,
Nancy Bauer
