NOVEMBER 12 "SUCH A THING AS SECULAR FAITH?"

       THE Secular and the Christian World sure don't agree on much, but one thing they do believe in is that if an individual has Faith, whether that is, Faith that they will be healed, faith that they will succeed, faith that they will not die, often times, even Doctors will testify that the catalyst to the persons recovery & survival was driven by their faith, no matter what or whom that faith was in.  Christians say, "you need to have faith" and non-Christians say, "you need to have faith". Don't you find that odd?  It seems like there is this universal code, imprinted in humanity, that somehow understands the premise and the power of Faith.  Paul describes Faith as, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see".  Jesus said, "if you have the faith of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, "be moved and cast into the sea" and it would be done.  What do you do with a statement like that?  Do you try it?  Do you accuse Jesus of exaggerating?  Put simply, I don't think we really understand or grasp, the meaning and power behind Faith.  We know that Faith healed a blind man. We know that faith healed a dying woman.  We know Faith changes people's future.  Faith helps people apprehend what they would have never apprehended without it.

      When you break it down, you realize that there are different kinds of faith that some people think are all synonymous, but they are not! There is Faith in one's own ability, there is Faith in an event to come to pass, a dream to come true, there is faith in faith itself (oddly enough) and of course, last but certainly not least, there is Faith in God!  When the secular world is speaking about Faith they are more often than not, speaking about Faith in one's own ability or Faith in Faith itself.
     Is Faith what changes the future or is it the belief in Faith that gives us that extra drive to push on, hang on and believe for one more day?  Is the Faith that Christians are exercising today a secular Faith or a Faith in God?  I can have Faith that one day I am going to be a "somebody", I can have faith in my own self, my ability and that faith can get me there.  We have heard many testimonies of secular, successful people that will tell you, "they never lost faith" and somehow, their faith propelled them to where they are today.  Explaining how that works could take more space to write than I have here, suffice it to say, this kind of Faith is not the kind of Faith that we are being called to in the book of Hebrews.  There was a book written some time ago by Normand Vincent Peale, it was called, "The Power of Positive Thinking". It was on the New York Times best seller list for quite some time.  A friend of mine handed the book over to me and I tried to read it, but I could not make it through.  The theme was, "if you believe, if you have enough faith, anything is possible". Any many people would attest and ascribe to that theory, but Abraham was not having Faith in his own ability or in Faith itself, Abraham was exercising Faith in God Almighty and the Bible is clear that it is God himself who brought those promises to pass. There was not mystery to it. Many religious people today spout around the word Faith, but what you will find is often they have convoluted the word Faith, as described in the Bible, with a secular Faith that anybody can believe in.
     What is the premise of your Faith? "I just have faith it's all going to work out, I'm just trying to keep a positive outlook".  This is a common statement I've heard. Now you tell me, who said that statement, was it someone who was Born Again, saved, serving God or was that statement made by a secular person.  The answer is, it is made by Christians. If you'll notice there is no reference to God, no reference as to what entity is going to make things work out (like God) all the statement mentions is faith and more often than not, it leaves God out.
     God has not called us to a secular faith, a mystic faith or faith in faith itself. God has called us to have Faith in him. In His ability to move in the "supernatural" on our behalf.  God has called us to believe, by Faith in His promises. To believe in God, by Faith to apprehend what he has apprehended us for. How different this is from the world, that comes up with their agenda for their lives, they come up with their own promises for their lives and than they say "it was faith" that got them there, but they never clarify "what faith", "faith in whom or what?" It is all mystical and most important, it is all "self-serving".  Faith in the bible is often calling us to do the opposite, it calls us to deny ourselves. The Faith in the bible is used to further God's purposes in the earth, not ours.  Next time you hear someone say, "I just kept faith that....", politely ask them, faith in whom or what? And I hope the answer you hear is God, but more than likely you will get a blank stare because they really don't know what their faith was in. To them it is magical in a sense, mystical, new age or sorts, but Faith was never meant to be that, our Faith is in God himself!