Faith Walking part 2
Walking by faith is living by believing. It's like this, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him" (Hebrews 2:8). All things ARE under our feet. Because His feet ARE our feet. But we don't see things that way. Many times we are so focused on what's "in front of us" that we don't realize it's really under us! We let things distract us. We walk by sight, not by faith. We judge by appearance, instead of judging righteous judgment. That's the problem. And here's the solution. The very next part of the very next verse. "But we see Jesus..." (Hebrews 2:9). The key to faith walking is knowing what your faith is in. And I can't say it any more plain than Jesus Himself did. "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22). Which, of course, means have faith in LOVE. That's the difference, in a word, betwee "sinner" and "saint." A sinner--unbeliever--doesn't know and believe the love of God. A saint--believer--does. That's the difference. And, by the way, the only way to "make converts" or anything like that, is by loving the hell out of people. By SHOWING them who God is by loving them. By letting the Word become flesh. Charity. Love in action. That's what walking in faith is all about. We don't always see everything under His (again, OUR) feet. But we see Jesus. How's that old saying go? We don't always know what tomorrow holds, but we know the One who holds tomorrow. We don't put our faith, our trust, in what we see externally. We put our faith in what's inside us. The love that's inside us. And if we face whatever situation we happen to come up against by drawing with joy from the well that's within us... if we use love as first choice and not last chance... then we WILL be able to get through whatever it is. We'll be able to learn and grow. We'll be able to dig a well and help whoever it is that's coming next. Because we all go through the same stuff. This human condition is very individual, but at the same time we're all people going through the same stuff. And if I've already been through it, then I can help YOU through it. If I can see it under His (my) feet, then I don't have to struggle with it. AND I can reach down and pull you up to where I'm at. I don't know why we say things like, "Bad company corrupts good people." Sometimes it does, sure. But guess what--a bad influence isn't automatically stronger than a good influence. If you know what you know and you're living by believing then it doesn't matter what else is going around. If Jesus is holding you up (and He is!) then nothing can drag you down. Just because it's under your feet doesn't mean it's going to trip you up or drag you down. It means you're over it. It can't touch you. When Jesus walked on water I don't even think He cared that it was water. He was going where He was going no matter WHAT was under His feet. He was faith walking. And then He spoke and Peter walked on the Word of God. That's where WE are. Right now! That's what WE can do. When we know and believe the truth of God's love for us!