God Archives - Page 8 of 14 - Leonard McElveen

Using Your Faith

The last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at the subject of Faith. Faith is the pinnacle of the Christian life. We’ve looked at what faith is and how to have faith. All the while the attempt is to ultimately make us stronger in our faith and trust in God.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Is Faith is important?

Our faith is essential to living a life that is pleasing to God. That’s what our lives should be based on. In the last post I discussed how Faith in God can be related to Trust in God. So, Hebrews 11:6 is saying that to please God we must trust Him.

Our Faith in Actions

If we trust God then our actions should line up with that fact. Our actions show what’s in our hearts. They also show what we truly believe in.

It’s the same in a relationship. I have faith in my wife. There is a relationship built where I trust her to do what’s best for our family. I have faith in her to do what God has called her to do. My actions in our relationship reflect that trust. I don’t have to monitor every dollar that she spends. I don’t have to track every conversation or keep track every time she goes out with her friends.

James 2:17 (ESV)
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The actions that make up our lives, should be actions that are pleasing to God.

Is it as simple as living by the ten commandments? That may be a good place to start, but there is a deeper level that we can attain. The problem with the ten commandments is that they were laws. While laws to live our lives by are great, laws without relationship leaves you disconnected to God.

Seeing God in Our Lives

When we accept Jesus into our hearts, He lives there. If He lives there, then there is the ability for Him to be talking to us everyday. Everyday we can hear words from Him. Those words help us to trust Him. His words help us to identify His actions in our lives. Seeing His actions in our lives will show us that God loves us. Trusting Him is having Faith in God.

It is all connected. Using our faith should be an everyday occurrence. Every action, every part of who we are has the potential to be an extension of our faith. Begin using your faith today.

What is Faith?

Last week I started with an article called How to Have Faith. Beginning this series on faith, one of the most important questions to ask is “What is Faith?” You don’t hear it a lot in everyday conversations. Is it something that is used in church circles? Can it be more than a trigger word used Sunday mornings?

I’m sure there is a super deep answer to the above questions. Those types of definitions and explanations don’t resonate with me. I like to start with the most basic definition and then build from there. For me, Faith is Trust.

Complete Trust

Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something (Webster’s Dictionary). To say that I have faith in God means that I have complete trust and confidence in Him. I trust Him to honor His word, the Bible.

Sometimes it can seem hard to trust God because we can rely so much on our five senses as the basis for what we put our trust in. It’s easy to trust that my paycheck will be in my bank account because I physically went to work for the past two weeks.

It can be easy to trust in something like gravity because our feet are still in contact with the ground. We haven’t heard any stories of people that suddenly were walking and then floating.

In each of these examples there is an aspect where one or more of our five senses is involved. So why is the struggle to have faith in God so real?

Do We Trust our 5 Senses?

Trusting or having faith in God can be a struggle because we must do without our five senses or in a way that our five senses are not used to. Can I touch, see, hear, taste, or smell God?

It is through our hearts that I believe we experience God. Through that experience, we can involve our five senses. God can touch my heart in a way that pain is no longer there. In my heart, I can see a brighter future than I deserve. It is in my heart that I hear His voice speaking to me. Through the experience, I can taste life as God has it.

As Good As His Word

People use to say that a man was only as good as his word. I’ve think we’ve lost sight of that today. Most people are only good if there is something in it for them. God, however, is as good as His word.

Isaiah 55:11(KJV)
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Like any relationship, trust in the other person begins in small steps. Let’s begin to trust God with small steps. From my own experience, I can tell you that it will be the beginning of the best relationship that you will ever have.

How to Get Rid of a Bad Attitude

Have you ever had a bad day? It’s the kind of day where everything and everyone seems to irritate you. The things that you usually enjoy, now seem like chores on a to do list that you dread completing. What happens when the bad day blends together into days, weeks, or even longer?

Bad Attitude = Bad Days

I recently had a string of days like this. Having these types of days is not something I enjoy. I end up just going through the motions of life and taking my frustrations out on the people that I love the most. Many of us can feel like this. So how do I get out of this type of attitude. Here are a couple of ways that I get rid of bad attitudes and get back to my normal self.

Someone in Your Corner

1. My wife is the voice that I have vowed to listen to no matter what. She has unfiltered access to who I am. This means that no matter what I am going through, when she speaks to me and wants to “talk” then I will listen. I may not want to or be in the mood to listen, but I will. I have to put my feelings aside and begin to articulate how I’m feeling. My wife has become an expert at knowing when to approach me to have this “talk.”

The “Talk”

I haven’t always been so eager to “talk.” My wife and I have been married to almost ten years now and it is still something that I work on every time my attitude changes. You may be like me where talking about how you feel about any given situation just doesn’t come naturally. For me, this is a part of growing as a person that I believe will make me better. That in turn will make my marriage, friendships and every other person in my circle better.

We all need someone like this in our circle. A person that no matter what we are going through, no matter what we are feeling, we will listen to them. We have to be able to trust that when they tell us it’s time to talk, we need to talk.

Talking about whatever I am going through always helps me to manage my feelings. Keeping things bottled up is never good.

Divine Intervention

2. God. When I don’t want to spend time in prayer or I don’t want to read and study my Bible then I know that my attitude is wrong and is trying to drive the decisions that I make.

Matthew 11:28(TLB)
28 Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.”

A Heavy Weight

A bad attitude can be a burden that weighs on us. It changes how we see the world around us. God tells us to give those things to Him. The attitudes and all the other aspects of life that try to weigh us down.

Recognize & Repent

How does this help me get rid of a bad attitude? It helps me to recognize the attitude and then to repent before God. Give that attitude to Him. My prayer time, reading the Bible and studying all contribute to me hearing the voice of God. Repentance is like cleaning my heart from all the junk that a bad attitude can bring. Hearing God’s voice is essential to keeping and maintaining an attitude that is joyful and peaceful.

What things do you do to get rid of a bad attitude? Leave a comment below.