P 2235 Activate your faith with your obedience.

We will never walk on the water of our faith, until we decide to get out of the boat of perceived safety, and walk on the water that might drown us. Activated faith produces substance. Let’s quickly look at Peter. He could only walk on that water, that day, because he was walking on his faith in Christ’s word. Jesus said: “Come” and Peter came!  When he took his eyes off the Lord and faltered, Jesus said: “Where did your faith go?”  When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and looked down at the sea around him – he lost the substance he was standing on. This is a good place to mention that the Lord did not let him drown. He won’t let US drown either. 

Faith in Jesus exists in a much higher reality than the things we can see around us. Now we have been born again, to ‘walk by faith, not by sight.’ Here’s something to read and think about in Matthew 25:14-30 (edited) “For it will be like a man …who called his servants and entrusted to them his property….He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.”Hiding from trouble won’t produce anything but fear, because that action has its roots in fear.

“Now after a long time the master of those servants … settled accounts with them. And he who had …five talents came forward,… ’Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents …saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’…  … Enter into the joy of your master.’ 

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant!  …you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Our faith is always IN something. Ourselves, others, circumstances, failure, or Christ. For us as Christians, our faith needs to be in Jesus;  what He did for us is all the proof we need. We must to stop looking at ourselves, and the sea of trouble around us or in us, to see whether we feel like we have enough faith. Then ask the Lord to show us how to invest the faith we’ve already been givenbecause we have all been given a measure of faith.

The amount of faith does not matter, BUT … who or what we put our faith in does! Think on this … this parable is a faith parable. Each one of those servants had various levels of faith – they wanted to obey and please their master. Their obedience activated their faith and the one who had five talents got more. USING our faith will help it grow! Not using it leads to FEAR. How we look at Jesus matters. Personally, I always feel afraid when the Lord asks me to do something – however – when I obey, fear takes a backseat. Suddenly I am investing in my faith’s future.

This parable is not just about managing money, or what we do with our various talents and gifts, it is also about how these men regarded their master. The guy who doubted His master’s goodwill let FEAR stop him from doing anything with what he was given. Our faith is not in what WE think we can do – it is in WHO WE THINK JESUS CHRIST IS. And whether we obey Him … or not

Sometimes, hubby and I appear to be doing very little with our seed sowing trips, because we don’t always see huge outstanding results. But our faith is IN Jesus. We know the Lord will follow up the people who responded to Him – the results are still pending – eternity will reveal them. 👋🏻