Life Lessons, Relationships, Sermons

Faith and Constipation are not the same thing

422 Comments

I haven’t had much faith lately. I know, I shouldn’t say that. I haven’t lost my faith. You can’t lose something you don’t have.
Faith
“Don’t confess that. “

But you can’t fake faith.

You can’t hype yourself up.

Faith that is faith is real.

It isn’t conjured up on some sentiment, or wishful thinking. Faith is none of those things.

Faith is a supernatural conviction that a supernatural God will supernaturally supercede all circumstances.

In reality, most of what we see as faith is actually wishful thinking. Of believing harder. A case of overcoming spiritual constipation.

I want my son to be healed. And on good moments, I believe that it will happen. But at other times, I doubt. I despair.

Which lead me back to the scriptures. And what I discovered may surprise you. I know it did me.

I discovered that there are actually three different kinds of faith in the scriptures.

  1. Faith that every believer in Jesus has.

Without faith, we can not come to him. We can not receive salvation except by faith. It was the great cry of the reformers. SOLA FIDE. By faith alone. We all have some measure of faith, whether we believe it or not.

2. Supernatural faith.

Miracle working faith that is a gift for some. Here is where some get into trouble. Faith is listed as one of the 9 manifestation gifts in 1 Corinthians. No all have the gift of prophecy. Not all work miracles. And not all have this kind of faith. It is a GIFT that God gives some for the accomplishment of building up his church and his purposes on earth.

3. Borrowed faith.

And this one brings me so much comfort. This is faith that someone else has and uses not on their behalf, but on the behalf of others. The 4 men who drop Jesus down through the hole in the roof loaned their faith to their friend.

Funny thing is, I sometimes have faith for others than I don’t have for myself. An outsiders perspective is often useful when it comes to engaging your faith. Borrowed faith, or shared faith, or communal faith, is when we don’t ask brother or sister in Christ to pretend, but rather we walk with them, lifting up their burdens. Sometimes we can have great faith in one area and struggle in others.

Jesus called his disciples “little faiths.”

Then he entrusted the entire future of the church, and through the church, the entire planet, to them.

I have faith. For lots of things. Just some of the situations that are too close to me, I’m going to need to borrow yours.

So what is faith? Maybe you could loan some of yours to me, or a friend who seems to have lost theirs.

Instead of faking it.

422 thoughts on “Faith and Constipation are not the same thing”

  2. What does one say to your pastor about faith? Perhaps that is why you liked us to just call you Charles at The Ocean. A few months ago I went through a situation in which I had to confront God about the same thing; since you can’t fake faith, I was like: God, what exactly do you expect of me? I need something extra, from outside of my own understanding, experience, knowledge and faith. I guess I prayed for the gift of faith. I focused on confessing what I was absolutely sure about: that God loves me and wants the best for me. It helped. I also talked through my questions with God; that helped too. I even talked to my fears; I told them not to bug me, not to mess with the faith that I was sure I had. I gave them limits; refused them the power to overwhelm me. I am in a better place now but I look back at situations like that and I know that there were things going on behind the scenes that I just wasn’t privy to that gave me an extra push. Will keep you and your family in my prayers, Pastor Charles. Thanks for sharing this.

  11. “I haven’t seen you in these parts,” the barkeep said, sidling settled to where I sat. “Personage’s Bao.” He stated it exuberantly, as if say of his exploits were shared aside settlers around multitudinous a firing in Aeternum.

    He waved to a wooden keg upset us, and I returned his indication with a nod. He filled a field-glasses and slid it to me across the stained red wood of the excluding first continuing.

    “As a betting fellow, I’d be ready to wager a honourable piece of enrich oneself you’re in Ebonscale Reach on the side of more than the swig and sights,” he said, eyes glancing from the sword sheathed on my cool to the bow slung across my back.

    http://maps.google.co.tz/url?q=https://renewworld.ru/new-world-kak-popast-na-alfa-i-beta-testy/

  115. I have been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.

  158. I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I really hope to view the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own website now ;)|

  165. It’s also effective for romantic time with your lover, so why don’t you learn it? Full body massage is not as difficult as you think. Simple preparation and know-how

  173. Taking advantage of Manchester United’s free kick situation, the crowd that appeared with an unidentified white object was caught by security guards after about 10 seconds of escape.

  196. Pingback: sex games no signup

  280. Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be useful to read articles from other authors and use something from other web sites. |

  289. Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before but after looking at a few of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m certainly happy I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back often!|

  312. Pretty component of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I get in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts. Any way I will be subscribing for your augment and even I fulfillment you access persistently fast.|

  348. Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!|

  352. Simply wish to say your article is as surprising.

    The clarity in your post is simply cool and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject.
    Fine with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to
    keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a
    million and please keep up the gratifying work.

  355. You can certainly see your expertise within the article you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.|

  362. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this site.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and
    appearance. I must say you have done a fantastic job with this.
    Also, the blog loads super fast for me on Internet explorer.
    Excellent Blog!

  367. My brother recommended I may like this website. He was once entirely right. This submit truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thank you!|

  368. Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I
    guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the
    whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for novice blog writers?
    I’d definitely appreciate it.

  372. You really make it seem really easy with your presentation however I find
    this matter to be actually something that I feel I would never understand.
    It sort of feels too complex and very vast for me.
    I’m taking a look forward for your next publish, I will attempt
    to get the grasp of it!

  380. Hi there i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this paragraph i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant post.|

  381. This is the right site for everyone who wants to understand this topic.
    You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I personally will need to…HaHa).
    You certainly put a brand new spin on a subject that’s
    been written about for many years. Great stuff, just excellent!

  395. When I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me
    when new comments are added- checkbox and now
    every time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the exact same comment.
    There has to be a means you can remove me from that service?
    Many thanks!

  398. Whats up very nice website!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds also? I am happy to search out a lot of helpful info here within the post, we want work out more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .|

  399. First of all I would like to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior to writing. I’ve had trouble clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Appreciate it!|

  401. I do not know whether it’s just me or if everyone else
    experiencing problems with your blog. It seems
    like some of the written text within your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well?

    This could be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
    Cheers

  406. I’ve been browsing on-line more than three hours today, but I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty price sufficient for me. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the web will be much more helpful than ever before.|

  407. Unquestionably believe that which you said.
    Your favorite justification seemed to be on the internet
    the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you,
    I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they just do
    not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the
    top and defined out the whole thing without having side-effects
    , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more.
    Thanks

  409. I am extremely impressed together with your writing talents and
    also with the format for your blog. Is this a paid
    theme or did you customize it your self? Anyway keep up
    the nice high quality writing, it is uncommon to
    see a nice weblog like this one today..

  410. Great beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your website, how can i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea|

  412. whoah this blog is excellent i really like
    studying your posts. Stay up the good work! You understand, many people are looking around for this info, you could aid them greatly.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.