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RCCG Miracle Land Dundalk
Tuesday, July 16 2013

Introduction: Last week we considered the first part of “How to turn our Faith Loose” – we considered extensively the four types of confessions and the distinctions between them. We concluded by saying that “In order to effectively turn our faith on, we must appropriate the power of confession”.

In today’s study we shall continue on this very important topic. Because what is the point of having faith if we are not able to “turn it loose” or in other words, “make use of it”?

Someone once said that you do not stand in front of a cage of lions to defend them; simply step aside and open the cage and let the lions defend themselves!

 

What Does It Mean To Turn Our Faith Loose?

Simply, it means to activate (trigger, initiate, kick-start, etc.) As a matter of fact, we can’t say we have faith unless, it’s been turned loose – faith is only seen when it is in action.

James 2:14-18

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

Now let us systematically consider how to turn our faith loose.

We will consider four important aspects and how they relate with each other in turning our faith loose. They are: our thoughts, our beliefs, our confessions and our actions.

 

1.              Our Thoughts

In considering this sub-topic, we should ask ourselves these questions:

(a)    What do we feed our minds with?

                                 i.            The things we read

                               ii.            The things we watch

                              iii.            The things we listen to

                             iv.            The things we feel

(b)   What do give permission to, to occupy our minds?

                                 i.            What do we meditate on?

                               ii.            What information we process from (a) above

 

In Philippians 4:8 [MSG] Paul admonishes us on the things that we should think about.

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

Proverbs 4:23 [NLT] says:

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

What we think about affects what we believe and this will in turn affect our confession and ultimately how we act. So if our thinking is right, our believing will be right because what you meditate on will eventually get down into your heart. The Bible in Proverbs 27:1a says:

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”.

 

2.              Our Beliefs

The next bit to consider is one we have extensively considered since we started on the topic of Faith so we will not dwell to long on it. The belief we are concerned about is on the Word of God; what it says about us, what it says about our situations – our past, our present and our future. We should believe only on what the Word of God says about us – not what people say or what we see, hear or how we feel. Mark 11: 22-24 says:

“So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith (strong belief) in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

 

An important note of caution is this: We begin to believe the things we think; if we dwell on them long enough. 1 Timothy 4:2 [MSG] says: “These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth.”

 

3.              Our Confessions

Last week we extensively considered confession in. So once again, we will not over-emphasize this topic but we will simply consider the other side of it.

 Confession’ Defined - The dictionary says that "to confess" means to acknowledge or to own up to or to acknowledge faith in. It also means to make confession of one's faults.”

It is very important to realize and recognize the place that confession holds in the scheme of things. It is more than only confessing sins, weaknesses, and failures. That is the negative side of confession, but there is a positive side that the Bible encourages.

Joel 3:10 (NIV) says: “Let the weak say, “I am strong.””

Actually, Christianity is called "The Great Confession." - : Our confession is proclamations of what we know to be true, something we believe and what we have accepted wholeheartedly.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45[NIV]

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

 

See a few examples of scriptures we can store in our hearts and confess with our mouths (there are approximately 133 or 134 of them; so we should take time to seek them out for ourselves): (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:7, 8, Galatians 3:13, Phil.4:13, Deut.28:3-14, etc.)

 

So if we re-visit our text in Romans 10:10, it says: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Notice the latter part of Romans 10:10: ". . . with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”

This is true concerning salvation, as well as some other things we receive from God. In some other cases, a third step is required – Action

 

4.              Our Actions

Some of the times, the “Action” part may be a pronouncement as we see in Mark 11:23

for verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe [that is, believe in his heart] that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Like Mary in Luke 1:38, when she said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word”

Other times, the “Action” part as a physical action as we see in the account of the woman with the issue of blood. After she said “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”Matt.9:21, she stepped out in faith and touched Jesus’ garment. See verse 20 or like the young men that brought a paralyzed man through the roof to see Jesus in Luke 5:18-20. They acted on their faith and Jesus saw their faith. We can see the same in James 2:14-18

 

Conclusion

God has given us His Word to get our thinking straightened out. And when we think in line with God's Word, our believing will be right. When we believe right, then what we say with our mouths will be right and ultimately we will take the right actions (as needed).

We have to keep these four, right – Our thoughts, Our beliefs, Our confessions and Our actions because if one of them goes wrong, then all four of them put together will not yield the desired result. So let us meditate on these scriptural truths that we have looked at today; and as we continue to confess them to be true in our lives, we will cause these truths to become a reality in our hearts and lives. And let’s remember that to set our faith loose we need to “Think Right”, “Believe Right”, “Confess Right” and “Act Right”

Contributor: Isekhua Evborokhai

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