Faith: Part 5 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. We’ve been talking all this week about faith and the four ideas that are wrapped up in that one word faith. That faith in God means four things.

It means that I rely on God.

That I trust God.

That I obey God

That I cling to God.

I want to share with you today some of the ways that I have learned faith in these four different aspects that are in that word.

Relying on God.

You know, every time I get up to speak on His behalf, I rely on Him. I depend on Him.

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You see the apostle Paul saying, when we came and spoke to you, it wasn’t with persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God, and I know that’s so true.

So when I get up invited to speak at a church or a conference, always before I get up, I’m talking to God about how I am depending on Him to speak through me to people, no matter whether my words come out great or not great.

That God will speak through me into people’s lives. Sometimes I sit down on public transport and I start a conversation with someone next to me, and they want to talk about spiritual things. Immediately I start relying on God for what He’s going to do through me. When I pray, I’m relying on God. I’m not just wishing out loud, I’m talking to a person that I am relying on.

The second aspect of faith is trust.

You know, I remember very clearly the first time I ever went to a skin clinic to have my skin checked.

And the doctor looked over my entire body, and the last place he looked, he went down my back, and he got halfway down my back, and I heard the words floating over my shoulder, I am very unhappy with what I see here.

And it was a melanoma that was quite advanced, had to have a big chunk of my back chopped out. Well, in through all of that, it was a shock to my system, but I trust the person.

God, He’s not a human, but he is personal and I trust Him and that took me through that with peace in my heart. It doesn’t mean there wasn’t some stress, but there was a confidence that he was taking me through that. Many other experiences in my life too, where I’ve had to trust in who I know God to be.

Rely, trust.

The third aspect of faith is obey.

I remember when my family had moved to America, and we’d lived in America for quite some time, and I knew that I was going to come back to Australia for a year of ministry. I sensed very clearly God was calling me to come to Australia as a youth evangelist back then, and yet I was a young man, with no money, and I had to trust God for my finances, the trip over here and back and my time here.

And I had to obey. I had to choose and say, I’m going, even though I had no idea how I was going to fund it. When God called me to lead our ministry, Ambassadors for Christ here in Australia, I had not led anything like that before, and I had to obey Him. I said no – twice – to the invitation from the board, but I knew God was calling me into that role, and I had to say yes.

When he called me then to pass on the leadership of ambassadors for Christ to a younger man in our ministry. I had to obey him and do that then.

Relying on God, trusting God, obeying God, all our aspects of faith.

The fourth is clinging to God.

I’ve been through some really dark days in my life. There were specifically two periods of my life that were such awful, terrible, dark, hopeless days, and I just had to cling on to God, and I came to realize, that clinging to Him isn’t just for the dark days, and I recognized how much God means to me, and I’ve brought Him close in every aspect of my life.

Well, those are just a few ways that I’ve seen these four aspects of faith in my life. How about you?

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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