Faith Full (eBook)

Introduction

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Monday – Friday

6:00 – Wake up

6:08 – Actually wake up

6:30 – Pour first cup of coffee and sit down for some quiet time…maybe

7:00 – Finish breakfast, remembering an eighth of what I read

7:05 – Wake up the kids who, despite doing this every morning, try to convince me they “just can’t get up”

7:30 – Hurry off to work

6:30 – Get home from work and kids’ activities. Eat dinner.

7:30 – Put kids to bed

7:40 – Put kids to bed again

7:50 – PUT kids to bed AGAIN

8:00 – Discuss inventions that would prevent the kids from getting out of bed

11:30 – Go to bed.

11:31 – Regret staying up this late

11:32 or 12:15 or 1:00 – Fall asleep

Saturday

Sleep in less than I had hoped

Run errands

Run the kids to ______

Get things done around the house.

Sunday

Sit in church. 

Be inspired to live boldly for Christ

Go home

Repeat.

How often have you looked at your life and longed for more—a deeper relationship with God, a richer, bolder faith, a larger eternal impact? How often have you been discouraged by the loop in which you find yourself? A loop that has life on repeat, drowning out the “life to the fullest” that Jesus came to give. Whether you can relate to the previous example, or you have your own “repeat”, as a pastor, I’ve seen this discouraging pattern all too often. This may surprise you, but I don’t just see it in others; I see it in myself. As I read the Bible, I’m inspired by disciples who shared their faith boldly, spreading the message of Christ in the face of punishment and death, confidently living out their faith. I know that Jesus commanded His followers to love deeply and share His Good News. When I read about the early church and the devotion of Christians throughout history, I yearn to live with just an ounce of their courage and faith. 

To the core of my being, I know I was created to make an impact for God’s Kingdom. Despite being convinced of this truth, sadly, there is often a disconnect between the longing in my soul and what my life actually looks like. I fall into the repeat pattern that has my faith moving at an embarrassingly slow crawl, my life poorly reflecting an all-powerful, all-loving God.

Is this true for you? Do you find yourself in this loop? The cycles of life quieting the brave, transformative, community-impacting Christianity that you long for? Do you desire to fully live out your faith? Do you wish you had the tools to stop the loop and get after it? Do you want more?

My guess is your answers to all those are, “Yes!” Although the disconnect between your longing and your life may be frustrating, let me encourage you with this. Don’t let the frustration diminish your pursuit of more; let it stoke a passion to fight against the loop, to fight for the ‘more’ you desire. God’s plan for your life is not ho-hum, get enough gold stars of church attendance to make it to heaven. God wants a deeper relationship with you. He wants you to grow in your confidence in His love. God wants your life to show the world His sacrificial love, full of grace and truth. He wants your relationships to be healthy and vibrant. God wants your brokenness restored. He wants you to experience the joy of following Him. God knows that when you deepen your love and trust in Him, obediently submitting to His will, the ‘more’ that you’re hoping for will turn into the ‘more’ that you experience. 

This Isn’t Going To Be Easy

Desiring your faith to grow, and knowing God wants your faith to grow, doesn’t mean fully living out your faith is going to be easy. This isn’t to discourage you, but to prepare you for a journey of endurance. Even though I hate math, I wish the knowledge of how to fully live out my faith was like solving a math problem. Tell me what the formula is, I’ll do it, and then I’ll have a more robust faith. Instead, fully living out your faith is a life-long process of trials, setbacks, and growth. Theologian and pastor A.W. Tozer affirms this refrain, “I have often wished there were some ways to bring modern Christians into a deeper spiritual life painlessly by short easy lessons; but such wishes are in vain… No shortcuts exist!”1

When discouragement arises, it’s helpful to remember that Jesus promises to be with you (see Mt. 28:20), and God’s Word promises that the Holy Spirit will give you the strength you need (see Eph. 1:17-20). These verses don’t promise it will be easy. In fact, Jesus warns that following Him will come with great difficulties (see Jn. 15:20). Know it’s going to be trying, but never forget the challenge and reassurance of Jesus in the book of Matthew: 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (16:24-26)

Fully living out your faith is a high calling. It means you must “give up your life,” but this high calling comes with a priceless promise, “you will save it.” Jesus is essentially saying, “You know all that stuff that I’m asking you to give up to follow me? All that stuff that you feel like you can’t live without? All those things that might make this tough? Those are nothing compared to the value of your soul and the value of what you get if you follow me: You get true life!” 

Jesus is calling His disciples (and you) to give up what you think is of great value for something of eternally better value. The life and hope Jesus offers to those who follow Him are supremely superior to the difficulty that following Him will bring. It may be much easier to coast through life, ignoring the longing in your heart and the calling of God, but deep down inside, that’s not what you want…that’s not what God wants. If you give up on fully living out your faith because it is difficult, you will miss out on the bigger, better, eternal reality of joy (see Jn. 15:11), rewards (see Lk. 6:22-23), rest (see Mt. 11:28), peace (see Jn. 16:33), and living life to the fullest (see Jn. 10:10). As you gather tools and are challenged to fully live out your faith, keep these promises in mind because it will be tough, but it will absolutely be worth it.

What Do You Want More Of?

Throughout this book, your understanding of how to read the Bible, how to engage in spiritual disciplines, spiritual gifts, and how to serve, mentor, and evangelize will increase. Each chapter shows you the importance of these elements, inspiring you and giving you tools to integrate into your life. By the end of your reading, you will have a wealth of information that will allow you to develop and deepen your faith. As exciting as this is, and as eager as I am to help you fully live out your faith, there is a danger that I need to address before we go any further. The danger is exposed with an honest response to this question: What do you want more of? 

Reading this book may have you dismissing the question with this answer: “Obviously, I want to fully live out my faith.” I want to caution you not to ignore the question with this quick, easy answer. Here’s why: Just reading a book that gives you an understanding of ways to fully live out your faith does not equate to fully living out your faith (see Jas 2:14-20). You will never move to fully living out your faith if all you do is gain knowledge of ‘how to’, without putting ‘how to’ into practice. 

An honest answer to the question “What do you want more of?” will not be answered by how your mouth responds, but by how you incorporate these practices into your life. This book is not written to make you an expert in your knowledge of how to deepen your faith. It is here to give you guidance and tools to implement so that you can become more like Christ. I pray that this book will equip you to live out your faith in a way where your action and attitudes look more like Jesus. I pray it helps you engage in a richer relationship with God, creating a greater experience of the fruit of God’s Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

As your faith becomes fuller, I hope your growth affects how you interact with everyone in your life, leading to better relationships. I long for you to see the world in new colors of God’s goodness. I pray that this book gives you the tools to draw close to God’s heart, a heart that breaks for those who don’t know Him. Correctly approaching this book should move you to elevating your interaction with God, cultivating a selfless, pursuing love that moves you to serve and love those around you with a heart impassioned to show God’s grace. If...