Things I want to do with my faith

With a title like that, you’d expect me to start with something grand and altruistic. Only a fleshy, craven, self-absorbed person would start this list with anything less than “create world peace” or “evangelize the entire world.” It would be especially shocking if someone topped this list with something worldly like a new car or a bigger house. Well….prepare to be shocked I guess. Believing in a new car is right at the top of my list of things I’d like to do with my faith. See, I think this list needs to start with the easy things and then progress into the more difficult things like world peace. I think it would be easier to believe in a new car than world peace don’t you? I’m not talking about just any new car. I’m talking about a jeep in fact. A green jeep with a 3” lift, a brushbar, a winch and foglights. I’m also believing it will have both the soft and hard tops with it and the stereo sound bar that attaches to the roll bar. A person with a dry wit might understate that I’ve given this matter “some” thought. This is something that I would like to accomplish with my faith. And if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit that some part of you wants something very similar. Maybe for you it’s a Porsche or ’66 Corvette or Lambourghini Countach or stainless steel kitchen appliances or a trip to Europe. Whoever you are, there is something in this world and of this world that makes you stop and stare. And you’d like to know how to use your faith to believe it in. It’s alright to admit this. In fact, it’s really harmful NOT to admit this. You see, I think the world has been robbed of some great feats of faith by this superficial spirituality that says it’s carnal to desire anything of this world. Because of this teaching, so many of us have not learned how to exercise our faith on a grand scale because we don’t dare exercise it on a small scale. I’m very glad my father in the faith learned how to believe in some money for a pair of shoes. After he believed in some shoes, he went on to believe in some other nice clothes and now he’s using his faith to believe in some really grand things. I’m also very glad that Brother Hagin learned how to believe in his healing. Talk about a grand scale. The world was changed forever when Brother Hagin threw his legs off the bed and tried to stand. Your life and my life would be completely different if that hadn’t happened.

I can’t help but think about how different life is for some people in Haiti today. There is a good number of people in Haiti that have food, shelter, medical attention and eternal hope because my spiritual father led us to believe for a boat. This boat that we drew in with our faith was the only vessel available to reach some of the victims of a tsunami in that region. Without that boat, relief would not have arrived for several more weeks. These are the kind of things that faith can do. This is the difference we can make with our faith. But sadly so few us ever achieve great things with our faith because we were taught it’s carnal to believe for anything material.

It’s less carnal to admit you like some nice things in this world than it is to try to defend your sense of false humility. Denying yourself the finer things in life is not humility. It’s actually quite the opposite. It’s pride. You think you have a right to the moral high ground and are spiritually more mature than people who desire things in this world. That’s spiritual pride and it’ll kill you if you let it. You’re better off just admitting that you’d enjoy having some nice things. I know we’ve been told for hundreds of years not to desire those things by preachers who distort the words of Christ but it’s really OK to desire the finer things in life. Tell me which is worse, wanting better living conditions or lying about wanting better living conditions? It’s not a sin to want. It is a sin to lie. Who could blame you for wanting the best life has to offer? What’s wrong with wanting that? Nothing. It’s NOT wrong to desire the finer things in life. I’ll tell what’s really wrong is living a lie pretending you are not interested in worldly things while you do your best to accumulate them apart from God. If you don’t think we, God’s children, should have a nice home, then why are you living in one? Shouldn’t the money you’re spending on that be spent sending Bibles to North Korea? The truth is, we all want the finer things in life but most of us have been brow beat into believing that it’s not right to ask God for them. We’ve been taught that it’s not right to use your faith for life’s luxuries. Why has the enemy worked so hard to fool us into believing it’s wrong to use our faith to believe in a new car? Because look what can happen when someone learns to use their faith? Pulpits have taught us from Matthew 6:31-32 which says don’t be like the pagans who chase after food, clothing, and shelter, God knows you need them. And then they combine that with James 4:3 which says you ask but don’t receive because you ask with the wrong motives. I’m certainly NOT going to argue with scripture but when presented this way, we are left to draw their own conclusions when things don’t get added to us. Most of us spend our whole lives feeling like we have to plead and beg things from God’s hands. This is not true. And most of us also think that until we have grasped perfection in our Christian walk, not just seeking the Kingdom of God but actually finding it, God won’t bless us with those things. The implication is the only thing we should be asking God for is spiritual things which means we need to add the rest to ourselves by our own efforts. Don’t ask God for food, clothing and houses, God knows you need them and He’ll pass them out to you as He sees fit depending on how pleased He is with your efforts at seeking His kingdom.

I think the Lord may be somewhat frustrated with all the wasted time and energy spent trying to gain stuff with human effort when the faster more efficient route would be to just believe it in. Do some sowing and reaping, and confessing and thanking instead of all that sweat of the brow stuff. Think of all the kingdom time that has been wasted by people putting God’s agenda behind their monthly expenses. Think of all the prayers and other resources that could be devoted to kingdom matters that have been squandered into worries about our car payments and house payments. Or time that we’ve spent working 2 and 3 jobs that could have been better spent in direct service to Him. Think about how much time could have been devoted to gaining revelation, real answers, about reaching the lost that has been spent in anxiety over finances. I think it frustrates God to see so many of us anxiously fretting over the cable bill when He’s more than willing to effortlessly meet every need. I think He’d be happier with many of us if we just showed enough faith in His goodness to cast our cares upon Him and then focus in on Kingdom matters. To do that would mean we’d have to be convinced that lack is not part of his plan for us. We’d have to be convinced that if we stopped focusing on the bills, someone would take care of them.

How can we possibly avoid being preoccupied with the basic necessities of life? What would make it possible for any of us to put aside our concerns for our physical welfare? Let me ask it this way, if you had a million dollars set aside somewhere, would you be stressing over the monthly bills? No. You could lay aside your concerns about those things because you know you have the resources to meet those needs. If we knew we had the resources to meet all our needs, would we be wasting any time or tears worrying about it? Not one minute would be spent fretting over a bill. We’d stop asking silly questions like “What are we gonna do?” “How are we gonna pay this.” Well, in light of Philippians 4:19, why can’t we do that right now? Maybe you personally don’t have assets in the millions but you know someone who does don’t you? Do you have a good relationship with that person? Do you think if you asked Him to meet a need, He’d say “Yes”? Do you think He’d EVER say “No”? Then for the sake of all those souls that need to hear the gospel and don’t have any more time for us to waste crying about our phone bill, let's just flat out ask God for what we need and want. Let's trust Him to keep His promise to supply all our needs and move on. Let's stop wasting time hemhawing about whether God wants us to have a new car or not. If you want a new car, ask Him for a new car. Don’t waste time and energy trying to gain a new car in your own strength and resources. Ask Him for it, ask boldly. He respects that. He responds to the kind of faith that will stand boldly before His throne and trust Him to do what He says He’ll do.

In His word, He promises to supply all our needs according to His riches. He said He came to give us life superabundantly, He promises to give back to us in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, He told us in the parable of the prodigal son that when we return from our self-absorbed wasteful journey He will shower us with the finest things in His treasury, He is eager for us to have all the nice things that life has to offer. Why? Because He loves us and that’s His generous nature. It’s in His generous nature to overwhelm His loved ones with His goodness. What’s a brand new car to someone who created all the stars in a hundred billion galaxies? What are new appliances to someone who created this and every other planet? More important than CAN we ask God for the things we want is SHOULD we ask God for what we want? He wants us to use your faith for those things so we learn how to believe in some REALLY big things. Your dream car, your dream kitchen, your dream vacation is small potatoes. We can go on to do great things with our faith, let's not be shy about asking for the small and grand things.