Magnificent Journey by James Bryan Smith Ch. 5

THE MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY by James Bryan Smith

Chapter 5—Relaxing into Faith

1.  Opening Prayer, from a position of full pardon, full acceptance
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Great faith, like great strength in general, is revealed by the ease of its workings…Most of what we think we see as the struggle of faith is really the struggle to act as if we had faith when in fact we do not.  Dallas Willard
2.  Have you ever felt like Steve?
Compartmentalising God
Trying and striving—where does it get you?
It’s all up to God—the Spirit within.

3.  Virtues of Surrender
Faith, hope, love.  We can’t do them.
Dependent on grace.  
Theological (spiritual) virtues vs. natural virtues.

4.  True Faith is not blind
John 4: 43-53                                                                   Cindy Harris
 Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household. 54 Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.  (NET Bible)

         Did you ever wonder why Jesus used miracles in His ministry? Scripture foretold that Messiah would heal the sick, make the blind to see, cause the deaf to hear, the lame to leap. The world was hurting, and God had been silent for 400 years.  The people prayed for relief.  They were weary of ancient words spoken by rabbis—blind faith.  They needed to see God themselves.
         Even that spiritual giant Moses needed something tangible. He had heard about the God of the Hebrews, but the Burning Bush created faith in his heart.
         Jesus proclaimed the arrival of the Kingdom of God, and to back it up, He showed the sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame the reality of the Kingdom by healing their broken bodies and their beaten-down hearts.  He didn’t ask anyone to have blind faith. He showed them.  They needed a reason to believe.  He awakened their faith, based on reality.
         The royal official lived in Cana. He had heard about Jesus’ miracle with the wine.  He wasn’t just taking a stab in the dark-- he had reasonfor the faith that Jesus could help his son.  The healing made him even more sure.  Next time he hoped for something from God, he could have confidence in God’s goodness, convinced even though he hadn’t seen it yet (Hebrews 11:1).
         If we’re honest, I’m sure we can each point to a similar moment in our own lives.  We asked and God responded to awaken faith in our hearts, not based on words alone, but on proof of His goodness.  We can believe Him. True faith is not blind.

5.  Abram and the Covenant—shooing away the birds p. 79/80
When have you waited in faith like that?
Jesus went to the cross in faith—for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross…

6.  Faith does not come out of nowhere.
I John 4:16—why does John believe that God loves us?
Surrender to whom we know God to be.
David already had proof that God would save him from Goliath—lion, bears.

7.  Pray specifically.
“Most people’s prayers are so vague they would not know if God actually answered them.”  Dallas Willard
Record your prayers in a journal. Check them off as they are answered to increase your faith.
Philippians 4:6
God reveals Himself so that we can have faith.  John 6: 67-69

8.  Faith and Works
The nature of faith is to act.  Faith find fulfillment in action.  James 2:22
If we truly believe God, we will work out that faith in response to His love.

9.  Day by day
Everyday in an opportunity to let God out of the compartment we have put him in, and into our daily lives.
Worry is a red flag—we have not let God into that part of our living.
Walking by faith is a way to 
            Grow in grace and knowledge of God
            Live from above
            Listen to God
            Act accordingly
It gets easier with practice.  How do you practice your faith? P. 88
Relax into faith.  There is no need to fake it anymore.

10.  Let It Be Done for Me—Soul Training Exercise p. 89-90

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