George Mueller, he must have had the gift of faith, as he establish an orphanage and raised up support and millions of dollars and yet never ever sent out any request for funds!
Acting in Faith – Examples past and present we can learn from
- Thread starter CPerkins
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I agree, in the end many others agreed and attended his funeral it looked like it was the entire town of Bristol that showed up.
Amen, Bob.
Acting in faith is a great deal of work, primarily getting past the idea of doing it on your own. Letting go so that God can do the work is half of the battle.
cp
It was said that he prayed for think 40 years to have his best friend get saved, and was saved on day of his funeral!
I imagine that somethings are fables, but it is obvious that he was a great witness to what it is to act in faith. There are many others as well and I hope many will share what they have witnessed, came across, or otherwise read within God's word.
cp
Acting in faith is putting faith to work in one's life. Faith is a gift of God, so it is not something we can have without God. As you quoted earlier from James
Jam 2:18-20 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (KJV)
So acting in faith, is trusting God. It is also believing that God's word is sure and true and acting on that knowledge.
God must be present in us.
John 15:4-7 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 15 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 16 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 17 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (KJV)
I hope this clarifies the meaning for you, of "acting in faith."
cp
How long did Abraham have to wait upon the Lord in order to receive isaac, the child of the promise?
Hello YeshuaFan;
How about Isaiah? His ministry spanned 60 years which to me was acting in faith before he was executed. Many of those years were not pleasant.
I want to share this. Praise God when we can act in faith, but many acting in faith doesn't always mean they will complete it.
Your thoughts, brother?
According to Jewish tradition, his body was stuffed into a hollow log, and was split in half!
My dear brother.......you have never seen anyone more "old fashioned" than me.
I am one who remembers and knew how to use a Sears and Robuck catalog!!!
Abraham was 75 years old when he first received the promise, and Gen. 21:5 tells us he was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
I am going right now to talk to my wife and read that verse to her and she if she is willing.
If she does not die laughing and If I post tomorrow, you will know that she did not kill me in the night.
Why does there have to be a witness of something you do in faith to be validated?????
My I ask you what you think is the most important thing that God has told us to do???
Mow the yard of the neighbor so that the whole neighborhood can see you?
Take a meal to a friend, but make sue there is some there to see you?
Take a relative to a doctor visit and have him sign your travel voucher?
Be Argumentative with someone on a website over nothing?
Those are all good deeds to do and maybe you will have someone be a witness and maybe you won't, but is that the most important thing we can do.
(Maybe not all of them).
It must be remembered that every believer is called to be a gospel pioneer as well. We are all missionaries in whatever context God has placed us—whether that be as a student, a teacher, a business man, or some other profession. Wherever God has placed us, he placed us there to be a witness.
Matthew 28:18-19 says............,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Now if you share the gospel with someone, they do not accept today but maybe a month later they think it through and then accept Christ.......
but there is NO Witness------Are they saved because there was no witness?????
We All should do good deeds for others NOT because someone will see us but BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE TO SEE US!!!!!
That my dear friend is what Christian Character is!!!! DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING BECAUSE IT NEEDED TO BE DONE!`
That is 100% true and I agree completely. But that does not say or suggest that what we do must be witnessed by anyone!
The Pharisees acted to be seen of men, true Christians act to glorify God, and care little what people may think of them, except as by their conduct others may he brought to honor God, yet they should so live that people may see from their conduct what is the proper nature of their religion.
If our good deeds must be witnessed, then who are you doing those good deeds for........the one who needs them done.....or "You"?
It seems I had no idea what "witness in faith" meant. Regardless, that is another topic. I hope to continue to discuss examples of "acting in faith."
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (KJV)
Noah believed God when he was told of God that there would be a worldwide flood. We see God telling Noah what he was going to do:
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (KJV)
Noah did all that the Lord commanded of him.
1 Pet 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (KJV)
So what was Noah's act of faith? First of all he believed God, he didn't question what he was told, he just did it. No doubt Noah and his sons endured much ridicule as they built the ark. They probably asked, why such a large ship, how are you going to assemble, move on board, care for all of these animals safely? It was probably a project that took a long time to build all the while Noah and his sons endured ridicule and maintained their faith in Gods words.
Noah had to rely on God for the material to make the ark, for able bodied help, for the means of bringing the animals and caring for them. It was a huge project. Many details we don't know, but that act is memorialized for our instruction.
cp
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (KJV)
Noah believed God when he was told of God that there would be a worldwide flood. We see God telling Noah what he was going to do:
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (KJV)
Noah did all that the Lord commanded of him.
1 Pet 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (KJV)
So what was Noah's act of faith? First of all he believed God, he didn't question what he was told, he just did it. No doubt Noah and his sons endured much ridicule as they built the ark. They probably asked, why such a large ship, how are you going to assemble, move on board, care for all of these animals safely? It was probably a project that took a long time to build all the while Noah and his sons endured ridicule and maintained their faith in Gods words.
Noah had to rely on God for the material to make the ark, for able bodied help, for the means of bringing the animals and caring for them. It was a huge project. Many details we don't know, but that act is memorialized for our instruction.
cp
The question is used it for what though?
Major. Your story is awesome. 
So, Does acting in faith always have to have a happy ending? Well maybe not...at least not in a usual sense....
I once was led in complete faith to uncover a colleague at work. I felt like an undercover cop but it was eye opening, as what transpired was that, although she was very friendly and fun, she was running to the office tittle tattling about me to the manager. What I was led to do, was fish out the letters from under the managers office to see if she had written any letters to the manager about me. I found one that was just a note with no envelope and could read it openly! There was a full list of really silly things she had wrote about me to the managers.
The complaints were so petty, I shook my head in disbelief.
That day, God showed me not anger, but compassion, and I pitied her ways.
So, Does acting in faith always have to have a happy ending? Well maybe not...at least not in a usual sense....
I once was led in complete faith to uncover a colleague at work. I felt like an undercover cop but it was eye opening, as what transpired was that, although she was very friendly and fun, she was running to the office tittle tattling about me to the manager. What I was led to do, was fish out the letters from under the managers office to see if she had written any letters to the manager about me. I found one that was just a note with no envelope and could read it openly! There was a full list of really silly things she had wrote about me to the managers.
The complaints were so petty, I shook my head in disbelief.
That day, God showed me not anger, but compassion, and I pitied her ways.
We can trust or have confidence in God when we know we are asking according to his will.
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (KJV)
God expresses his will in the scriptures. Often we need to pray for discernment in a matter, so that we can understand the will of God.
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (KJV)
God expresses his will in the scriptures. Often we need to pray for discernment in a matter, so that we can understand the will of God.
Decorating the outhouse door!
I'd like to enlighten my story where the acting in faith comes in. My late Grandfather and I looked at a Sears and Roebuck catalog and found this really cool electric guitar. It was only $6.98 so he ordered it for me. I was 11 years old.
When it came (in the mail) I knew something was wrong. I took the guitar out of the box and it was only 15 inches long. This is where the examples past and present we can learn from comes in. Next time pay attention to what you're asking.
The guys in the band made fun of my little toy guitar. lol!
The God send in this story is my Grandpa didn't know the difference but I thanked him big time for buying me the gift.