HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR FAITH - PART II - Taking action

(First read the Introduction and Part I)

Now that you've got your seed (that you suspect might be either a sweet pepper or a chilli pepper... only time will tell...😬😆), you need to get it into the ground. So... do you just push it into the soil anywhere...?

If you have ever read The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) then you might have noticed that our little seed of faith can be a fussy little fellow! It needs a fertile soil - which, in plain English, is the equivalent of an open, teachable heart. Yes, if we want our faith to grow, we need to be ready to prepare the soil of our heart through soul searching and by humbling ourselves. We are so quick to assert that we know everything and so slow to listen and change our ways...

At this point you might wonder how long you will have to toil before obtaining a "soil" that is anything near ready, but in truth, it's much easier than you think! It only really takes a single action to activate the process: making the choice to surrender.

The most powerful capacity that God had built into man when He created us, is the ability to choose. Yes, it got us in trouble back in Eden, but it now also has the ability to reposition us! Eden was an amazing place where man and God enjoyed an intimate relationship. Initially sin, and then centuries of profound legalism, have robbed us of our heritage, but Jesus' death and resurrection were game-changers for us. We have the privilege and the authority today to set things right again and enjoy that wonderful intimacy with our God again!

Once you plant a seed, you can't go open the soil every day to check on it - it will stall the process. The equivalent of this is stubbornly remaining on the throne of your own heart. Under these conditions your faith has no way to expand - it will die or simply lie dormant. You need to choose to hand over the reins to God. Of course you might have to do it over and over again (I still have to do it daily), but soon you will see how your mind starts to become renewed. You will recognise it from the subtle change in the everyday life-choices that you make. Suddenly watching movies where the Name of Jesus is being profaned will start making you feel uneasy and you will end up quitting watching anything that dishonors Him. The little white lies of before 🤥? Your conscience won't let you off the hook that easy anymore!

As you find yourself migrating more and more toward a more righteous lifestyle, you will find yourself growing closer and closer to God too, and THAT, my friend is what will fuel your desire to keep on keeping on 😌.

I am not going to lie to you... it isn't all fun and games...

What happens to a seed when it is planted? Well... it must die, in a sense, before new life can sprout from it. It will be no different for you! You are going to have to die! 😳

Contrary to what this may sound like, the process is not that horrible at all. The hardest part is the initial CHOICE to lay certain things down and to DISCIPLINE yourself toward sticking to your decision.

Here, I am specifically referring to things that the flesh craves, that we really think we need in our lives, but that brings separation between God and us. It can be that addiction that you currently perceive as "helping you through the day", or it can be sleeping around, or even persistent cursing.

It is a process that takes time. It is only in surrendering to God that you will really feel the need to lie down these things, and it is only by giving Him the control that you will have the capacity to lay them down. It absolutely serves no purpose to legalistically oblige yourself to refuse certain things, if your heart is not convinced that they must go. You'll simply backslide after a while. And if you try to accomplish it in your own strength, you will most likely fail!

The dying to self process, just like the "soil-preparation" process, is activated by a single initial action: ask God to help you. Ask Him to perform heart surgery on you, to replace the heart of stone, that stubbornly reverts to sinning, with a heart of "flesh" that beats for loving God. Ask Him to change your desires so that they will crave the things of the Spirit and be disgusted by the things that only feed the flesh.

If this is the "stage" where you find yourself right now, then you have a few important choices to consider. Think them over and count the cost, but remember that the sooner you start, the sooner you will be able to harvest the fruit of faith!

Go to Part III