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FAITH-ACTION Has To Do With
How You Believe
Thomas Couldn’t Take Faith-Action
John 11:5-8 (NIV) Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days. Then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone You, and yet You are going back there?” John 11:16 (NIV) Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Thomas had seen Jesus do many miracles; yet, he still couldn’t put his total faith in Jesus. There are those who will only believe what they see. They start out with doubt, reservations, skepticism , and won’t get their hopes up. They don’t want to BELIEVE and then get let down. So they are cautious, wait to see how things turn out, and protect their emotions until they see that all went well. However, Jesus wants us to put our trust in Him. He wants us to read the Bible, see how He provided good things, and then BELIEVE that He will do the same for you.
Thomas Couldn’t Hear Jesus
John 14:2-3 (NIV) In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. Thomas wasn’t listening to this; Thomas was busy doubting, worring, and being distracted with his own thoughts. Jesus just told him that HE was going to be the transportation to His eternal Kingdom. He couldn’t take faith-action because he couldn’t hear Jesus say, “I will come back and take you.” From that moment on, Thomas should have know that Jesus was his way to the place Jesus was going to; but, doubt, distrust, confusion, and human effort controlled his mind.
Thomas Couldn’t Agree With Jesus
John 14:4 (NIV) You know the way to the place where I am going.” When the Bible says something like, Rom 10:9-10 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. You can’t wait and see if it worked; if you do, it won’t work. 2 Cor 5:7 (NIV) We live by faith, not by sight. Living is to be based on faith-action; everything you DO all during your day is to be based on faith in what Jesus IS doing in and through your life. If it doesn’t “look” like it is working and you base your faith on the way it looks, then faith-action dies at that moment.
When Jesus told Thomas, You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas didn’t believe Him. He checked his brain and couldn’t find any evidence in there that told him he know the way. You can do the same; as you go about your day, you can look at the situations and circumstances and “believe” that you don’t know how to handle that situation with Jesus. But, if you ASK Jesus to help you with it, HE WILL! Taking faith-action requires that you BELIEVE in Jesus. He isn’t asking you to believe that the situation will work out. He is asking you to BELIEVE that HE will make it work out for your good. Rom 8:28 (NIV) AND WE KNOW that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Ask To Believe And Act
John 14:5 (NIV) Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus had just said: “John 14:4 (NIV) You know the way to the place where I am going.”” The battle with faith-action is, your brain may not be able to come up with the answer; so, you can decide that you don’t know how to do something. But, faith-action is to look to Jesus for HOW and wait until He causes the answer to pop up in your mind. If you decide YOU don’t know and base your action on that, then you won’t be able to take faith-action. If you decide YOU do know, and base your life on that, then you will take ACTION but not FAITH-ACTION.
When Will You Start Believing?
John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If Thomas didn’t believe it when Jesus said: John 14:4 (NIV) “You know the way to the place where I am going.” What would cause him to believe it when Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” What should Thomas have done to get himself started believing those things Jesus said? When Jesus said: John 14:4 (NIV) “You know the way to the place where I am going.”, Thomas needed to ASK Jesus to help him BELIEVE he knew where Jesus was going. Instead, Thomas said: ““Lord, we DON’T know where You are going.”
Once Thomas learned how to simply ASK Jesus to help him with the first statement, that would help him know how to ASK Jesus to help him with: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Faith-action keeps failing you for as long as you keep reading the Bible and feeling like it isn’t true of you. You look at your life and aren’t able to see what the Bible says is happening in your life. So, you accept the “fact” that the Bible is TRUE but not for you. 2 Cor 5:7 (NIV) We LIVE by faith, not by sight. This Scripture is taking faith-action by LIVING on the basis of the fact that what the Bible says is true. If it isn’t being manifest in your life, then you must apply your two tool sets to it until it does. Practicing faith-action can involve mistakes, failures, misunderstandings, and partial successes. But, as long as you LIVE by faith, you will keep DESIRING, STUDYING, PRAYING, BELIEVING, LOVING, and trying to take FAITH-ACTION.
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Is Seeing Believing?
John 20:24 (NIV) Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. Thomas was somewhere else when the rest of the Disciples got a chance to see Jesus. So, he was going to have to base his faith on what others told him. Just because he missed the meeting didn’t mean he had to miss the truth. If the Bible tells you something and others tell you that it happened to them, you don’t have to wait until it happens to you before you BELIEVE. As a matter of fact, Jesus will require you to BELIEVE it BEFORE it will happen to you. Faith and faith-action MUST come into you BEFORE you will EVER experience it in your life. If you aren’t willing to BELIEVE the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and your heavenly Father, you will never get to LIVE the Jesus life.
You Need Proof
John 20:25 (NIV) So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” Your mind needs evidences that something is true; you have to be convinced of something or you will be gullible. You can’t just take people’s word for something, you have to base your life on truth, not people’s opinions and experiences. So, how are you going to find out what the truth is without demanding that you get your own personal experience on the matter?
Jesus had proven Himself to Thomas over and over again. The disciples had proven themselves to Thomas over and over again. When you get to a place where you know for a fact that Jesus and His people are trustworthy, there has to be a time when you start trusting them. If it hasn’t happened to you, but, it has happened to those who have earned your trust, then you should be able to give them “the benefit of the doubt.” You don’t have to go around acting like your Christian friends are untrustworthy. If Jesus told Thomas several times that He was going to be raised from the dead in three days, that should have been enough to help to assist Thomas in giving the information some plausibility. But, what did Thomas say? “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.”
Jesus Will Give You Proof
John 20:26 (NIV) A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” If you are struggling with faith and faith-action, all you have to do is stick with Jesus and His people and He will see to it that you get what you need. Even if you have a really bad attitude about certain truths in the Bible, if you will keep giving Jesus opportunities to prove it to you, He will. Jesus wants you to get the breakthoughs you need in believing and taking faith-action. He wants you to be able to start LIVING those things that have been credited to your perfect record with God. So, because Thomas stayed around, Jesus showed up and gave him another chance to be set free from bad attitudes and weak faith.
Faith For Skeptics
John 20:27 (NIV) Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas’ attitude wasn’t just that he needed proof; he had an unbelieving attitude that started with skepticism. He was starting us unbelief, doubting that it WASN’T true, and rejecting people’s word. He wasn’t in a neutral attitude where he was WILLING to be convinced. It would have been okay for him to be open to the possibility. He may be waiting for adequate proof before he made his final decision. But, Thomas wasn’t doing that; his mind was already made up. He had decided to NOT BELIEVE until he had adequate proof. You need to keep you mind open to the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and your heavenly Father. Things may not be happening to you that are happening to others; but, if you will keep an open mind, Jesus will help you get the TRUTH on the matter.
Starting With Doubt But Open To Truth
John 20:28 (NIV) Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas wasn’t one of those who was NEVER going to be able to be convinced. He just always started with the “worse-case-scenario.” He felt like it probably wasn’t true; but, if he could get enough proof, he would at least be open minded enough to BELIEVE. Jesus wants you to approach Him with a neutral attitude, if you just can’t BELIEVE the Bible, Him, the Holy Spirit, or your heavenly Father. If you come to Him with doubt, He will rebuke you for not coming to Him with a neutral mind. Thomas’ information had come through other people; it was acceptible for him to wait until he heard it from Jesus before he made his final decision. But, Thomas said: “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE IT.”
Reading Is Believing
John 20:29 (NIV) Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” If the Bible says it, you are RESPONSIBLE for believing it. You must not wait until it happens to you; it is your responsibility to apply your two tool sets to the situation until it DOES happen to you. After you have involved yourself in ASKING, SEEKING, and KNOCKING, you must then DESIRE, STUDY, PRAY, and then wait on Jesus to give you the faith so you can BELIEVE. But, once Jesus gives you the faith to believe, you must apply The Three Keys To All Of Christianity to LOVE and FAITH-ACTION. Whatever the Bible says, must be LIVED through your life. Gal 6:9 (NIV) Let us not become weary in DOING good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
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