Living Your Belief

Now that you’ve chosen what you believe it’s time to live out your beliefs. Whatever your decision, be true to what you have chosen and be authentic. This isn’t a time to act like you believe and really are unsure. Your life should be a reflection of your beliefs.

So what does that look like? It looks real from the inside out. Have you ever known someone who acts a certain way but something just doesn’t add up? You have a sense that they are not really what they portray themselves to be. Maybe you have acted this way too. Your behavior depends on the people you are around and it really bugs you deep down that you act this way.

What do you think it means to live your beliefs or faith authentically? 

I desperately want to live authentically in every situation. This is a choice, a conscious decision to behave as Christ wants me to behave. It’s not an act.  It’s living a credible life dedicated to the One I have chosen to follow ~ The One who knows me best and loves me most!

How can a person change from living a faith that is hidden to a faith that is open? 

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” ~  Joshua 24:14-15. 

God told the people of Israel to do two things.

The first is to "fear" Him. This means to place Him in the position of "awe" in your life. He's to be your "WOW!" To understand who He is and how He alone has the power of life and death ~ judgment and forgiveness.

Secondly, He tells them to "serve him wholeheartedly." To serve Him properly is to understand He is the Master and we are His servants. He's a just King who treats His people well by loving them as His own and providing for their every need.

It's our choice who we will serve ~ who we will believe. He won't allow us to serve Him and others at the same time. It's all or nothing. Sounds a little strict? Well, He knows that serving more than one master isn't serving at all. It's serving self by believing whatever supports our desires at the time.

"But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Everyone can choose what they want to do...whom they want to serve. This passage in Joshua lays out the choices the Isaelites faced as they were entering to live in the Promised Land after living in the desert for forty years.

First they could choose the gods of the pagan people whose land they had just acquired. Or they could serve the God of the Universe who had just delivered them from the bondage of salvery in Egypt and wandering in the desert. He never took their choice away.

Now what in the world do the ancient people of Israel have in common with you and me? That was thousands of years ago. Who are these Amorites and what do we need to even know them? Good questions huh? I thought so too.

By looking at of lives of faith and belief in the One True God shows us examples of how it is done. We learn that Joshua gave instructions to those who chose to follow God and to those who didn’t. Let’s look at what that entails by taking a trip back to the time of Joshua and God’s chosen people:

Fear the Lord
“For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:11-2 (NLT)

This type of fear is reverent fear. It’s a respectfully “knowing-that-He-is-God” kind of fear. There are benefits to fearing the Lord God, placing Him in the highest place of honor in life. This is the most wonderful and awe-inspiring benefit possible. It's one that no other religion offers. This phenomenal benefit is grace at its finest. It's the forgiveness of sin. He has removed the barrier from Him and us.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

God provided a way to Him through His Son Jesus. No other religion has a perfect Savior, one who was willing to lay down His life for all people. All other religions of the world tell us we have to do better as we try and try to reach God. Those who choose to follow God's way through Jesus, accept that He came down as God in human flesh and felt and lived and loved and died and rose again. He did it all for us. All we have to do is accept this free gift.

Serve the Lord with Faithfulness
“Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:24

Serving God faithfully is being a servant of His here on earth. It’s being an active participant in what God is doing in and through those that trust and believe in Jesus. The scripture says we are to remember that God has given us the promise of eternal life as our reward if we choose to serve Christ as our Master, our Leader, our Lord.

Throw Away Other gods
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14

Throwing away other gods doesn’t just mean little carved idols that come to mind when we think of gods. It means what we focued on to lead our lives before we decided to follow Christ. It's letting god of the past and looking forward to what Christ Jesus leads us toward. We run in this spiritual race toward the prize of being in the presence of God because of Jesus. It's an awesome place free from any trouble and pain, illness or disease, hate and fear. It's a place of total freedom.

Our “gods” of the past want to haunt us. The Lord wants us to forget them, to put them behind us and move on. This is really difficult but running a race is not easy. Our goal should be, must be, “the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Can’t you hear Him encouraging you to run towards Him? Not only that He is running beside you and behind you wanting you to move forward. He lives within you cheering you on to your goal. What other “god” encourages a person like that? There is no other. God loves and encourages us. He has taken care of everything so that we can have a relationship with Him.

Real Life
     It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I realized that I wanted to live my life authentically for the Lord. Up until that time I had just gone through the motions of being a Christian. My faith was the faith of the church I grew up in and the way my parents believed. None of this was bad. It just wasn’t complete.
     I guess what I’m trying to say is this; living out my beliefs required me to decide that Jesus lives in me and has a plan and purpose for me. It meant that I would have to choose to follow His plans. I had to listen to and follow what He had mapped out for me.
     Living out my faith demands that I go to Jesus for everything. From the little to the huge, He must be my Leader. And to move forward in my faith, I must believe that He has only my best in mind.
I may not understand why He wants me to do things I don’t understand, like forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, and allowing His power to work it all out. Living out my faith is deciding that Jesus knows me best and loves me the most.
     I struggle daily with this, but day-by-day, moment-by-moment, I have grown into living out my faith.  I am getting stronger and more comfortable by choosing Jesus to be my “Everything.” It's not always easy, but its the freedom God gives me to choose Him or not.

Your Turn
Have you taken the opportunity to really live you’re your beliefs? Are you putting on an act or are you living authentically? Take this time to tell Jesus how you are living your faith. Ask Him to dwell within you. Pour your heart out to Him.