Moore Beth - Believing god

Faith is the way believers jump on board with God and participate in countless wonderful things He has a mind to do. Faith happens when believers believe. This book is about developing an action verb faith that invites the exhilaration of holy participation. Its about getting out there where we can feel the wind of Gods Spirit blowing in our faces. Its about learning that we dont have to put down the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) to raise up the Shield of Faith. The way I see it, thats why God gave us two hands. If we want to live abundantly and victoriously, we must pick up both. To pick up the Sword of the Spirit without the Shield of Faith is to shrivel and dry up in the desert of legalism. To pick up the Shield of Faith without the Sword of the Spirit is to try walking by faith on quicksand.

God thrust the Sword of the Spirit in my feeble hand twenty years ago when He sent me into a young adult Sunday school class as the teacher. Apply that last word loosely. Actually, I was an idiot. I got a brand new Bible for my new journey and I meant to keep it that way. I neglected it. Fumbled it. Dropped it. Opened it. Yawned over it. Whined over it. Cried over it. Begged God to help me with it. Then slowly but surely, one discovery at a time, I fell head over heels in love with it and its brilliant Author. I dug my fingernails into it and vowed never to let it go. I may have a junkyard of broken vows somewhere but, to the glory of God, that one is not in the heap.

While strengthening my grip on the Sword of the Spirit, God began wedging the Shield of Faith in my other hand so that Id learn to use them the way He intended: in tandem. Mind you, I thought I had plenty of faith. After all, how much faith does a church-going, church-serving soul need? I would soon learn the answer: a whole lot more than I had. As forcefully as God has ever spoken to my heart, He said, You believe in Me, Beth. Now I want you to believe Me. The words believe me arose out of Isaiah 43:10 like a dead man leaping to his feet. You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me.

Believe me. Believe me . BELIEVE ME.

Those two words have echoed unceasingly in my mind ever since. In overriding matters God seems to work in themes with me. I wonder if youve experienced something similar. His themes for me have often come in brief phrases. At this point in my life they consist of three, shed abroad in my heart in this simple add-on order:

Love me. Know me. Believe me. Love Me seemed to be Gods theme for my twenties. Love Me and Know Me drove the theme for my thirties. And Love Me, Know Me, and Believe Me became His mouthful for my forties.

For reasons known only to a forgiving God, Ive spilled quarts of ink through Bible studies and books in attempts to share a passion to love God and know Him. I will continue to express these holy obsessions in one way or another as long as God wills. The book you now hold in your hand is my attempt to articulate my own personal journey toward obedience regarding the third command: Believing God . Not here and there in crises but as a lifestyle. The piercing voice of the prophet Isaiah proclaimed its importance: If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all (Isa. 7:9).

The last seven years have been terribly difficult in countless ways but learning to practice action verb faith in the midst of them has been the most exhilarating adventure Ive ever had. In words truer to my sanguine nature, its been a blast. Not the trials, mind you, but the invitation to believe God for victoryand even favorin the middle of them. Yes, Ive seen miracles. Some of them were huge. But Gods daily interventions have awed me the most and left me shaking my head in amazement that the God of the universe would be so attentive to my trivial challenges. I have never before so richly experienced the revelation of John 1:16: From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

My prayer is that God will do the same for you. I am convinced that Christ is always the initiator of matters concerning faith (Heb. 12:2). So if Im on target, youve neither stumbled onto this book nor accidentally found it in your hands. Christ is initiating a fresh anointing of faith in your life, Dear One. Wise you are if you want to test the spirit (1 John 4:1) and proceed with caution on subject matter like this. I am as reluctant to pick up books on faith as anyone could possibly be. We live in a religious culture where faith practices have been distorted and twisted to serve man rather than God. Our dilemma is whether or not we will allow the misuse and abuse of the topic to keep us from appropriate practices of faith. After all, without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Keep in mind that most heresy is truth twisted. Lets get into the Word together and see if it can be unraveled and powerfully put into practice.