Faith vs. Faithless

Ezekiel 15:8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declared the Lord God.

It was early and my cup of tea had not yet completely cleared the cobwebs of a good night's sleep, so I almost read right past this verse. At first read - I thought it to mean, again, that God was displeased because "they" the Israelites, were rebellious and disobedient, and they were. I'm only in chapter 15 of a 48 chapter book and that fact is abundantly clear. They were a rebellious, hard-hearted people.

But even as I breezed through this verse - my eye and heart caught on the word "faithlessly", they have acted faithlessly. It caused me to wonder - Scripture says, "The righteous shall live by faith." Gal 3:11

How, on a daily basis, do I live by faith? How, on a daily basis, do you live by faith? In Frances Chan's book "Crazy Love" (which I have a love/hate relationship with) he made the following statement. (I know I have recently referred to this quote but I believe it bears repeating.) "Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens - they have their savings account. They don't need God to help them - they have their retirement plan in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live - they have life figured and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis - their refrigerators are full and, for the most part are in good health. The truth is their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God." Pg. 78

Have we structured our lives so we don't have to live by faith? When was the last time you attempted something greater than you can pull off? When was the last time you gave more than or all you had? When was the last time you shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ inspite of your knocking knees and racing heart? I work at a Christian ministry yet I wonder how much I do daily in my own strength that requires little or no faith. Are you comfortable in your walk? Perhaps it's time to trade in your sneakers for a pair of flimsy sandals and start following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ living in full dependence on the Father and Spirit. Believe God for more.

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the ministry team at America's Keswick. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. Diane has been married to her husband John over 27 years. She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all. She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

May is fast approaching and we will be hosting our 4th Annual Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 12th. YOU can help in two ways.

ONE. WALK - call guest services (732.350.1187) to obtain a walk package, solicit sponsors and come to the walk.

TWO. Sponsor Victory Call for the walk. We are having a friendly competition between the 2 groups of devotional readers (Freedom Fighters and Victory Call). Go to Family Freedom Walk Support . Be sure to designate your gift to FFW: VC

Our goal is to raise more funds by the Victory Call team than the men raise for the Freedom Fighter's team. Last year Victory Call subscribers raised $5,350.00 and Freedom Fighter’s subscribers raised $100.00. Victory Call WON, by ALOT! In reality, the Addiction Recovery ministries won because together we raised $43,136.00!!

Come join in the fun. Please?