Episode 1007: Faith in Motion

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1007 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:08] Ernest Prabhakar: Hi everyone. This is already pro Bocker. This is your chance to invest in yourself. Invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world, but using your time, talent and treasures to live out your calling. This is a great chance to find the opportunity to become the Christian.

[00:00:24] You always want it to be, and to be inspired, to be the best version of yourself. Listen to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Mader.

[00:00:33] Scott Maderer: usually when it's time to sit back again and be quiet to listen, to pray. Told wait and let God show what is the action that needs to be taken or is the action simply that of waiting? Maybe it's the time for someone else. Welcome and thank [00:01:00] you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:01:15] We'll learn to invest in. Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:25] And today's spiritual foundation episode about developing your influence. I talk with you about why faith in action matters. I share why alignment between action and faith as important. And I also talk about how you can know if the action is what you are called to do, or if waiting is the key. We've been talking a lot the last few weeks about putting your faith into action.

[00:01:52] We've talked a lot about. James where he talks about things like for, as the body, apart from the spirit is dead. So also [00:02:00] faith apart from works is dead. And we've been talking about that connection between faith and works yesterday. Barbies talked about how Jesus does it drive parked cars. Another wonderful way of saying that we have to put our faith into action.

[00:02:18] There are literal. Dozens of passages that I can use to illustrate this idea in Hebrews, it says faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things, not seen this connection between the words of faith and belief. And in fact, the word believe is the verb form of the now. Faith. The belief is faith in action and you've gotta be able to see it there.

[00:02:50] There's gotta be action. There's gotta be something observable. The truth is that when we talk about. Not put by [00:03:00] itself not put into action is dead. Another passage from James that word dead could mean dormant, unproductive in operative. It doesn't necessarily mean you're doing nothing, but it means what you're doing.

[00:03:13] Isn't illustrating. The faith and the belief that you have, it's not in alignment with that. It's not connected to that in any sort of way. It's not an illustration of that. And the truth is one of the reasons that faith in action matters is exactly that others can see it. We can observe it from outside.

[00:03:37] We can see that you are walking, the walk you are showing your belief. You are acting in a way that is in alignment with your belief, but it's also. For you, because the truth is just like giving is not just about the receiver. It's also about the fact that it changes the heart of the giver. The same [00:04:00] thing happens here.

[00:04:01] Putting your faith into action, reinforces and begins to align your actions with your beliefs in a stronger way. So that each time you do it, it gets easier and easier because more of a reflex. The truth is that putting your faith into action is a vital way of changing our own hearts and minds as well.

[00:04:28] So we need to be able to do that, to be able to change ourselves, to be able to show others the power of faith. The truth is though sometimes what we're actually called to do the action we're called to take is that. To wait. We're also told that God's time is perfect. That God times things perfectly where we oftentimes try to struggle and make things [00:05:00] happen, even when they're not supposed to.

[00:05:03] How do you know when it's time to put something into action in a active, observable, pushing way? And when it's time to actually wait. And I will tell you, this is something that I struggle with mightily, because I like to do things. I like to put things into action. I like to take actions, but the hardest thing for me to do is taking the action of waiting quietly, waiting with peace.

[00:05:36] So how do I know when it's time to wait? Usually it's because I'm seeing a lot of actions that I can tell. But there's no clarity on how those actions will actually illustrate and be in alignment with what I believe. It feels like I'm doing things just to do things just to be active, not to illustrate [00:06:00] my belief, not to illustrate my faith, not to show the hands and feet of Christ in.

[00:06:07] I began to do things for my sake, much more than for the sake of others. And when that happens, when I begin to see that's what I'm feeling like I need to do. That's usually when it's time to sit back again and be quiet to listen, to pray, to wait and let God show. What is the action that needs to be taken or is the action simply that of waiting?

[00:06:41] Maybe it's the time for someone else to act. Maybe I've been doing a lot, but now it's time for somebody else to do something. Maybe it's no longer any action at all is needed. Instead, it's the time to let things simmer and CIT. When [00:07:00] I feel like the actions I take, won't be in alignment with what I really believe in my heart of hearts.

[00:07:08] Then it's time to be quiet to wait and to. And God will tell you if and when it's time to act again, because you'll feel that itch under your skin, that saying you can't sit still anymore. It's time to act. And that action will become clear in how it illustrates and aligns with what you believe in the faith that you have.

[00:07:32] And when that happens then the action you're being called to take is one that you can take. Because it illustrates your belief again in action. Thanks for listening.

[00:07:48] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but [00:08:00] act on what you've heard and find a way to live. If you enjoy this episode, do me a favor, go over to facebook.com/inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there until next time, invest your time.

[00:08:34] Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.