1 Corinthians chapter 10
Today we are walking in: Faith Beyond The Test Part 1
Proverbs 20:6
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful H529 man who can find?
FAITH
Today we look to the word FAITH-- H529- emuwn--faithfulness, trusting, faithful
The Torah testifies...............
Deuteronomy 32:20
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith H529
The prophets proclaim..................
Habakkuk 2:4
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith H529.
The writings bear witness............
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CHAPTER SEVEN
FAITH BEYOND THE TEST, PART 1
“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.”
—
Ramona C. Carroll
Kingdom
faith guarantees that there is life beyond the test.
Faith, therefore, is the most important power we
possess for successful living. Education isn’t enough. A Ph.D. won’t
help much during times of stress. Book learning alone is of little use
for a life that is falling apart. The only thing that can save us in the
midst of turmoil and chaos is our faith.
Faith creates our con
directly linked to the degree of faith we possess. Con
attitude of positive approach. Remaining positive in the midst of a
negative environment requires faith: the conviction that the
negatives are only temporary and do not re
Only a person of faith can smile in the face of danger. Only a person
of faith can be calm in the middle of a storm. Only a person of faith
can maintain a good attitude in the midst of negativity.
Therefore, as we have already seen, our faith is manifested by the
tests it encounters. In other words, testing reveals the quality and
depth of our faith. Bragging about our faith impresses no one; our
faith is proven in the midst of challenges. This is why God allows
testing. Testing awakens our dormant faith so that it becomes
active, manifesting itself in every area of our lives. We will never
know how much faith we have or how strong it is until it is tested.Our faith is only as strong as the tests it survives. And remember,
God will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to overcome
(see 1 Cor. 10:13). This means that God controls the measure of
tests. At the same time, however, we must be careful not to confuse
the tests that God allows with the tests that we bring upon
ourselves. James, the Lord’s brother, explained the di
way:
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive
the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away
and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown,
gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:12-
17).
James makes a clear distinction between trials and temptations. In
this case, trials are the common tests that come our way as part of
life and that God allows for the proving and maturing of our faith.
Temptations are the tests and troubles we bring on ourselves by our
own sinful or foolish actions and decisions—the natural
consequences of our inappropriate choices. Unchecked, these will
bring destruction into our lives. They will result in deterioration, not
growth.
So before you identify a challenge or di
test from God, examine yourself to make sure you haven’t created
the problem yourself due to wrong behavior. If such is the case,
confession and repentance is the proper course of action. Don’t feel
“noble” about bearing up under a trial you caused by your own sin.
Humble yourself before God, confess your sin, and lay hold of His
forgiveness.Our ability to discern the source of the tests in our lives is critical to
our ability to live successfully beyond the tests. Self-induced tests will
tear us down while the tests God allows builds us up and
strengthens our faith—if we allow them to.Faith in Power, not Performance
Faith that works is faith rightly placed. In other words, the object
of our faith—who or what we believe—makes all the di
between success or failure and life or death. Faith to live beyond the
tests—kingdom faith—is strengthened by conviction in the power of
God, not His works. I’ve said this several times before, but it bears
saying again because it is so important. Many believers today are so
performance-oriented, so entertainment-focused, that the strength
and continuity of their faith depends on regularly seeing God do
something wonderful in their lives or the lives of people close to
them. If God fails to act in some kind of tangible, visible manner,
they become confused and doubtful, and their faith wavers.
The way to avoid this trap of self-deception and pseudo-faith is to
make sure we put our trust not in the works of God but in the fact
that God has the power—and the right—to do anything. Even if God
doesn’t always act the way we expect, we still must trust in Him and
His power. God has both the power to do and the power not to do.
He has the power to help or not to help, and sometimes we forget
that. Our faith must be in God and His power because His power is
more important than His works. Just because God’s power is not at
work in a visible, tangible way does not mean His power is not
present.
Faith in God (not His power) activates His power. Jesus
steadfastly refused demands that He perform a sign to “prove” who
He was because such a demand revealed that true faith was not
present. And where faith was lacking, little of God’s power
manifested. Matthew 13:58 says that when Jesus visited His
hometown of Nazareth He “did not do many miracles there because of
their lack of faith.” Miracle power was present, but the unbelief of
the people shut it down. Their lack of faith cut o
miracle-working power of God.So God has the power to act as well as the power not to act.
Kingdom faith does not depend on seeing God act. Kingdom faith
trusts in God whether He acts or not. Kingdom faith believes in the
midst of God’s silence.
Abraham is a perfect example. When Abraham was 75 years old,
God promised him a son. He was 100 years old when Isaac was
born. Abraham waited 25 years for the ful
How long would you be willing to wait? Abraham kept faith for 25
years because he trusted in the God who gave him the promise. He
knew God’s word was trustworthy, and God blessed him
accordingly. Paul explained it this way:
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it
had been said to him, “So shall your o
fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that
Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of
God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had
power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness”
(Romans 4:18-22).
No wonder Abraham is called the “father of faith.” For 25 years
he believed in a baby he never saw. Faith is what keeps us con
in the midst of the test. Abraham’s faith never wavered regarding
God’s promise regardless of the length of time he had to wait. In
fact, the longer Abraham waited, the stronger his faith became.
What kept his faith alive? Abraham was “fully persuaded that God
had power to do what He had promised.” He was convinced beyond
doubt of God’s power to back up His promise.
One of the greatest sources of our weakness as believers is our
tendency to put our faith in the power we possess. Maybe that is
why God sometimes reduces us to zero. Remember what happened
to Peter. No sooner did he boast about his own “staying power” than
he su
completely disabused of any con
learn to anchor his faith fully in the Lord and
stand up to any test. God promised Abraham a son. Abraham andSarah were both old and far beyond child-bearing age. They had
nothing with which to ful
would not happen unless God kept His promise. So Abraham
believed God without wavering—for 25 years—and saw the promise
ful
For our own good, God will do whatever it takes to bring us to the
place of total dependency upon Him. If necessary, He will reduce us
to zero so that we will trust not in what we can come up with on
our own, but in what He said He will do—and continue to trust Him
no matter how long it takes for Him to do it.Kingdom Faith Is Unstoppable
Once we begin to understand the true nature and power of
Kingdom faith (or, rather, of the One in whom we place our faith),
we come to realize that Kingdom faith is unstoppable. No power,
philosophy, government, or trial of human origin can overcome
those who trust in the Lord. Paul’s eloquence in explaining this
truth cannot be equaled:
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. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to
the likeness of His Son, that He might be the
predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justi
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did
not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him,
graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It
is God who justi
raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or
danger or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered
as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him
who loved us (Romans 8:28-37).
God has justi
term. Remember, we are talking about a Kingdom and a
government. Justi
by God means that He has given us our legal rights as His children
and citizens of His Kingdom. He has given us what is rightfully ours
through His grace. This being the case, Paul says, how should we
respond? Then he asks a series of rhetorical questions.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” No one. Kingdom faith is
unstoppable.“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how
will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” He will.
And what God gives, no man can take away. Kingdom faith is
unstoppable.
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” No
one. God has already justi
for those who are in Christ (see Rom. 8:1). Kingdom faith is
unstoppable.
“Who is he that condemns?” No one. The only person who could is
Jesus Christ, and He won’t, because He died to save us from
condemnation. Instead of condemning us, He intercedes for us
before His Father in Heaven. Kingdom faith is unstoppable.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” No one. His love is
eternal and reaches to the farthest corners of creation and beyond.
Kingdom faith is unstoppable.
“Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or
danger or sword?” No. None of these things can separate us from the
love of Christ. In fact, through faith, these things can draw us closer
to Him. Kingdom faith is unstoppable.
With all of these things going for us, is it any wonder that Paul
declares, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him
who loved us”? Kingdom faith is unstoppable.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even trials,
hardship, or persecution. And since nothing can separate us from
God’s love, nothing can separate us from His power working in and
through our lives. We may go through a few trials, a little hardship,
or a period of persecution, but that is all part of God’s process in
bringing us to maturity.
Sometimes God allows us to go into hardship in order to bring
other people out of hardship. Our challenge is to help them learn
how to handle it. Paul and Silas endured a public whipping and
imprisonment in Philippi for a night before God sent an earthquake
to free them. As a result, many prisoners were set free, and the jailer
and his family became believers in Christ. God allows us to gothrough tribulations so that when we come out the other side we
bring a lot of other people with us. Kingdom faith is unstoppable.Two Kinds of Faith
There are two kinds of faith in the Kingdom of God: faith for the
promises, and faith in the midst of the trials. Both are legitimate
forms of faith, but the second represents a deeper and more mature
level of faith than the
level of the majority of believers and Kingdom citizens. These are
the people who love to serve God and believe God for what they can
get out of it. While some may “believe” from a framework of self-
serving hypocrisy, most are motivated by the desire to receive the
blessings that God has promised for those who love and serve Him.
At the basic level, there is nothing wrong with this, because God has
indeed made many precious promises to His people and there is
nothing wrong with desiring those. More mature faith, however,
gets its motivation from a di
One of the main drawbacks to faith that is focused on God’s
promises is that it is very easy to slip into a mindset of expecting
those promises to be ful
and most of us tend to get impatient very quickly. What happens if
the promise doesn’t come to pass in the time or manner we expect?
Do we still have faith in God? Or do we throw our hands in the air
in frustration and say, “Well, I guess faith doesn’t work”? Our faith
in God should never be conditional on the basis of the promises He
has made to us. Promises are like the icing on the cake; they add
extra sweetness to the wonderful things God has already done for us
in Christ. Possessing God Himself is much better than possessing His
blessings. Wouldn’t you rather have the source of all gifts rather
than just the gifts? Wouldn’t you rather know the Giver rather than
satisfying yourself only with the gifts He gives?
The second, deeper kind of faith is faith in the trials, that is, faith
that remains true in the midst of trials and hardships. This is the kind
of faith we have been talking about throughout this book. Kingdom
faith at its best and highest is always this kind of faith. It’s one thing
to believe as long as the promises are coming, but another tocontinue to believe when everything is falling apart. Anybody can
have faith when he or she gets a bonus. Anybody can have faith
when he or she has a steady job. Anybody can have faith when
everything seems to be going his or her way. But what if you lose
your job? What if o
promotion you are fully quali
down with everything in it? What if you lose a child in death due to
disease or an accident?
These are the kinds of challenges life throws our way at times.
Can you keep faith no matter what? Not if your faith is focused only
on promises. You expect blessings, but disaster comes your way.
You expect to advance into greater prosperity, but instead
experience a sudden
that is bigger than faith for promises. We need faith that can handle
trials; faith that can walk into a lion’s den or a
that can handle a giant that is ten times bigger than we are; faith
that can inspire a song in the middle of a prison. To live successfully
beyond the tests requires faith that goes beyond looking for
Christmas presents from Heaven all the time. It requires faith that
will stand even when standing is tough and believe even when
believing seems impossible. Faith that outlasts the tests is faith that
says with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job
13:15a).
Faith Without Sight
Faith in the midst of trials means trusting God for the
even when we cannot see the
Corinthian believers, “Therefore we are always con
that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:6-7). We have to be con
in God even though we can’t see everything. If we were in Heaven
in the spirit world we could see the whole thing from beginning to
end. But we are not; we are on earth in the middle of the thing,
which means we cannot see the whole picture. So we must trust God
who does see the whole picture. This requires us to walk by what webelieve, not by what we see, all the while entrusting what we
cannot see into the hands of Him who sees and knows all things.
Kingdom faith is believing that no condition is permanent or
under the ultimate jurisdiction of the King of the Kingdom.
Let me explain it this way. Think about a rat trying to solve a
maze in a laboratory. The rat is at one end of the maze, and a piece
of cheese is at the other. Outside the maze is a scientist observing
everything. The scientist is somewhat like God; he can see the entire
maze at once and knows exactly what the rat needs to do to reach
the cheese, every turn he has to make. The rat, however, can only
see a small part of the maze at any one time. The path that is crystal
clear to the observing scientist is a mystery to the rat. It must make
its way through the maze gradually, step by step, discovering the
next part of the path as it completes the current one. Only at the
end when the rat reaches the cheese is the complete path known.
God is more than a scientist watching a rat in a maze. He is our
loving Father saying to us, “I can see the whole picture, but you
can’t, so walk according to what I have revealed to you so far, and
trust Me to show you where to go next.” Living by faith means
trusting God to get us through the trials even when our situation
appears hopeless, trusting Him to make a way when no way seems
possible. So don’t panic when you can’t understand. God
understands, and He is in control. Do you want peace in the midst of
your trials? Learn to say, “I don’t know, but God knows.”
Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust
also in Me” (John 14:1). Why? Because He sees the whole picture.
Sometimes we are very close to a breakthrough but cannot see it
because a wall is still in front of us. Only two more turns and we
will be there, but that is where we give up. Ultimately, the only
ones who will never make it will be those who quit before the end.
Keep going, keep trusting the Lord, and you will get there. In the
end, the race will go not to the swift or the strong but to those who
refuse to quit, to those who keep going no matter what.
Paul’s declaration that we live by faith and not by sight is another
way of stating the wisdom of this proverb: “Trust in the Lord with allyour heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).
Our understanding is limited, our vision incomplete. If we try to run
the race of life on our own, we will end up falling into a ditch. The
only way to remain in the race and to stay the course is to trust the
Lord to show us the right path.
Part of walking by faith is opening ourselves up to self-
examination, which is another kind of test. Successful people are
always testing themselves, evaluating themselves, pitting themselves
against new challenges and new levels to see how they will do. The
only way to grow stronger is to exercise, stretching ourselves
beyond where we have been before. It is no di
Paul told the Corinthians, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are
in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you
—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5). In other words, if
you want to know whether you have faith, test yourself. If you want
to determine the depth or strength of your faith, test yourself. See
how much you can handle.
According to Paul, the way to know that Christ is in you is by the
tests you survive. You always develop strength by heavier tests. The
heavier the test you pass, the greater your strength. In e
saying, “Go into life, pick up stu
test yourself to see if you can handle it. If you handle it, that’s proof
that Christ lives in you.” This is the beauty of Kingdom life and
faith. Kingdom faith is faith that is not afraid of tests. As a matter of
fact, Kingdom faith is the kind of faith that causes the tests to come.
It actually tests itself. This is why we should not fear tests and trials
but welcome them as opportunities to grow, purify, and prove our
faith. Every test we survive makes us a little bit stronger and brings
us a little bit closer to the maturity God wants for us as His children
who are destined to rule in His Kingdom.
Kingdom Faith Endures
Because Kingdom faith is anchored in the eternal God of
unlimited power, it is unstoppable. This means that Kingdom faithwill endure forever, outlasting every trial and passing every test. When
considering the enduring nature of faith, we could
better example in scripture than the experience of Job. We’ve talked
about him already in this book, but he bears returning to because
his life presents such a powerful and encouraging lesson for us. How
long would your faith endure? Could you go through what Job went
through and still be standing on the other side?
Job was the wealthiest and most prosperous man of his day, rich
in family, property, and possessions. He also was a man of faith who
worshipped God continually. His troubles began because of a
challenge issued in Heaven.
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like
him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have You not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his
herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has,
and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man
himself do not lay a
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:8-12).
Through a rapid series of disasters satan took from Job both his
wealth and his children, leaving him bereft of everything and
destitute. How would you respond if you suddenly lost everything?
Would you respond the way Job did? In the face of disaster Job
proved his mettle; he showed what he was made of:
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 1:20-22).When faced with the greatest calamity of his life, Job didn’t
whine; he worshiped! In similar circumstances most of us would cry
and complain and question God, confused by what was happening
to us. After all, isn’t God supposed to shower us with blessings and
prosperity all the time? That is the mentality of many in the Church
today because of some unbalanced teaching that tells us to expect
only blessings from God and never hardship. This is not a new
attitude; even Job’s three friends assumed that his troubles were
due to his sins. They could not accept the idea that a righteous God
would send or allow such hardship to a
Job demonstrated Kingdom faith, the faith that endures. He lost
everything but still worshiped God because his faith was not in the
things, but in the God who gave them. Job knew better than to put
his faith in blessings because blessings are temporary. He
understood that a house and a farm, that sheep, goats, and donkeys
were all temporary; that even a family—wife and children—were
temporary. Job knew that God owned everything, and that just as
God had the right and authority to give, He also had the right and
authority to take away. Everything Job had belonged to God, and
God could give it or take it, however He chose.
Have you reached that place in your faith? Could your faith
handle losing everything? If God allowed you to be stripped of
everything you have, would you still worship Him? Would you still
believe and follow God even if He never gave you another blessing
on this earth? That’s Kingdom faith, faith that endures, faith that
changes everything. If your faith in God is based on what you have,
then you will lose your faith if you lose what you have. Kingdom
faith trusts completely in God and holds onto “things” with a light
grip.
Notice too that Job did not blame God for his troubles. He “did
not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” How often do we blame
God when things go wrong? How many times have you blamed God
for what’s happening in your life? “Lord, why did You let this
happen? What did I do to deserve this, Lord? Why are You doing
this to me?” Our tendency to accuse God often stems from the factthat deep down inside we are not truly convinced that God really
loves us or that He can be trusted. This is a doubt that is as old as
Eden when satan succeeded in causing Adam and Eve to doubt
God’s goodness.
God is good all the time, and He loves us with an everlasting love.
When we are convinced of this truth, we will never blame Him for
anything that happens. Instead, we will trust in His love and
goodness and look in faith to the working out of a greater purpose
than we can see at the moment. Job did not condition his faith on
what he had or on what he could see. Job conditioned his faith on
the nature and character of God whom he knew to be righteous and
just.
Faith No Matter What
Job passed his
God only because of the blessings he received from God. When God
allowed satan to take away Job’s wealth and prosperity, Job
continued to worship God anyway. Round one of the contest went
to Job. So satan tried again.
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth
like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains
his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out Your
hand and strike his
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and a
soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped
himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not
trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said (Job 2:3-10).
Satan contended that a man might maintain his integrity and faith
in God as long as calamity did not touch him personally and
physically—but touch his body with a
his faith like a hot rock. So God allowed satan to test Job a second
time, this time by attacking his health. Satan a
oozing, pus-
great pain and misery, but also made him repulsive to look at. Yet
even in this, Job maintained his faith and integrity and refused to
blame God. Even when his wife, who obviously did not understand
Kingdom faith, told him to surrender his integrity and “curse God
and die,” Job replied, “Shall we accept good from God, and not
trouble?”
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? That is a key
mindset for Kingdom faith. We have to be ready to accept bad
things in life along with the good and continue to trust God either
way. God allows tests in our lives not to break us but to prove us.
He allows us to be tested—not because He wants to see us fail—but
because He knows we have the faith to stand. But sometimes we
don’t know it, and we won’t know it until we see it for ourselves
during a time of testing.
As with Job, people of Kingdom faith maintain their integrity even
under testing. Integrity means to be fully integrated; to be one with
oneself; a unity, undivided in spirit, mind, and body. People of
integrity say what they mean and mean what they say. Their
behavior lines up with their words and is the same whether they are
alone or with others. All their relationships and interactions with
other people are characterized by transparency and honesty. Could
all these things be said about you? Are you a fully integrated man or
woman of faith who will believe God no matter what, who will trustHim in bad times as well as good, and who will serve Him even if
you lose everything?
Kingdom faith doesn’t fold under good or bad. Kingdom faith can
handle good times and troubled times. Kingdom faith is stable. It
doesn’t matter what happens. Some people cannot survive success.
Sometimes failure is good for us; it teaches us not to rely so heavily
on our own wisdom, abilities, and resources. Failure teaches us
humility and helps us see the need to trust God rather than
ourselves. We dread failure because we think of it as a permanent
condition. Failure is a temporary setback that can serve to develop
our faith so that we can come out wiser than when we went in.
Kingdom faith doesn’t ask for trouble, but doesn’t shy away from
it either. Kingdom faith faces trouble square in the face and stands
no matter what, con
God who cannot fail. Kingdom faith is faith that overcomes the
world.
Kingdom Principies
Our ability to discern the source of the tests in our lives is critical to our ability to live successfully
beyond the tests.
Faith to live beyond the tests—Kingdom faith—is strengthened by conviction in the power of God,
not His works.
Faith in the trials means trusting God for the
outcome.
Kingdom faith believes that no condition is permanent or
jurisdiction of the King of the Kingdom.
Kingdom faith will endure forever, outlasting every trial and passing every test.
Consider Job’s question: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
People of Kingdom faith maintain their integrity even under testing.
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