What does it look like when someone is full of faith? How do you become someone that is recognized that way? Watch this progression: Faith filled> Faith Full> Faithful. If we want to be faithful, we need to be faith filled.
We fill our hearts and minds with a lot of things. Some positive, growing us towards a mature faith, other things cause us to doubt, fear and eventually erode our trust. When you want to become full of something you have to consume it, it needs to be a major part of your daily diet.
1 Peter 1:7, The Message “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory”
How powerful is that? What an amazing illustration of being faith filled, to be proved genuine. That means you are the real deal through and through. Nothing false or hidden to taint the outcome, but faith-filled which causes you to live faithful. How does Peter describe the process of our faith being proved genuine; through fire. Through being refined. There it is, it is about being refined.
You want to be a person of faith you say? So do I! Then why is it every time we feel the pressures of life, the areas of frustration and disappointment when things don’t play out exactly how we want we call into the question the goodness of God? In reality the refinement is in process. I know there are tragic moments in life, where we can’t see how a certain situation can be used for good. The truth is that many moments are not good, but God, who is rich in mercy, comes in and takes the scrap metal of tragedy and works to make a monument of grace when we have faith.
Friends, be consumed with faith. Allow your day to be led by your default being set to faith not fear, so when the refinement comes, and it will, you will be proved genuine. Then it will be your faith, not your gold that God will display as evidence of his victory, awesome!
Today’s worksheet: handout 10_01_2013
Cheryl Jamison / For His Name's Sake 
His faithfulness reveals how fear manifest in me, inpatients, worry, doubt were all rooted in fear for me. His mercy has given me freedom to be faithful. How awesome to me is He.
Oh! my goodness Ms. Cheryl, like always so faithful and so given; Thank you much. I have to reply with a Hallelujah!!!! expression, for God have been so present in my life and I did not know it, in the worst of situation when a lady like me would say…..God where are you? I was asking Him to respond to me when I thought it was the right time in my eyes for Him to answer me with out seeing or noticing that all the time He has been next to me…. when I took a look at my sand prints and noticed only one set, that made me realize that He have been there for me all alone He has been carrying my load while holding me in His arms. What a love, what a Savior what a price He paid for us all. I give thanks to God for His son Jesus Christ because of Him we walk in Grace and what a wonderful gift, we do not deserve it but He gave it to us to receive or not. So, I know in my heart I am very thankful of His love for me and all I can say is that to see all He does and all He went through for us Is enough to fill our cup and completed if He is the center of our Joy and if we can see all that He is and all that He give is good and perfect Now, tell me how can I not have faith and believe…..Yes! there are moments when I am in the short end of the stick but If I proclaim His love I should live it and not complain but see all that we are, all the we have and all that we will become. I feel my faith growing every day more and more and allow me to see me and understand my purpose. I still much, much more for me to find and experience. But I love the Lord and want to be in His presence all the time, so that means that I have to act like, talk and love like Christ loves. I know is a great task but with His love everything is possible. I want to be one to have faith and show it to the world, that in that way they too would want to have it what I have. JESUS :).
To exhibit faith we must be in a situation where doubt is possible. We won’t need faith in heaven so the opportunity to exhibit faith on earth is a precious gift. When prayers of faith rise up to heaven, i believe they give off a unique fragrance, one that cannot be replicated in heaven. Our cloud of witnesses must stop, sniff, and look upon us with awe and, is it possible, a touch of envy that we are able to give such a wonderful offering to our God, once that is not available to them. I do not want to downplay difficulty and suffering, but I know that to go through them with an eternal perspective gives me comfort and hope.