August 17

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…faith comes by hearing… Romans 10:17

…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… Hebrews 12:2

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🔊 The human heart and mind cannot generate the kind of faith God requires – only God can produce that faith. We tend to long for something we can do to produce faith – as soon as we suspect that there is an activity that aids the process, we busy ourselves on that line. Some people think that faith comes through confessing something with our mouths. Others think that loud or long praying, or generous giving will produce faith. The Bible reveals that faith cannot originate in us, and it is a first step in obtaining faith to realise how powerless we are to produce it. Far from generating faith, our hearts generate presumption, and that is sin! Faith enters our heart through the ear, not the mouth. Faith enters quietly into the listening heart, not with the noise of our inventive minds. Faith is a surprise, a gift, a present wrapped for us by God’s loving heart. The more we try to dictate what kind of present it will be, the more we turn it from being a gift into a reward for our straining. Faith comes to the listening, resting heart that looks away from self and up to God. Listening to God is the attitude that pleases God. The whole process of faith is the right relating of ourselves to God, and that alone can please Him. It means leaning on Him, looking up to Him, depending on Him. He will not fail us or let us fall. So look up to Him, and let God reshape the very vessel you offer up to be filled.