Extreme Faith

Extreme is becoming a fairly common word in today’s society. There are extreme sports where people have the mentality of “No Fear” to do incredible stunts and actions. They do it for various reasons, an adrenaline rush, to be popular, or they just lost their mind. But these people constantly risk their life to be extreme, even after seeing others be paralyzed or killed in motorcycle accidents or parachuting. Still the risk for them is worth the adrenaline rush or popularity.

The definition of extreme: “Being very far from the center of public opinion”

Similar words to extreme: extremist, fanatic (or fanatical), rabid, radical, revolutionary, revolutionist, ultra

Opposite words: conservative, moderate, temperate; conventional, orthodox, traditional; liberal, progressive

So now I’m asking you a question, in your relationship with Christ, do you have a “No Fear” extreme faith? Or are you a “middle-of-the-road” Christian?

Let’s take a look at what extreme faith is.

Genesis 22:2-3

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

God made a huge demand here, one that none of us would take lightly. And what was Abraham’s response? Did he plead with God and beg that something else be done? No, Abraham had such an extreme faith in God, that he would do ANYTHING that God told him to do, no matter how bad. Of course we all know that this was a test that Abraham passed, but he passed only because of his faith in God.

Our faith is what allows us to follow God. Without faith, we would not believe and would not follow him. Especially when it gets hard to follow.

We need to have an extreme faith in God and reveal it in many ways. Do you have enough faith to know that if you pay tithes that God will provide for you? Do you have enough faith to live your life for God more than for “stuff”? Stuff will always fail you. Your car will break down, no matter how cool or expensive it is. Your clothes will wear out, and your friends will fail you. But God will never break down and will NEVER fail you! He is actually worthy of putting faith into, but still it seems hard soemtimes.

Do you have such an extreme faith that you would tell others about Him? What’s the worst that is going to happen if you ask others if they believe in Jesus, and if they don’t then lead them through the importance of it? Let’s look at Acts 16:23-25

When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail and still they could not be silenced. Not only that, they started to praise God! How little faith or devotion do we have today where we stop talking about Jesus if someone looks at us funny? Stop cowering in a room surrounded by other Christians and get out there and spread the Word!

A word of warning here. Hearing this will make a lot of people feel bad about themselves, like you have failed God or feel like you are a coward. God choose you like you are, so don’t feel that way. You can’t fail God because He already knows what’s going to happen; He already knows what you will and will not do.

Beating yourself up for what you have or have not done in the past will only hinder your work in the Lord. Get over the past and get busy. We have too much work to do to feel bad for ourselves.

Acts 8:26-27a

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went;…..

God told Philip to go, and what did he do? He got up and went. The result was that he happened to meet a eunuch on the road and witnessed to him. He witnessed to the eunuch “And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”

The Eunuch was saved because Philip had faith, heard the call and answered it.

The point is don’t feel ashamed or bad for your past, even if you have been a bad witness. Instead, have an extreme faith and get up and go. Don’t feel bad for not going in the past, go now! Even if you don’t witness to every person you meet (which is highly unlikely) just witness! Everyday make sure that you are living a life that is a witness to others. You are an ambasador to God, act like it. Represent Him.

And have an extreme faith, not extreme faith in your motorcycle jumping across a canyon, but faith that God will save those who follow Him and the faith that says “I will stand up for God, even to the death.”

Carry your cross, every day. Everyday ask yourself, do you have extreme faith?