True Faith Integrates with Life Proverbs 3:5-6 REVIEW: Heb. 11:6 (NASB) “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.” • Faith is where the action is! • All the heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11, are faith-action-heroes. • This verse clearly states: It is impossible to please God without faith. • It is impossible to receive from God without faith. • True faith connects us to the true God and His true rewards. • The greatest reward is what? Eternal life. What is faith? Ian Hamilton, “...true faith does not look into self, it is not principally ‘introspective’; it looks out and away to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the focus of faith.” • The reformers explained three aspects of faith as: Facts, Agreement, and Trust. • If we miss any of these three, we miss the true impact of saving faith. • Ill. Like this stool: I know in fact that it is a strong stool. I agree it would be good to rest on it, but I am not trusting it until I transfer my trust, and rest completely on it. • So it is with faith in Christ. • Trusting Christ is like saying, “I DO!” • I do trust you Jesus to be my Savior and Lord. • How and when we do this varies from person to person. This act of trust begins with a prayer, a commitment of some type, a baptism. • However it happens, saving faith chooses to love God with the whole mind, soul, and strength. • We are never alone in this faith process. • God’s Word and God’s Spirit initiate a work in our minds, our hearts, and our wills to draw us to Christ, by faith. Today and next Sunday, I want to add to these two more biblical meanings of faith. • Faith as an Integration and faith as a matter of the heart. • By integration, I mean faith as wisdom we apply to every aspect of life. • By heart, I mean, faith as a virtue of heart that endures every circumstance in life. Today… I want to speak about faith is an Integration. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” There are 3 commands here: two positive and one negative **1. The 1st command is to rely completely on God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. ** • The whole person must learn to trust. • The mind must trust God’s Word. • The will must choose God’s ways. • The emotions must rest on the promise, that if we will trust God, “He will make your paths straight.” **2. The 2nd command is, “… do not lean on your own understanding.” ** • Trust in the Lord requires a distrust in our own wits (understanding). • No matter how wise/experienced you are, God is wiser still! Ill. A child might think they are smarter than their parents. • I’m sure that child is about to learn a lesson. • A Christian might think they are smarter than God. • I’m sure that Christian is about to learn a lesson – the hard way. • God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Is. 55. 3. The 3rd command is to acknowledge God in all your ways. • Here is the goal of an integrated faith – to acknowledge God in all your ways. • At work, at home, on the pickleball court, at the mall, in all your relationships… • Our faith responsibility is to integrate God’s will in God’s world. Ill. In the business world you might have a CEO and a COO. The Chief Executive Officer oversees the plan, and the Chief Operating Officer integrates the plan – day by day (the Integrator). • In the Christian faith, who is the CEO? Christ is! • Who is the COO? The Christian. We are the integrators. We integrate faith, to see the will of God done in the world – day by day. • The NIV says, “in all your ways submit to him.” • The CSB says “in all your ways know him.” • To know/submit to God is not a cold compliance, it’s not checking off a list, it is a deep relational knowledge. It is a oneness like you might observe in a healthy marriage relationship. There are two kinds of faith integration: Personal and Conceptual. • Personal integration means faith reorganizes our personality in such a way that we are the same person in private as we are in public. We are not split personalities. Faith is not to be compartmentalized in one area, but faith is the light that shines in every area of our lives. • George Barna said, If your faith doesn’t influence your decisions Monday through Saturday, if faith doesn’t help you interpret reality, it’s not an integrated faith, it is a compartmentalized faith.” Besides personal integration there is conceptual integration needed by faith. Lewis said it best, “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” • The light of Christ helps us understand everything in life! • The Christian Faith informs a total worldview. Faith brings knowledge and sense into every discipline like ecology, economics, politics, biology, sociology, psychology, law, and ethics. Nancy Pearcey, Christianity is not merely religious truth, it is total truth- truth about the whole of reality. Having a Christian worldview means being utterly convinced that biblical principles are not only true but also work better in the grit and grime of the real world. • Aristotle said, “Statecraft is soul craft.” In other words, whoever wins the politics of the day changes the soul and character of the nation. • Faith integration takes time and effort. It may come at a cost at work and at school. • I would pray that every family would consider effective ways and make a serious attempt this year to make Christian Education a priority in each home. CONCLUSION Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” Elizabeth Elliott, tells a little African legend about Jesus. It is not in the Bible, but there’s a strong lesson here about who we are trusting in. Jesus was walking one day with His disciples and asked each one to pick up a stone to carry for Him. They all picked up a stone. Peter, rather a small one; John, a bigger one. Jesus led them to the top of a mountain and then He commanded the stones to be made bread. The disciples were hungry, and so they were given permission to eat the bread in their hands. Peter didn’t have very much. John shared with him some of the bread that had been made from the big stone he had carried. On another occasion, Jesus took the disciples for a walk and again asked them to pick up a stone to carry for Him. This time Peter picked up a big stone. Jesus took them to the river. As they stood on the bank, Jesus said, “Throw the stones into the river,” which they did at once in obedience to His command. Then they looked at Him, waiting for the miracle that would happen this time. Nothing happened. They waited. They watched. Nothing happened. Jesus, with compassion, looked at the disciples and said, “For whom did you carry the stone?” Peter was with the Lord, but still trusting in his own understanding.