Key Life Network

Steve Brown: You don't get faith with three easy steps. Let's talk on Key Life.

Matthew: Being adopted into the family of God is not about doing more or trying harder. It's about being welcomed by God because of his radical grace, free from the penalties of sin, and never alone in your suffering. That grace is what Key Life is all about.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. Hope you guys had a great weekend, and I hope your pastor's sermon was as good as my pastor's sermon. If you're just joining us, we've been spending a number of weeks on the themes of a book that I wrote. Uh and it came out recently, and you can get it at a bookstore, at Amazon, certainly get it at keylife.org. And uh frankly, it's not half bad. I mean, uh with everything I write and do, some of it I blush and thought that's awful. And then some of it I think, you know, that's all right.

And some of it I think that's so good I can hardly stand it. Uh that's true of this book. I just don't know which is which. So get it and read it for yourself. It's at a reasonable cost. The title of the book is God's Not Mad at You, Confronting the Lies of Guilt, Shame, Fear, and Regret. And you're saying, I don't believe you're hawking your books. What do you need the money? I don't get the money for it, okay? Anything that comes in for anything we sell at Key Life, and this includes all my books and speaking engagements, every bit of that goes to Key Life.

And uh I get paid, so I can eat. Uh but I'm not hustling books so I can get a Mercedes, okay? So don't say it again. But you can get the book, and it's out now, and we're looking at some of those themes. And yesterday we were talking about the super now our last time we talked, we talked about the supernatural and how as Christians, we don't really believe that God acts in a supernatural way. I've said this before. Uh Presbyterians don't believe God answers any prayers, and name it, frame it, people believe he answers all all of them with a yes.

Well, he does answer some prayers with yes in a supernatural way. And we're going to talk about it, but first let's pray. Father, we come into your presence, and sometimes we do forget how awesome, how big, how sovereign you are. Sometimes we come dancing into your throne room and forget what a privilege, an amazing privilege that it is. Remind us again. Father, you know everybody who listening to this program, the hard places and the soft places, help us to put that in the perspective of who you are. Sovereign all the time, good all the time, and loving us all the time.

And Father, as always, we pray for the one who teaches on this broadcast. Forgive him his sins cuz they are many. We would see Jesus and him only. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. You know one of the problems uh in the church, we are either taught that you don't have enough faith and you never will cuz you are a dirty, horrible sinner. Or we tell people, oh faith is easy. You just do these three test tests or these three steps. Read the Bible a little bit more, pray a little bit more, and have a long prayer list.

Uh the problem is that many have taught how to have faith the easy way. Listen. There are no actions that work or any process whereby you can acquire faith. It isn't something you're going to learn in a book. It isn't a system that you apply to your life. It isn't a way you act in order to get faith. There is no spiritual discipline that will give it to you. Faith, listen, is outright impossible to make happen. That's the bad news. Think about it for a minute. Then let me tell you the good news. It's a gift.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, and this is Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this talking about the faith and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Being saved and the faith that leads to being saved is a gift God gives to his people. It's a gift that he has probably given to you and to me. And if you're not a believer, it's a gift he will give to you if you ask. The gift of faith is enough to motivate us to take the first step in that principle that I taught you.

First one is yours. Uh when you take the second step, God will help you. And by the time you get to the third, you'll know it was God who took the first step. Listen, there's no explanation for what Christians believe uh or a way to prove absolutely that it 's true except that it's true. If some visitors from another planet landed their spaceship on Earth and started asking questions, they they would probably encounter some Christians. Christians are like weeds. They're everywhere, and you can't get rid of them. They would want to know what those Christians believed in the face of the world's hatred and wars and starvation and devastation.

They would be puzzled when Christians said they believed in a good God who was in charge of everything. They would possibly think that Christians were crazy. So if what we see contradicts what we believe about a loving God, where there's a question, where in the world did we get the idea that there was a God like that? Let me suggest something that is true. We wouldn't get that idea ever except for the fact that it's true. We believe what we believe because of faith. We came to Christ because the gift of faith was given to us.

And the Bible says that we walk in Christ because of that same faith. Colossians 2:6 through 7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord by faith, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. A mountain moving faith changes everything. And don't let anybody tell you differently. Now all we're going to do is that we're going to take time to talk about the amazing gift Christians can have that would be a mountain moving faith and the great difference that makes. The most important supernatural gift of the faith God gives his people is assurance that what he says is true.

I'm and we're not going to spend time doing that, but talking about it a little bit. Uh as you read the Bible, you think to yourself, this can't be true. This couldn't have happened this way. This can't be this good. I can't be forgiven of that. I don't belong to him. I 'm a nobody. I don't matter to a God. I'm finite, and he's infinite. I I don't know enough. I don't love enough. I don't care enough. I haven't been faithful enough. God doesn't love me. God doesn't care for me. And then all of a sudden, you say to yourself, that's a lie.

Every bit of it is a lie. It's just not true. Where did that come from? That came from him. That's called the Holy Spirit. And it has to do with us. One time I was with our daughter Jennifer when she was a little girl, and she said, Daddy, you're always talking about God talking to you. He doesn't talk to me. And then in a burst of wisdom, I said to her, Honey, you know that little little girl that came to to school, and you thought she was lonely, and you decided to spend some time with her, and she said, yeah.

And I said, who told you to do that? And there was this silence, and she said, oh, that's him. It was. We're going to talk about it tomorrow. You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Steve. That was Steve Brown, and today we resumed our exploration of the biblical basis of Steve's new book, God's Not Mad at You. You can find your copy now at keylife.org/notmadbook, or of course on Amazon. This week we're taking some time to demystify what faith really is and what it isn't. We'll continue digging into this tomorrow, so don't miss it. So if I were to say the kindness of Jesus heals our sin, shame, and weakness, you would say, well, yeah of course. But how does that process actually work? Well, we spoke about that recently with Scott Sauls on Steve Brown, etc.

It was a beautiful conversation, and I think it's going to bring you a lot of hope and encouragement. If you want, we'll send that whole episode to you on CD for free. Just call us right now at 1-800-KEYLIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to order that CD. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, ask for the free CD featuring Scott Sauls. And before you go, if you've been blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others by giving as generously as you're able?

You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope or simply text Key Life to 28950. And hey, if you can't give right now, that's okay. But if you would, please do pray for us, would you? Always needed, always appreciated. Thanks. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and 4C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.