Dictionary:
trumpet-verb; “… trumpeted their success: proclaim, announce, declare, herald, celebrate, shout from the rooftops.”
Faith-noun;“… complete trust or confidence in someone or something – strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.- a system of religious belief : the Christian faith.
Bible:
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV
“We live by faith, not by sight..” 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
http://www.thedailylily.org
“Trumpeting Faith…”
Politico writes, “Asked this weekend to grade her performance as speaker, Nancy Pelosi gave herself an “A for effort.”
But Pelosi knows that the real test is still to come…”
If we were asked to grade our performances on ‘trumpeting our Faith…” what grade would we give ourselves? We, as Christians, know our real test is still yet to come as well.
I started thinking, we do have ways and time to pull our grades up before the final exam, don’t we? If you got an A, give yourself a STAR and rejoice. Then give me and some of us that are lagging in grades some coaching to improve our grades, skills and faith to ante up.
thedailylily.com 
‘Ante up’ says to me ‘faith in action’. Put your money where your mouth is and get in the game. And the game requiring the ante is not ‘Old Maid’, ‘Go Fish’ or ‘Hearts’. No, it’s a serious game, for like the scripture says in the blog, we LIVE by faith. Sight doesn’t much factor in when you ‘ante’up’. No, you tighten your belt, put on your poker face and get in the game.
Faith didn’t play child’s games in cases like the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years when Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” (Mark 5:34 NIV). Or in the case of the soldier with a paralyzed, suffering servant who put up his ante and said to Jesus, “But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Matt. 8:8 (NIV). Examples of not, effort, but wins!
The Apostle James didn’t play around with his trumpet either. He threw his ante in the pool and gave some advice for all of us lagging in our grades, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:14-18 NIV)
These report cards, make my grades look pretty pitiful and the words of Jesus are hauntingly ringing in my ears, “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Matt 18:8)
Sara, I began to search the scriptures, for faith. The Bible certainly has a lot to tell us, on faith, doesn’t it? You have asked us to “give some coaching, to improve grades, skills, and faith to ante up,” and my grades sure need improvement! I was encouraged when I read the following scripture. Read with me, (Matthew 17:20)” ‘You don’t have enough faith,’ Jesus told them. ‘I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” How about that? We don’t even have to have a HUGE amount of faith, just a tiny bit.
Read with me the footnotes for verses 17-20. ” The disciples had been unable to cast out this demon, and they asked Jesus why. He said their faith was too small. It is the power of God, plus our faith, that moves mountains. The mustard seed was the smallest particle imaginable. Jesus said that even faith as small or undeveloped as a mustard seed would have been sufficient. Perhaps the disciples had tried to cast out the demon with their own ability rather than God’s. There is great potential in even a little faith when we trust in God’s power to act. If we feel weak or powerless as Christians, we should examine our faith, making sure we are trusting God’s power, not our own ability to produce results.”
Debi, can you help me realize just how small a mustard seed is? Is there anything you could compare it to? (ie. head of a pen, pencil??)
Needles, when I looked into your request about the size of a mustard seed, I found out that its about 2mm. That, I found is like holding two dimes togther and their thickness would be the width of the mustard seed.
That really is a small amount of faith, isn’t it?
When I think on your scripture above…”you don’t have enough faith…” it sure does bring some hope to think on God’s power mentioned in your footnotes.
Thanks, Debi. 2mm is very small, but with God’s power, it becomes much bigger!
This mustard seed, sounds like pea size faith to me.Let me give you an example as I see it. I have very thick fly away dry hair and it sometimes looks like a hay stack according to my husband. OK, don’t laugh. There is an answer. I pull out this very expensive bottle of conditioner that probably houses the same ingredients as the low price conditioner. But by faith in what a hairdresser told me, I do what I am told. Yeap, just drop one pea size drop in the palm of my hand, rub my hands together and gently rub through hair. Not the roots, just the dry ends of hair and it will calm like a lamb.
My little faith when applied with proper directions will move mountains, calm the sea waters, open brass locked doors while feeding the poor, setting the captives of heart free and this list is immeasurable with a touch of hope and a measure of charity.
Did you sing as a child and maybe as an adult, have faith, hope, and charity, that’s the way to live successfully. How do I know? Because the Bible tells me so?
You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.
–Samuel Butler-
I think we are A students, don’t you?
Ok, I don’t want someone to come back to me and say, ‘a little dab will do it.’ 🙂
The jingle:
“Brylcream, Brylcream, Brylcream
Brylcream, a little dab will do ya
Brylcream, you’ll look so debonaire
Brylcream, the gals will all pursue ya
They’ll love to get their fingers in your hair”
A marketing giant, would you not say?
I like this marketing giant…it’s just my size. Pea size, dab, touch measure…thanks for bringing it into a manageable recipe for success to see it takes not just faith, but hope and love to make the cake.
In Israel, the instrument of choice indicated by the Lord to call to war, to call to assembly, to give signals and news was the shofar, the ram’s horn or trumpet. It called to attention the people for proclamations and alarms , warnings and festivals and served even as a weapon as in the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. An anointed trumpet , that is the trumpeter, had quite a responsibility and ministry on his hands or rather in his mouth as he blew the ram’s horn for the different events and situations, respectively.
The Bible in Romans 10 says: ‘ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming.”
Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “ For, if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
If we are striving to fulfill the Great commission of going into all the world and preaching the Gospel, who will listen to us if our proclamation is weak and feeble? Who will follow if we show uncertainty in our speech or in our actions? Who will believe us if OUR FAITH is weak? Who will even care to walk with us in our walk with the Lord God, if we walk crooked?
It reminds me of that famous little English nursery song that I teach to the Kindergarteners:
There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile
And found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile
He bought a crooked cat, that caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
Forthrightness in our delivery of the Gospel, in our proclamations of faith that we make not only to others but what our own life demonstrates….should be like the proclamation by the angels on the night CHRIST was born. Proclaiming our faith in God and having the GOD KIND OF FAITH…that is, the kind of faith HE has.
During my morning study of Moses and his interaction with God, the closer Moses drew to God presence the more His countenance radiated the Light of God. Thus with as Beth Moore says, “…true intimacy breeds true humility!” Moses may not have been aware of the change in himself (marked by the God’s glory) but others were aware. Thus Moses is good example of trumpeting his faith.
Scripture quote this morning:
2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 NIV
16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
As Beth says this should be a magnet to those who are authentic seekers of the way.
A friend of mine ask me about my Brylcreem Jingle above. She had not heard it. I would like to suggest we read the history of Brylcreem, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brylcreem
The more I read about faithful ‘Brylcreem’ the more it reveals about faith. Both faith and Brylcreem give me the idea, what goes around comes around. And, what you sow you shall reap. “…he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward” (Proverbs 11:18, NIV) Take a rest but hold on to faith; keep believing because God who promised is faithful. There is a reward waiting for you.
If you decide to read the history and joys of Brylcreem compare it to ‘will Jesus find faith on earth when He comes. Luke 18 Jesus was letting us know through this parable that even mustard seed faith may not be there among the believers when He returns. ” Yes, even faith goes in and out of style but it remains faithful and true if you stay with it!
Thank you for recommending that link on Brylcreem. It was so very interesting reading about it.
As I compared it to ‘will Jesus find faith on earth when He comes. Luke 18 ‘, I found a significant similarity to be that a Biblical timeline shows that, although the faces of faith change throughout history, faith remains a constant tool in the hearts and hands; the timeline of Brylcreem shows that it, also, was an enduring tool that many diverse faces from diverse cultures used and continue to use.
From Abel who by faith brought a righteous sacrifice to God, to the Apostle Stephen, thousands of years later, there were possessors and users of faith. Strephen, who by faith, enduring stoning, was able to look up and see the face of God and Jesus standing and cry out, ‘Lord do not charge them with this sin’…so many accounts of those who’s faith earned them a reward.
This shows me that, like Brylcreem, there will remain an enduring market for faith. The market may take a dive, but will resurge and emerge. God always seemed to find a vessel to shine the light of faith.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ” 2 Cor 4:7 NIV
Many times I have heard, ” I’ll believe it when I see it.” Without actually seeing something, we don’t have faith in it. We have faith that their are 24 hours a day and the sun will rise and the sun will set. Why do we have faith in this, because we have seen this over and over again. We see and we believe, we have faith. So if we don’t have an A in faith, how do we improve our grade? We train not only our physical eyes to see but also train our spiritual eyes to see. Seeing outside our eyes of flesh are our eyes of spirit. Seeing is believing, believing strengthens our faith. We spiritually see through the eyes of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. If we don’t feed our Holy Spirit with truth and keep the Spirit connected to the source of life, Jesus Christ, it will wilter, weaken and will leave us. Without the Holy Spirit living in us, we will be overtaken with flesh and demons. We must remember “Empty space is a place”. If we are not full of God, something else will fill us and will blind us, fill us with doubt, destroy our faith, put us in bondage, make us weak and eventually kill us. We must feed the Holy Spirit that is within us keep it strong and healthly and we will truly see with our spirital sight. Our faith will grow strong and our grade will improve.
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
So, by keeping our eyes on Jesus, we can see and our faith is perfected. So we should walk by FAITH and not by sight!!!!
Jesus told Thomas that because he had put his hands into the wounds of the risen Christ he then was able to believe. But Jesus said, Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet believe, by faith.
I remember when Sister Grandma was a brand new, just converted, spanking baby Christian, (about 30 years ago,) she was quite concerned that she would know that she was really, truly saved. She asked the Bible teacher at our NEW church how could she know of her personal salvation. His one answer lifted the weight of that concern from her heart. He said, ” You take it by faith.” The dawn came and she was set at peace about it.
Mustard seed faith is the kind of faith that when it’s planted it grows and increases and becomes greater and greater. But if you plant it, you must water it with the Word of God, daily and keep the weeds of unbelief out and tend it and it will grow and grow and become a tree planted by the rivers of water whose leaf will not fade and whose fruit is for all seasons.
Chickenfarmer you said we need to ‘train our spiritual eyes to see’. We have to see a need for and want the training, right? Didn’t Jesus say one step in the training was to get some therapy for our eyes by coming to Him and getting some eye salve? (Rev 3:18).
Seems if we don’t think we need spiritual eyes and don’t want it, then we are hardened and calloused and can’t see anyway…no faith, just unbelief.
The book of acts had a few things to say on this:
“Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Acts 26, 28-27 NIV)
Hey, do we need to train our ‘spiritual eyes’ to see? Or, do we need to train and discipline our eyes to be spiritual?
CF writes, “We train not only our physical eyes to see but also train our spiritual eyes to see.” Hum! Trying to see and understand. I see Debi’s scripture, ‘ seeing but not perceiving…”
As Christians we are called to live with a Global view. Therefore, I need good eyesight both physical and spiritual and someway think they should become one. If we are near or far sighted in the natural as well as other eye related diseases we run for help and we have excellent care for our eyes giving us a healthy view. I guess I am saying I read, hear and see but the eye of the heart seems to never wear the corrective lens.
Just a few of my morning thoughts as I travel and see many new faces in different places and my not making much difference, if any, as I hurry and walk right by them. Who are they anyway? A view without sight!
Relating to what Needles wrote in an above comment about mustard seed faith moving mountains, I came across this anonymous quote:
“Remember that the faith to move mountains always carries a pick”.
Sometimes faith is expressed by a ‘keep at it’ attitude that perseveres and doesn’t give up like the account of the widow in Luke 18 who kept faithfully coming to the judge with her requests until it was finally granted to her.
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Luke 18:1-8
Then, Debi, from your story above could we say that faith incorporates perseverence and diligence? Sure sounds like it to me from your quote. A pick ax on a mountain sounds like a lot of WORK. Sara would LOVE that!!
The Apostle Peter says when perseverence /diligence is added to faith along with several other ingredients in increasing measure, including love, we will be effective and productive in the knowledge of our Lord. And it’s interesting that he says that if we don’t possess these, we are nearsighted and blind! This may tie in to what Sara wrote above about eyesight.
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. ” 2 Peter 1:5-9
Thinking on Sara’s comments about Global View…The Living Creatures in Ezekial 1 must have had a ‘global view’. They had wheels beside them with rims full of eyes all around and they could move about and go in any direction needed. How? Because the Spirit was in the wheels and wherever the Spirit went, the Living creatures would go. It seems their physical and spiritual eyes were one..they followed the Spirit wherever the Spirit went.
And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and believing, you will receive”
(Matthew 21:22, AMP) Faith is like having all the money you want in the bank. Except it is not one of those “I wish I had lots of money.” You can have lots of faith by hearing the Word of God. The book of Romans says, ‘faith grows by hearing the Word of God.’
Faith is obeying His Word. Take the measure of faith God has given you and make it grow and collect on the promises afforded you. Yeap, you can even remove some mountains. Why don’t you go shopping with your faith and enjoy what you come home with.