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Finding victory in the Christian life means understanding what it means to live by faith. The Hebrew writer understood this and said in chapter eleven and verse six, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” There is no room for double mindedness in the life of a victorious Christian.

Mike is a 25-year-old, honorably discharged Army Ranger. He lives on the west side of Lancaster. A year ago the only thing that seemed to matter to Mike was “partying”. He was into drugs, alcohol, women, and charging as much as he could on his credit cards. He was as lost as anyone could be. But something happened about 11 months ago. Mike made a decision. He decided to get serious about God and began to truly follow Christ. We all know that when that really happens to someone, it is an amazing thing to watch. I will never get tired of seeing God at work—turning a life around for His glory. Sometimes God moves so quickly that the changes are almost too rapid to keep up with. This has been Mike’s experience, and mine as well, as I’ve had the privilege of walking (or running) along with him.

Most of us will do just about anything to avoid making the really tough decisions in life.

By the grace of God, this has not been true with Mike. Though the journey has not been easy for him, he has consistently addressed the challenging issues in his life. In November of last year, Mike gave up drugs—cold turkey. In December, he broke up with his non-Christian girlfriend. By January, he was attending church regularly and meeting weekly with me. In February, he gave up drinking and, in March, his drinking friends. In April, he got baptized. By May, he was seeking to have victory over his lustful thoughts. All along, Mike was reading his Bible regularly and seeking to build Biblical convictions about relationships, money, giving, church membership and God’s will. In July, he came to me and said, “Dave, all my friends have encouraged me to file bankruptcy. But I feel like I can’t do that without knowing what the Bible would encourage me to do”. I said, “Are you willing to truly consider taking full responsibility for your debt? I think you are well aware Mike that debt, especially credit card debt, doesn’t go away easily. It is merciless.”

We prayed together that day and asked the Lord for a miracle (his debt was large). To be perfectly honest, I saw very little hope of getting him out of this financial hole. He had no family to support him, no rich uncle to ask for help. Mike grew up in six foster homes, and his father was sentenced to life in prison when he was only three-years-old. He was, and is, totally on his own. But God loves to bless His children when we choose to actively please Him. Faithful to provide more than we could ever imagine, God delivered Mike from his debt.

Mike’s victory was found in his Biblically based faith and I was learning that lesson all over again.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God…” Now I was more clearly understand the heart of the matter - what it looks like and what it feels like to live by faith. As Hebrews 11 says, we must be men and women of faith to truly please God. That means we must be men and women that make decisions consistent with the desires and values of the God we claim to follow. Decisions such as these are constantly being made in Mike’s life; one after another. Having been convicted of a change that needed to be made, he would look into the Word of God, develop his convictions based on the truth he discovered and, soon thereafter, make his decision.

“Faith is a decision based on sufficient evidence”.

I have often pointed out that the reason Billy Graham named his magazine “Decision Magazine” was because he knew how clearly that word defines FAITH. A simple definition is; “Faith is a decision that one makes based on incomplete evidence”. Stated in a more positive way, “Faith is a decision based on sufficient evidence”. You demonstrate faith every time you sit in a chair. You have faith that the chair will hold your weight, and keep you off the ground. Your belief is based on evidence: although you may not have sat in that particular chair before, other chairs you may have sat in have proven to be reliable. It is Biblical faith when we identify the evidence (or truths) found in the Bible and then make a decision consistent with that teaching. Mike has been pleasing to God, because he has, and is, making morally good and wise decisions. What a joy to see faith worked out and watch God at work changing a man from the inside out.

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