The Cycle of Faith

Perhaps you've heard the verse in Romans that says,
"Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God." (10:17)

Today, I noticed a verse in Hebrews 4:2,
that says that the Word which they (the Israelites)
heard did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

So, I'm trying to figure this out.

The Word of God is the center of this puzzle piece.

And if we are to have faith,
we must hear the Word of God.

But if we don't mix what we hear
with faith,
it will not profit us.

But we obtain faith
by hearing the Word.

But I suppose
that we could hear the Word
and hear the Word
and never profit from it
because we don't believe what we are hearing.

But how can we believe unless we've heard?

I have no idea where this is taking me
unless it is in circles.

Let me think it through another way.

Suppose my husband tells me he loves me.
And suppose I wouldn't know that he loves me
unless I heard him say that he loves me.

But, if I didn't believe his words,
if I didn't believe that he loves me,
then his words of love would not be profitable to me,
because I don't believe them.

So, I must hear them to believe them
but I must believe them to receive them
in order for them to profit me
with the security his loving words offer me.

So, when I hear the Word of God,
it helps me believe the Word of God
and believing the Word of God
helps me profit from the Word of God.

You really don't have to read this.
I just had to work it out on paper.

I am not certain quite
that even now I've got it right.

But I do know this.
If we really believed the Words of God
and what they say about Him,
and we did something about those Words,
we would have faith
that would change our lives
and change the world around us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later...I'm still thinking about this.

A few more examples to help me figure it out:

Suppose I was making meatloaf for supper.
I had all the ingredients.
I had the recipe or 'know-how' to make it.
But I don't mix it together.
I don't DO anything.
It will not profit my family in any way.
The ingredients will just sit there on the counter and draw flies.

Or suppose I know all of the steps to good health.
I know what to eat and how to exercise.
But if I don't mix this knowledge with action,
it will profit me nothing.

It's like love.
Faith worketh by love.
We can have all of the gifts of the Spirit
but if love is not in the mix
it profits us nothing.

We can learn and learn and learn
but never come to the knowledge of the truth.
We must not just know the right way to live-
we must walk uprightly.
We must work righteousness.

For righteousness, without the faith that Christ Himself
is our righteousness,
is nothing but a bunch of white-washed rules,
dressed up in black and white suits,
standing by to carry us off to the insane asylum.

But faith believes that Christ has finished the works of righteousness
and faith enters into the Rest of Christ Jesus
and everything faith does after entering the finished work
of Christ
is because the life of God is flowing out of it
doing what He does.

Faith is gratitude in what Christ has done.
And gratitude is active and present.

Gratitude is loving the author of our Faith.
Gratitude is believing that He IS the author
and the finisher of our faith.

Gratitude is the opposite of bitterness
and bitterness can destroy us if we are not pro-actively
grateful. And forgiving.

Jesus,
Help us understand
and help us mix faith with the Words
we hear and read.