“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are 2 kinds of people in life when it comes to stepping out in faith.

1. Those that blaze trails

2. Those that intend to blaze trails

Intention is a wonderful thing, but it is empty without action. True faith has been, and always will be accompanied by action. Intentions may get you started but faith is what keeps you going. Too many people are all talk but no action. They desire to step out in faith and live a life of fearlessness but seem to be always talking and never doing. They say things like:

• “One day I’ll start that business.”
• “Someday I’m going to serve in that ministry.”
• “I’d like to lead a small group.”
• “One day I’m going to talk to my unchurched friend about God.”
• “One day I’m going to get organized and be more productive.”

The list goes on and on…you can fill in the blank. The difference between desires and decisions is discipline. Without being disciplined to follow through with our desires we will fall back into the same routine. I see this all the time, people come to me and talk about their hopes and dreams, but that is all they are…hopes and dreams. They never turn them into action and discipline themselves to make it happen. Most people wish rather than work, they play rather than plan. While driving down the highway the other day I saw a billboard for a medical organization that said, “Hope for the best is not an emergency plan.” I have found that everyone wants to get skinny, but no one wants to diet. Everyone wants to be rich, but no one wants to save. Everyone wants to be positive, but no one wants to stop talking about negativity. Everyone wants wisdom, but no one wants to read and study.

The only way that we become better is to do the things that make us better. We will never be used by God if we are unwilling to be disciplined for Him. Jesus calls us to be disciples. The word disciple in the Bible primarily refers to a student of Jesus. Think about what it means to be a student of Jesus…a student is working to become better. A student is giving their all to work and become an expert in the things in which they are studying. And you can’t become a disciple without discipline, they are linked together as the same word almost. So in order to be a disciple (or student) of Christ it takes discipline. This means we cannot talk about faith we MUST live it.

James 2:14-17

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

So what are you doing to live out your faith?

The only way to get more faith is to use what you have. If you don’t live out the faith you already have, do not expect to get more for greater things. Our faith lid will determine what we experience in life. The higher our faith the more doors open up, the lower our faith the less doors we are ready to walk through. Author T Harv Eker said, “If you are willing to do only what’s easy, life will be hard. But if you are willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy.” Be a disciple and discipline yourself to do what you know you need to do and get more faith!