I just know ...

I just know. This is what I think. This is how I feel.

These are the kind of things some people say when they speak about having faith. 

Often, their idea of faith is very vague - and says more about themselves than it says about God.

We read these statements, I just know. this is what I think,  this is how I feel, we see a lot of I in them, and we wonder, what about God, where is he in all of this?

When our faith is real - firmly grounded in the Lord, we do not think so much about ourselves - what we believe and how we feel. We think more about the Lord and what he has done for us. Rather than giving out our own thoughts and feelings, we concern ourselves with something much more important and much more valuable - sharing the Word of the Lord.

Our thoughts and feelings come and go. Sometimes, we have positive thoughts and optimistic feelings. At other times, our thoughts are more negative and pessimistic. The Word of the Lord is very different: "the Word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:25).

It's one thing to have a 'faith' that is a dormant thing. It's quite another thing to have a faith that's grounded in the Lord's Word. 

Some people say, "I'm a believer", but they don't really have much idea exactly what it is they believe in. Often, they are "blown here and there y every wind of teaching" (Ephesians 4:14). 

What about the wind of the Spirit? What happens when the Spirit of the living God is working mightily? Go back to Acts 2. What do we find there? When the Spirit of God comes like "rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2), there is the teaching of God's Word and the preaching of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour - and people are brought to faith, but it's much more than, 'I've got my own faith. You've got your faith, and I've got my faith. I keep my faith to myself.' Faith that is grounded in God's Word, centred on God's Son - Jesus, and inspired by God's Spirit, is a life-changing faith. It changes people. They can't just go on as they always have done, making vague statements about 'faith' without really be changed by the Lord. On the day of Pentecost, the people who responded to the teaching of God's Word, the preaching of Christ and the moving of God's Spirit became new men and women: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). When people were transformed like this, the world listened to what they had to say. They knew that this was no empty faith - a faith that didn't really make much difference. This was faith that was less about my faith, and more about the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Their faith was so much more than just their faith. It was faith that had come to them from outside of themselves - from the teaching of God's Word, the preaching of Christ crucified and risen, and the powerful working of the Spirit of God. If we, in our generation, are to be men and women of faith, we must learn from those who responded to the preaching of the gospel on the day of Pentecost - learning to listen to God's Word, learning to rejoice in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, and learning to move in the power of the Holy Spirit.