June 22, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of the One Yes At A Time Podcast, Keidra and Susan discuss the importance of saying yes to faith. Keidra talks about her experience in a new believers class where someone questioned their ability to have faith. She points to everyday acts of trust, like sitting in a chair that we have not inspected, to show that we all have a measure of faith to believe in something. The question is what are we putting our faith in? Susan shares her personal journey of faith from accepting Jesus as a child with childlike faith, rededication of her life to God during her teenage years, to a deeper understanding of faith as an adult. They emphasize that faith is a gift from God and an ongoing journey that requires engaging with God's Word, believing in His promises, and speaking out our faith. The discussion also highlights the necessity of drawing near to God and seeking Him earnestly. The episode concludes with a prayer emphasizing the significance of turning to the Word of God to grow and strengthen faith.
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Episode Transcript
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Keidra Hobley (00:00):
Well, welcome to another episode of The One Yes
At A Time Podcast.
I'm Keidra.
I'm here with my friend Susan,and we today are gonna talk
about saying yes to faith.
How about that?
How about the fact that we arehere doing this episode is our
Yes to faith.
And Susan had to have faith inme that I could be able to do
(00:21):
this, without her having a cluewhat I'm about to share.
And so I do find it interestingthat the Lord is so good at what
he does, that he will give usreal life examples of what it is
he's about to use us to sharewith other people.
I say that because, uh,recently, I've been, attending a
new believers class.
Hmm.
Not that a new believer.
Susan Dies (00:42):
I was gonna say, you're not a new believer.
Keidra Hobley (00:44):
I've been a believer for decades, but the
Lord recently told me, get backto the basics.
And so when this class becameavailable, I thought what better
opportunity to get back to thebasics, to even refresh myself
with what the basics are.
I say that to say this oneparticular day last week, one of
the people that was in the classwho really is a new believer, so
(01:06):
innocently made the comment,"Idon't even know that I know how
to have faith." Hmm.
I know.
And that was my response.
And on the inside it kind ofjust took me back to realize,
whoa, maybe I have been so farremoved from that newness of
faith.
I say all that to say, that theperson leading the group at one
(01:27):
point turned to me and said,"Keidra, do you have anything
you wanna share with her?" And Ijust, my immediate response to
her was, I really believe youhave more faith than you
realize.
Susan Dies (01:36):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (01:37):
And I say that because when you walked in the
room you took a look around.
You decided where you wanted tosit.
You went and you sat in thechair.
You didn't inspect the chair.
Mm-hmm.
You didn't shake the chair tosee if it was sturdy.
You didn't press down on thechair to see if it would support
your weight.
You didn't look underneath it tosee if anything was under it.
You just sat down.
Susan Dies (01:56):
Mm-hmm.
Keidra Hobley (01:57):
And you fully expected the chair to do what
you knew the chair was supposedto do.
Hmm.
That takes faith.
Susan Dies (02:04):
Right.
Keidra Hobley (02:04):
So the question is not whether or not we have
faith.
The question is what do we havefaith in?
Okay?
And so in order for us to acceptChrist as our savior, if we are
saying we are believers, evenjust to do that, it takes faith.
So, Susan, What was yourexperience?
How did you get to the pointwhere you had the faith to
(02:25):
accept Christ?
Susan Dies (02:27):
What I have found is faith is a journey...
because when I was eight yearsold, my sister came home from
church and she knew in her heartthat she wanted to receive Jesus
as her savior.
So my parents called my uncle tocome over to our house.
Our uncle was a Baptistpreacher.
Mm-hmm.
Sometimes that hellfire andbrimstone, Baptist preacher and
(02:49):
you know, when you grow up underthat...
step on my toes all you want...
it doesn't bother me at all.
Yes.
The more you step on'em thebetter I like it, in fact.
But anyway, at that point intime, there were four of us kids
so after Pennie spent that timewith my Uncle Bob...
talking about what it means tobecome a Christian and put your
faith in Christ...
they just kind of went down theline...
and we all took our turn goingback there with Uncle Bob.
(03:11):
And I remember him asking me,"Can you think of any reason why
you wouldn't wanna put yourfaith in Jesus?
And I'm just looking at himshaking my head no..
Mm-hmm...
I can't think of any reason.
And so basically the faith of achild...
I placed my faith in Jesus.
And so from that point I knew inmy heart I was saved, but then
when I was 15, I made arededication of my life.
(03:34):
And I think a lot of people whogrow up in church and take that
step of faith early as a childcome to that place of
understanding...
and a lot of times that comeswhen you're a teenager.
You make decisions that are notin alignment with God's word,
and God's will for your life.
And of course, like anyteenager, I made some of those
same mistakes.
And so at some point in time Ifelt like I needed to make a
(03:57):
recommitment of my life to him.
And so I did that when I was 15and I even got rebaptized...
you know, walked the aisle anddid the whole nine yards...
but then when I was probably inmy late thirties, I came to this
place where I just kind of had acrisis of faith.
Mm.
I was teaching ladies Biblestudy, but I was struggling with
(04:18):
some things at that point intime in my life and what I
wanted to be true abouteverything in my life...
was not true.
Yeah.
And even though I said to theLord all the time,"I love you.
You are my everything.
I want to serve you.
I want to live my life for you.
I want to tell people about you.
I love your word." All thesethings.
(04:39):
He was like,"Okay.
Mm.
Well, we're gonna make that truein your life." And so he began
to strip some things out of mylife, things that were not of
him.
I mean, really pruning meand....
talk about growing in yourfaith.
Yes.
That's when I really began togrow in my faith.
So I gave my life to him as achild.
But again, I think that faith isthis journey.
(05:02):
Mm.
That's so good.
That's so good.
Is that what you were lookingfor?
Keidra Hobley (05:04):
Hey, I wanted whatever you wanted to share,
whatever you wanted to share,because we all have a story and
we all have a journey to gettinghere.
Romans 10:17 says, faith comesby hearing the word of God.
So at some point...
we have to hear the word of God.
That's right.
And that's how we come to havethe faith in order to accept
Christ.
We had to hear the word of God.
(05:26):
Romans 12:3 says, God has givenevery believer a measure of
faith.
So let me just assure those ofyou who are listening, if you
have received Christ as yourSavior, you already have a
measure of faith.
Susan Dies (05:40):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (05:40):
A lot of people say, I don't know if I have
faith or not.
I don't have enough faith.
No.
You have a measure.
The question is, what are youdoing with it?
Susan Dies (05:47):
That's right.
Keidra Hobley (05:47):
So, uh, going through, some boxes at my house
here recently, I came acrossthis set of nesting bowls.
They're great.
I love them.
They're multiple colors.
They have lids.
They have these rubberizedbottoms.
I am so happy that I, I dug themout of these boxes.
They have been there...
(06:08):
for an undisclosed amount oftime.
Mm-hmm.
I'll just say.
It's been a really long time,but, but I bring that up to say
because it, it's not that Ididn't have these bowls.
It's not that I didn't alreadypay for, like the bowls are
already paid for.
They're mine.
They belong to me.
Mm-hmm.
I just didn't use them.
Why?
I didn't use them because theywere buried underneath all these
(06:30):
other boxes.
Mm-hmm.
And sometimes that's what we dowith our faith.
We have faith...
'cause God has already told us,he's given us a measure of
faith.
You know, we, we have access toit.
It's already been paid for.
Jesus died on the cross.
We've already accepted him as asavior, but we aren't accessing
it.
Mm-hmm.
And so it's not the fact that wedon't have it, it's the fact
that we aren't using it.
(06:50):
And so the question then is, ifwe already have it, how do we
use it?
Mark 11:23 instructs us tobelieve in our heart...
and say with our mouth.
In Genesis 1...
Remember, what does it say whenit starts out in Genesis?
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.
That's right.
And the earth was without form,and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep and thespirit of God moved upon the
(07:11):
face of the waters.
Come on.
Come on.
And then what it said, and Godsaid.
Susan Dies (07:15):
That's right.
Whatever he spoke..
That's
Keidra Hobley (07:17):
right...
was.
It was, it's, he said, let therebe light.
And it was.
And so it's the speaking of it..
He spoke it with his mouth.
And so if, that's what God did,that's what we need to do.
Right.
Susan Dies (07:27):
And let me just say for those who may struggle with
speaking what they believe.
You know, sometimes you know inyour heart that you're doubting,
but you wanna believe.
You do believe.
You know there's nothing thatGod cannot do.
Yes.
So sometimes we just need tosay, Lord, help my unbelief.
I know that you can, and I praythat you will...
yes.
Keidra Hobley (07:45):
And we all have those times.
And just because you haveunbelief doesn't absolutely mean
that you don't have faith.
Right?
That's so good.
I'm glad you mentioned that.
2 Corinthians 4:13 says, Ibelieve, therefore I do what?
Speak.
I speak.
Yes.
And so that suggests to me thatfaith is not silent.
Susan Dies (08:05):
Right.
Keidra Hobley (08:05):
Faith speaks.
And so if we aren't sayinganything, we have to question,
do we really believe it?
Do we really have faith in it?
Sometimes we don't say itbecause we don't wanna be
disappointed if it doesn'thappen.
Hmm.
Right?
And to me, right there, there'san indication that we don't
really believe it.
Susan Dies (08:24):
You know, that's interesting that you say that
because I did struggle with thatearlier in my Christian walk.
I didn't wanna speak it out...
but really the reason I didn'twanna speak it out is I didn't
want God to look bad if hedidn't come through.
Mm-hmm.
Isn't that funny?
Keidra Hobley (08:38):
That's something...
Susan Dies (08:39):
that I was thinking, I've got to defend God.
But God has his reasons for whyhe answers the way he answers...
in the timeframe in which heanswers...
and it's all for our good, evenif we can't see it.
Yes.
And even if we never see it.
Yes.
It makes me think about theheroes of the faith that are
mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11.
(08:59):
My favorite definition of faithis Hebrews 11:1 and it says,
"Faith is the assurance..
Yes...
of things hoped for..
Yes...
the evidence of things not seen.
And so the question is what arethe things that we're hoping
for?
We hope in God and we hope inhis promises, and we find those
in His word.
We hope in Christ.
Mm-hmm.
(09:20):
And we hope in forgiveness.
We hope in grace and mercy.
We hope that heaven is a realplace where we are gonna spend
eternity with God.
All these different promises ofthings not seen...
all the things that we hope for,but are not yet visible to our
eyes, and yet faith allows us tosee evidence of God and his
promises and his presence aroundus in our everyday lives, even
(09:43):
when he has not yet answered theprayers that we prayed or we
haven't yet received the thingsthat we've hoped for.
So I love so much that in thisdefinition of faith, we see the
words assurance and evidencebecause it's not wishful
thinking.
Mm-hmm.
That's right.
And it's not based on blindfaith.
Yes.
The evidence for God.
(10:03):
His existence, the evidence forthe fact that he is at work and
he is in all things and throughall things..
Yes...
is so clear if you're justwilling to open up your eyes and
you need faith to do that.
Mm-hmm.
So faith is a gift that Godgives us..
Yes...
the moment that we choose tobelieve.
Keidra Hobley (10:23):
That's so good.
Susan Dies (10:24):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (10:25):
We're getting excited over here.
You can't see us, but we'reexcited! I like the fact that
you said, open up your eyes...
because to me that's veryinteresting...
'cause something I often tellpeople is close your eyes so you
can see.
Cause if we walk by faith andnot by sight, sometimes we're
using our natural eyes...
looking for evidence..
Right...
(10:45):
when we need to close our eyesso we can see the evidence.
Susan Dies (10:48):
That's so good.
But I was thinking that when weopen our eyes and just looking
out at the beauty all aroundyou.
Yes.
And you're looking at nature.
Yes.
And you look at the cycle of ourseasons.
Mm-hmm.
In the winter things look dead,and in the spring they come
right back to life.
Yes.
I mean, everything is a pictureof God and the reality of life
(11:10):
everlasting.
Yes.
Everything that looks dead isnot really dead..
Come on...
if God is in it.
That's so good.
So that's good.
I think also of Ephesians 2:8that tells us that the gift of
faith..
Mm-hmm...
is to those who believe.
It says,"For it is by grace thatyou have been saved through
faith..
Yes...
and this is not of yourselves,it is the gift of God...
(11:31):
talking about faith..
Mm-hmm...
that it's not by works." Like wecan't conjure it up.
We can't make faith happen.
As humans, we simply have tochoose to believe God's
message..
Mm-hmm...
to us about Jesus...
and then he gives us the faithto help us walk that out.
Yes.
To live it...
the faith to wake up every dayand choose to apply his word to
(11:53):
our lives and then trust him tofulfill those promises until our
faith becomes sight..
That's so good...
because God is not a genie.
Mm-hmm.
He doesn't just give useverything we ask for..
Yeah...
just because we ask for it.
He gives us the things that arein alignment..
Come on...
with his word, and the thingsthat are in alignment with his
will for us...
and sometimes that's not what wemight think it is.
(12:15):
Yeah.
His ways are higher than ourways.
His thoughts are higher than ourthoughts.
His ways are better.
He's good.
He's righteous.
He's just in everything he does.
That's so good.
And so by faith..
Yes...
sometimes we just have to trust.
Keidra Hobley (12:27):
That's it.
That's it.
And we have to trust like what?
Like a little child.
Hmm.
That's what the Bible tells us.
Matthew 18:3 tells us we need tobecome like little children and
have that childlike kind offaith.
And so what does childlike faithlook like to you?
Susan Dies (12:45):
Just a child coming up to their parent..
Mm-hmm...
with arms lifted up.
Yes.
Just trusting...
knowing that their parent isgonna meet their needs..
Mm-hmm...
and do what's good for them...
and actually even set theboundaries within which they
should live, so that they canremain safe.
Good.
I mean, I think of all thesethings.
Keidra Hobley (13:00):
That's, that's so good.
And that's how our heavenlyfather wants us to be with him.
And that is how we should cometo him...
like a child.
And you can't live for Godwithout faith because Hebrews
11:6, says,"Without faith, it isimpossible, That's right...
to please God.
Susan Dies (13:15):
The rest of that verse says,"Without faith, it is
impossible to please God...
because those who come to himmust believe that he exists..
Yes.
Number one.
And that he rewards those whoearnestly seek him.
And I, I looked up this wordearnest.
Earnest means effort.
Yes.
Intention.
Yes.
Purpose.
Mm-hmm.
And sincerely.
(13:35):
It means when we seek him thatthis is the way we seek after
God.
To earnestly seek God is thispicture of someone who is intent
on finding him and having arelationship with Him.
And he says that he rewardsthose who seek him in this way,
earnestly, not for what we canget from him..
But He is the reward.
(13:57):
Those who are seeking him.
And if we seek God in this way,like the heroes of the faith who
died not ever even seeing thepromises fulfilled.
They just lived in anticipationand trust.
But like them, we're still gonnabe fulfilled even if we don't
get the answers to our prayers,even if we don't get the desires
of our hearts, because we getGod himself.
(14:18):
Mm-hmm.
And he's more than enough.
And in the waiting...
in the hardest parts of lifewhen we need his presence, his
goodness, his love, his mercy,his grace, all these things...
more than anything else, he'sthere.
And if he never gave us anythingelse..
Yeah...
than what he's already givenus...
the faith to believe, andeverything he promises us in
(14:39):
Jesus, it's more than we deserveand is more than enough.
Keidra Hobley (14:42):
That's so good.
That's so good.
What about the ones who arepraying for faith?
What are your thoughts on that?
Susan Dies (14:50):
If somebody is praying for faith...
two things.
Number one, understand that youalready have a measure of faith
that God gave you at salvation.
But the way that faith grows...
is getting into his word..
Yes...
saying"yes" to what he asks usto do...
putting it into practice in ourlives..
(15:11):
Yes...
finding that he is faithful..
That's it...
and that's how our faith grows.
That's right.
So it's not just, Lord, give memore faith.
Mm-hmm.
It requires some effort.
That's right.
Some seeking after him, as wejust talked about...
that's what I would say.
Keidra Hobley (15:24):
Uh, and you're exactly right, because there's
no way around it.
I see so many believers todaythat don't wanna get into the
word to study, to showthemselves approved.
Like, you know, they want thebenefits of being a believer,
but don't want to get into theword.
And so, what you said isabsolutely right.
Faith comes by hearing...
the word of God.
So if you need more faith, weneed more of the word.
(15:46):
That's that essentially whatwe're saying when we are asking
God for more faith.
And so many of us feel like wedon't have faith...
because what you mentionedearlier, Susan...
that many of our prayers aren'tgetting answered.
And that's why we feel like wedon't have faith.
Well, if what we're believing inour heart and speaking out of
our mouth doesn't line up withthe word of God..
Mm-hmm...
(16:06):
it's not about a lack of faith,it's about a lack of the word.
Right?
And so there's no way aroundit...
all road are gonna lead back tothe word.
We have to get in the word, forourselves.
And that's how you're gonna growyour faith.
And so our faith grows dependingon what we do with it.
Okay.
And so I think about plants.
People who know me know I don'treally do plants but for some
(16:30):
reason in this season of mylife, I have a lot of plants.
Not a lot.
I have five.
That's a lot for me.
I don't know how I got fiveplants, but if you don't water
the plants, how can you expectthe plant to produce.
And so the watering of yourfaith with the word, is what's
gonna produce the fruit in yourlife.
That's how you're gonna growyour faith.
Does that make sense?
Susan Dies (16:49):
That's right.
Yeah.
We have to make some effort.
And that reminds me of thispicture that I have.
Hanging downstairs.
It's a picture ofMichelangelo's, the creation of
Adam.
Mm-hmm.
And in this picture God issurrounded by angels, and he is
straining...
reaching out to Adam.
Every muscle in his body...
every fiber of his being...
as he reaches out to Adam, hismuscles are taut, and Adam is
(17:13):
just reclining on the grass withhis knee up, and his arm draped
over his knee.
And in this picture, the maindetail is that there is this
tiny space...
because God's hand is reachedout, stretched out...
reaching toward Adam...
Adam's hand is kinda limp.
Mm-hmm.
All he has to do is lift afinger, one finger..
(17:33):
Ooh...
one finger to touch the hand ofGod.
God is not asking..
Mm-hmm...
for us to move any mountains.
He wants to move the mountainsfor us.
Mm-hmm.
But we've got to make someeffort.
And it made me think of James4:8 that says,"Draw near to
God.." Mm-hmm.
Make the effort to seek him.
He's already there.
Yeah.
And it says,"He will draw nearto you." So that's a promise for
(17:56):
anyone who's willing to believe.
Keidra Hobley (17:58):
That's so good.
That's so good.
I think that's a great place towrap this episode up because,
"Draw near to God and he willdraw near to us"...
that is the key.
That's right.
So in order for us to say Yes tofaith, let's just draw near to
God and let him draw near to us.
Lift that finger.
I like that illustration.
That's beautiful.
Susan Dies (18:16):
All you gotta do is lift a finger.
That's it.
Alright.
All right.
Keidra Hobley (18:19):
Well, Susan, you wanna pray us out this time.
Susan Dies (18:20):
I will pray us out.
God, thank you so much, for thisday.
Thank you for the promises inyour word.
Lord, your word is full ofpromises.
It is absolute truth that we cancount on.
And so God, I pray that todaythe yes would be that we would
start going to your word to findout what you have to say about
everything in our lives, Lord,so that we can make the right
(18:43):
decisions, the best decisions,and we can position ourselves
for the outpouring of yourblessings in our life.
Just beginning with a life inChrist, just beginning with our
salvation.
But God, thank you for thatfaith that you give us to
believe...
and thank you for the journey offaith that we don't have to have
it all at one time, Lord, justas we apply your word to our
(19:07):
lives and we see that what yourword says is exactly the way
things go Lord, it's clear thatyou are faithful and Lord, you
help us to be faithful And so,Lord, I just thank you for the
gift of faith.
Mm-hmm.
I thank you that it's notsomething that we have to come
up with on our own, but Lord itis something that we have to
(19:28):
work at, that we have to make aneffort with, so that we can grow
in our faith and get stronger.
And Lord, we just trust thatit's by your strength and by the
power of your spirit working inus and through us, that we'll be
able to do that, Lord.
And so we give you our yestoday, and I pray all these
things in the beautiful andprecious and strong name of your
son Jesus.
(19:49):
Amen.
Amen.
Well, welcome to another episode of The One Yes
At A Time Podcast.
I'm Keidra.
I'm here with my friend Susan,and we today are gonna talk
about saying yes to faith.
How about that?
How about the fact that we arehere doing this episode is our
Yes to faith.
And Susan had to have faith inme that I could be able to do
(00:21):
this, without her having a cluewhat I'm about to share.
And so I do find it interestingthat the Lord is so good at what
he does, that he will give usreal life examples of what it is
he's about to use us to sharewith other people.
I say that because, uh,recently, I've been, attending a
new believers class.
Hmm.
Not that a new believer.
Susan Dies (00:42):
I was gonna say, you're not a new believer.
Keidra Hobley (00:44):
I've been a believer for decades, but the
Lord recently told me, get backto the basics.
And so when this class becameavailable, I thought what better
opportunity to get back to thebasics, to even refresh myself
with what the basics are.
I say that to say this oneparticular day last week, one of
the people that was in the classwho really is a new believer, so
(01:06):
innocently made the comment,"Idon't even know that I know how
to have faith." Hmm.
I know.
And that was my response.
And on the inside it kind ofjust took me back to realize,
whoa, maybe I have been so farremoved from that newness of
faith.
I say all that to say, that theperson leading the group at one
(01:27):
point turned to me and said,"Keidra, do you have anything
you wanna share with her?" And Ijust, my immediate response to
her was, I really believe youhave more faith than you
realize.
Susan Dies (01:36):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (01:37):
And I say that because when you walked in the
room you took a look around.
You decided where you wanted tosit.
You went and you sat in thechair.
You didn't inspect the chair.
Mm-hmm.
You didn't shake the chair tosee if it was sturdy.
You didn't press down on thechair to see if it would support
your weight.
You didn't look underneath it tosee if anything was under it.
You just sat down.
Susan Dies (01:56):
Mm-hmm.
Keidra Hobley (01:57):
And you fully expected the chair to do what
you knew the chair was supposedto do.
Hmm.
That takes faith.
Susan Dies (02:04):
Right.
Keidra Hobley (02:04):
So the question is not whether or not we have
faith.
The question is what do we havefaith in?
Okay?
And so in order for us to acceptChrist as our savior, if we are
saying we are believers, evenjust to do that, it takes faith.
So, Susan, What was yourexperience?
How did you get to the pointwhere you had the faith to
(02:25):
accept Christ?
Susan Dies (02:27):
What I have found is faith is a journey...
because when I was eight yearsold, my sister came home from
church and she knew in her heartthat she wanted to receive Jesus
as her savior.
So my parents called my uncle tocome over to our house.
Our uncle was a Baptistpreacher.
Mm-hmm.
Sometimes that hellfire andbrimstone, Baptist preacher and
(02:49):
you know, when you grow up underthat...
step on my toes all you want...
it doesn't bother me at all.
Yes.
The more you step on'em thebetter I like it, in fact.
But anyway, at that point intime, there were four of us kids
so after Pennie spent that timewith my Uncle Bob...
talking about what it means tobecome a Christian and put your
faith in Christ...
they just kind of went down theline...
and we all took our turn goingback there with Uncle Bob.
(03:11):
And I remember him asking me,"Can you think of any reason why
you wouldn't wanna put yourfaith in Jesus?
And I'm just looking at himshaking my head no..
Mm-hmm...
I can't think of any reason.
And so basically the faith of achild...
I placed my faith in Jesus.
And so from that point I knew inmy heart I was saved, but then
when I was 15, I made arededication of my life.
(03:34):
And I think a lot of people whogrow up in church and take that
step of faith early as a childcome to that place of
understanding...
and a lot of times that comeswhen you're a teenager.
You make decisions that are notin alignment with God's word,
and God's will for your life.
And of course, like anyteenager, I made some of those
same mistakes.
And so at some point in time Ifelt like I needed to make a
(03:57):
recommitment of my life to him.
And so I did that when I was 15and I even got rebaptized...
you know, walked the aisle anddid the whole nine yards...
but then when I was probably inmy late thirties, I came to this
place where I just kind of had acrisis of faith.
Mm.
I was teaching ladies Biblestudy, but I was struggling with
(04:18):
some things at that point intime in my life and what I
wanted to be true abouteverything in my life...
was not true.
Yeah.
And even though I said to theLord all the time,"I love you.
You are my everything.
I want to serve you.
I want to live my life for you.
I want to tell people about you.
I love your word." All thesethings.
(04:39):
He was like,"Okay.
Mm.
Well, we're gonna make that truein your life." And so he began
to strip some things out of mylife, things that were not of
him.
I mean, really pruning meand....
talk about growing in yourfaith.
Yes.
That's when I really began togrow in my faith.
So I gave my life to him as achild.
But again, I think that faith isthis journey.
(05:02):
Mm.
That's so good.
That's so good.
Is that what you were lookingfor?
Keidra Hobley (05:04):
Hey, I wanted whatever you wanted to share,
whatever you wanted to share,because we all have a story and
we all have a journey to gettinghere.
Romans 10:17 says, faith comesby hearing the word of God.
So at some point...
we have to hear the word of God.
That's right.
And that's how we come to havethe faith in order to accept
Christ.
We had to hear the word of God.
(05:26):
Romans 12:3 says, God has givenevery believer a measure of
faith.
So let me just assure those ofyou who are listening, if you
have received Christ as yourSavior, you already have a
measure of faith.
Susan Dies (05:40):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (05:40):
A lot of people say, I don't know if I have
faith or not.
I don't have enough faith.
No.
You have a measure.
The question is, what are youdoing with it?
Susan Dies (05:47):
That's right.
Keidra Hobley (05:47):
So, uh, going through, some boxes at my house
here recently, I came acrossthis set of nesting bowls.
They're great.
I love them.
They're multiple colors.
They have lids.
They have these rubberizedbottoms.
I am so happy that I, I dug themout of these boxes.
They have been there...
(06:08):
for an undisclosed amount oftime.
Mm-hmm.
I'll just say.
It's been a really long time,but, but I bring that up to say
because it, it's not that Ididn't have these bowls.
It's not that I didn't alreadypay for, like the bowls are
already paid for.
They're mine.
They belong to me.
Mm-hmm.
I just didn't use them.
Why?
I didn't use them because theywere buried underneath all these
(06:30):
other boxes.
Mm-hmm.
And sometimes that's what we dowith our faith.
We have faith...
'cause God has already told us,he's given us a measure of
faith.
You know, we, we have access toit.
It's already been paid for.
Jesus died on the cross.
We've already accepted him as asavior, but we aren't accessing
it.
Mm-hmm.
And so it's not the fact that wedon't have it, it's the fact
that we aren't using it.
(06:50):
And so the question then is, ifwe already have it, how do we
use it?
Mark 11:23 instructs us tobelieve in our heart...
and say with our mouth.
In Genesis 1...
Remember, what does it say whenit starts out in Genesis?
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.
That's right.
And the earth was without form,and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep and thespirit of God moved upon the
(07:11):
face of the waters.
Come on.
Come on.
And then what it said, and Godsaid.
Susan Dies (07:15):
That's right.
Whatever he spoke..
That's
Keidra Hobley (07:17):
right...
was.
It was, it's, he said, let therebe light.
And it was.
And so it's the speaking of it..
He spoke it with his mouth.
And so if, that's what God did,that's what we need to do.
Right.
Susan Dies (07:27):
And let me just say for those who may struggle with
speaking what they believe.
You know, sometimes you know inyour heart that you're doubting,
but you wanna believe.
You do believe.
You know there's nothing thatGod cannot do.
Yes.
So sometimes we just need tosay, Lord, help my unbelief.
I know that you can, and I praythat you will...
yes.
Keidra Hobley (07:45):
And we all have those times.
And just because you haveunbelief doesn't absolutely mean
that you don't have faith.
Right?
That's so good.
I'm glad you mentioned that.
2 Corinthians 4:13 says, Ibelieve, therefore I do what?
Speak.
I speak.
Yes.
And so that suggests to me thatfaith is not silent.
Susan Dies (08:05):
Right.
Keidra Hobley (08:05):
Faith speaks.
And so if we aren't sayinganything, we have to question,
do we really believe it?
Do we really have faith in it?
Sometimes we don't say itbecause we don't wanna be
disappointed if it doesn'thappen.
Hmm.
Right?
And to me, right there, there'san indication that we don't
really believe it.
Susan Dies (08:24):
You know, that's interesting that you say that
because I did struggle with thatearlier in my Christian walk.
I didn't wanna speak it out...
but really the reason I didn'twanna speak it out is I didn't
want God to look bad if hedidn't come through.
Mm-hmm.
Isn't that funny?
Keidra Hobley (08:38):
That's something...
Susan Dies (08:39):
that I was thinking, I've got to defend God.
But God has his reasons for whyhe answers the way he answers...
in the timeframe in which heanswers...
and it's all for our good, evenif we can't see it.
Yes.
And even if we never see it.
Yes.
It makes me think about theheroes of the faith that are
mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11.
(08:59):
My favorite definition of faithis Hebrews 11:1 and it says,
"Faith is the assurance..
Yes...
of things hoped for..
Yes...
the evidence of things not seen.
And so the question is what arethe things that we're hoping
for?
We hope in God and we hope inhis promises, and we find those
in His word.
We hope in Christ.
Mm-hmm.
(09:20):
And we hope in forgiveness.
We hope in grace and mercy.
We hope that heaven is a realplace where we are gonna spend
eternity with God.
All these different promises ofthings not seen...
all the things that we hope for,but are not yet visible to our
eyes, and yet faith allows us tosee evidence of God and his
promises and his presence aroundus in our everyday lives, even
(09:43):
when he has not yet answered theprayers that we prayed or we
haven't yet received the thingsthat we've hoped for.
So I love so much that in thisdefinition of faith, we see the
words assurance and evidencebecause it's not wishful
thinking.
Mm-hmm.
That's right.
And it's not based on blindfaith.
Yes.
The evidence for God.
(10:03):
His existence, the evidence forthe fact that he is at work and
he is in all things and throughall things..
Yes...
is so clear if you're justwilling to open up your eyes and
you need faith to do that.
Mm-hmm.
So faith is a gift that Godgives us..
Yes...
the moment that we choose tobelieve.
Keidra Hobley (10:23):
That's so good.
Susan Dies (10:24):
Mm.
Keidra Hobley (10:25):
We're getting excited over here.
You can't see us, but we'reexcited! I like the fact that
you said, open up your eyes...
because to me that's veryinteresting...
'cause something I often tellpeople is close your eyes so you
can see.
Cause if we walk by faith andnot by sight, sometimes we're
using our natural eyes...
looking for evidence..
Right...
(10:45):
when we need to close our eyesso we can see the evidence.
Susan Dies (10:48):
That's so good.
But I was thinking that when weopen our eyes and just looking
out at the beauty all aroundyou.
Yes.
And you're looking at nature.
Yes.
And you look at the cycle of ourseasons.
Mm-hmm.
In the winter things look dead,and in the spring they come
right back to life.
Yes.
I mean, everything is a pictureof God and the reality of life
(11:10):
everlasting.
Yes.
Everything that looks dead isnot really dead..
Come on...
if God is in it.
That's so good.
So that's good.
I think also of Ephesians 2:8that tells us that the gift of
faith..
Mm-hmm...
is to those who believe.
It says,"For it is by grace thatyou have been saved through
faith..
Yes...
and this is not of yourselves,it is the gift of God...
(11:31):
talking about faith..
Mm-hmm...
that it's not by works." Like wecan't conjure it up.
We can't make faith happen.
As humans, we simply have tochoose to believe God's
message..
Mm-hmm...
to us about Jesus...
and then he gives us the faithto help us walk that out.
Yes.
To live it...
the faith to wake up every dayand choose to apply his word to
(11:53):
our lives and then trust him tofulfill those promises until our
faith becomes sight..
That's so good...
because God is not a genie.
Mm-hmm.
He doesn't just give useverything we ask for..
Yeah...
just because we ask for it.
He gives us the things that arein alignment..
Come on...
with his word, and the thingsthat are in alignment with his
will for us...
and sometimes that's not what wemight think it is.
(12:15):
Yeah.
His ways are higher than ourways.
His thoughts are higher than ourthoughts.
His ways are better.
He's good.
He's righteous.
He's just in everything he does.
That's so good.
And so by faith..
Yes...
sometimes we just have to trust.
Keidra Hobley (12:27):
That's it.
That's it.
And we have to trust like what?
Like a little child.
Hmm.
That's what the Bible tells us.
Matthew 18:3 tells us we need tobecome like little children and
have that childlike kind offaith.
And so what does childlike faithlook like to you?
Susan Dies (12:45):
Just a child coming up to their parent..
Mm-hmm...
with arms lifted up.
Yes.
Just trusting...
knowing that their parent isgonna meet their needs..
Mm-hmm...
and do what's good for them...
and actually even set theboundaries within which they
should live, so that they canremain safe.
Good.
I mean, I think of all thesethings.
Keidra Hobley (13:00):
That's, that's so good.
And that's how our heavenlyfather wants us to be with him.
And that is how we should cometo him...
like a child.
And you can't live for Godwithout faith because Hebrews
11:6, says,"Without faith, it isimpossible, That's right...
to please God.
Susan Dies (13:15):
The rest of that verse says,"Without faith, it is
impossible to please God...
because those who come to himmust believe that he exists..
Yes.
Number one.
And that he rewards those whoearnestly seek him.
And I, I looked up this wordearnest.
Earnest means effort.
Yes.
Intention.
Yes.
Purpose.
Mm-hmm.
And sincerely.
(13:35):
It means when we seek him thatthis is the way we seek after
God.
To earnestly seek God is thispicture of someone who is intent
on finding him and having arelationship with Him.
And he says that he rewardsthose who seek him in this way,
earnestly, not for what we canget from him..
But He is the reward.
(13:57):
Those who are seeking him.
And if we seek God in this way,like the heroes of the faith who
died not ever even seeing thepromises fulfilled.
They just lived in anticipationand trust.
But like them, we're still gonnabe fulfilled even if we don't
get the answers to our prayers,even if we don't get the desires
of our hearts, because we getGod himself.
(14:18):
Mm-hmm.
And he's more than enough.
And in the waiting...
in the hardest parts of lifewhen we need his presence, his
goodness, his love, his mercy,his grace, all these things...
more than anything else, he'sthere.
And if he never gave us anythingelse..
Yeah...
than what he's already givenus...
the faith to believe, andeverything he promises us in
(14:39):
Jesus, it's more than we deserveand is more than enough.
Keidra Hobley (14:42):
That's so good.
That's so good.
What about the ones who arepraying for faith?
What are your thoughts on that?
Susan Dies (14:50):
If somebody is praying for faith...
two things.
Number one, understand that youalready have a measure of faith
that God gave you at salvation.
But the way that faith grows...
is getting into his word..
Yes...
saying"yes" to what he asks usto do...
putting it into practice in ourlives..
(15:11):
Yes...
finding that he is faithful..
That's it...
and that's how our faith grows.
That's right.
So it's not just, Lord, give memore faith.
Mm-hmm.
It requires some effort.
That's right.
Some seeking after him, as wejust talked about...
that's what I would say.
Keidra Hobley (15:24):
Uh, and you're exactly right, because there's
no way around it.
I see so many believers todaythat don't wanna get into the
word to study, to showthemselves approved.
Like, you know, they want thebenefits of being a believer,
but don't want to get into theword.
And so, what you said isabsolutely right.
Faith comes by hearing...
the word of God.
So if you need more faith, weneed more of the word.
(15:46):
That's that essentially whatwe're saying when we are asking
God for more faith.
And so many of us feel like wedon't have faith...
because what you mentionedearlier, Susan...
that many of our prayers aren'tgetting answered.
And that's why we feel like wedon't have faith.
Well, if what we're believing inour heart and speaking out of
our mouth doesn't line up withthe word of God..
Mm-hmm...
(16:06):
it's not about a lack of faith,it's about a lack of the word.
Right?
And so there's no way aroundit...
all road are gonna lead back tothe word.
We have to get in the word, forourselves.
And that's how you're gonna growyour faith.
And so our faith grows dependingon what we do with it.
Okay.
And so I think about plants.
People who know me know I don'treally do plants but for some
(16:30):
reason in this season of mylife, I have a lot of plants.
Not a lot.
I have five.
That's a lot for me.
I don't know how I got fiveplants, but if you don't water
the plants, how can you expectthe plant to produce.
And so the watering of yourfaith with the word, is what's
gonna produce the fruit in yourlife.
That's how you're gonna growyour faith.
Does that make sense?
Susan Dies (16:49):
That's right.
Yeah.
We have to make some effort.
And that reminds me of thispicture that I have.
Hanging downstairs.
It's a picture ofMichelangelo's, the creation of
Adam.
Mm-hmm.
And in this picture God issurrounded by angels, and he is
straining...
reaching out to Adam.
Every muscle in his body...
every fiber of his being...
as he reaches out to Adam, hismuscles are taut, and Adam is
(17:13):
just reclining on the grass withhis knee up, and his arm draped
over his knee.
And in this picture, the maindetail is that there is this
tiny space...
because God's hand is reachedout, stretched out...
reaching toward Adam...
Adam's hand is kinda limp.
Mm-hmm.
All he has to do is lift afinger, one finger..
(17:33):
Ooh...
one finger to touch the hand ofGod.
God is not asking..
Mm-hmm...
for us to move any mountains.
He wants to move the mountainsfor us.
Mm-hmm.
But we've got to make someeffort.
And it made me think of James4:8 that says,"Draw near to
God.." Mm-hmm.
Make the effort to seek him.
He's already there.
Yeah.
And it says,"He will draw nearto you." So that's a promise for
(17:56):
anyone who's willing to believe.
Keidra Hobley (17:58):
That's so good.
That's so good.
I think that's a great place towrap this episode up because,
"Draw near to God and he willdraw near to us"...
that is the key.
That's right.
So in order for us to say Yes tofaith, let's just draw near to
God and let him draw near to us.
Lift that finger.
I like that illustration.
That's beautiful.
Susan Dies (18:16):
All you gotta do is lift a finger.
That's it.
Alright.
All right.
Keidra Hobley (18:19):
Well, Susan, you wanna pray us out this time.
Susan Dies (18:20):
I will pray us out.
God, thank you so much, for thisday.
Thank you for the promises inyour word.
Lord, your word is full ofpromises.
It is absolute truth that we cancount on.
And so God, I pray that todaythe yes would be that we would
start going to your word to findout what you have to say about
everything in our lives, Lord,so that we can make the right
(18:43):
decisions, the best decisions,and we can position ourselves
for the outpouring of yourblessings in our life.
Just beginning with a life inChrist, just beginning with our
salvation.
But God, thank you for thatfaith that you give us to
believe...
and thank you for the journey offaith that we don't have to have
it all at one time, Lord, justas we apply your word to our
(19:07):
lives and we see that what yourword says is exactly the way
things go Lord, it's clear thatyou are faithful and Lord, you
help us to be faithful And so,Lord, I just thank you for the
gift of faith.
Mm-hmm.
I thank you that it's notsomething that we have to come
up with on our own, but Lord itis something that we have to
(19:28):
work at, that we have to make aneffort with, so that we can grow
in our faith and get stronger.
And Lord, we just trust thatit's by your strength and by the
power of your spirit working inus and through us, that we'll be
able to do that, Lord.
And so we give you our yestoday, and I pray all these
things in the beautiful andprecious and strong name of your
son Jesus.
(19:49):
Amen.
Amen.
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