July 10, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of the One Yes At A Time podcast, hosts Susan Dies and Keidra Hobley delve into the multifaceted subject of faith. They emphasize faith as the cornerstone of a believer's relationship with God through Jesus, discussing the importance of growing and exercising faith in daily life. Keidra shares insights highlighting that faith is not increased simply through prayer but by engaging with God's word and putting it into practice. They contrast the different types of faith mentioned in the Bible, such as little versus much faith, and genuine versus fake faith. Personal anecdotes and biblical examples, like Abraham's unwavering faith, underscore the importance of trusting God's promises despite life's circumstances and challenges. The episode concludes with a prayer of faith, urging listeners to put their faith into action and to nourish their spiritual growth by feeding on God's word.
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Episode Transcript
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Susan Dies (00:00):
Welcome to the One Yes At A Time podcast.
(00:02):
My name is Susan Dies and I'mhere with my co-host, Keidra
Hobley...
and today we are continuing ourdiscussion about faith.
Faith is such a broad topic.
It is so deep and it's so wide,and for the believer, it is the
foundation for our relationshipwith God through Jesus...
and there's just no way that wecan cover this topic in 20
minutes so we've decided to justcontinue the discussion in order
(00:25):
to just try and at least touchon some of the different aspects
of faith and what it looks liketo live out our faith in our
everyday lives.
Now, Keidra, you mentioned inour podcast last week that as
Christians, we can't live a lifethat pleases God without faith..
Right...
which means that faith in God,and faith in his promises is key
to the Christian life.
(00:46):
It's how we come into arelationship with God through
Jesus, but it's also how we growin our relationship with God.
And so that's gonna be the focusof our conversation today.
And I shared with you recentlythat I went on your website,
keidrahobley.com.
and I was looking at some ofyour teaching materials.
You've been teaching God's wordto ladies for many years and I
came across some sessions thatyou recorded back when you were
(01:09):
doing your Refresh women'sretreats, sometime between
2016-2018...
and I actually got to be a partof that one time.
You invited me to come for theweekend and speak, which I have
to say is probably one of themost fun retreats that I've ever
had the privilege of being apart of...
it was so much fun.
In fact, I remember that eventhough I was the main speaker
(01:29):
for the event, you were the onehosting the event, and I
remember seeing a very differentside of you that I'd never seen
before.
I've always been used to thevery reserved Keidra...
Keidra Hobley (01:39):
yep.
Susan Dies (01:40):
But when that event started that night, I remember
thinking, who is this girl?
Do you remember me?
I said that to you.
I remember...
like, who are you?
Yeah..
Because this is not the Keidrathat I know.
It was probably the first time Ithink I'd ever seen you dressed
in anything other than a dressor a business suit.
Yep.
I think you were in jeans and acute shirt.
Mm-hmm.
You had your hair down.
(02:00):
And of course you have thatmillion dollar smile that
everybody knows...
but there was just a joy and afreedom about you that just
radiated Jesus.
Amen.
And I say all that because whenI went to your website I came
across one of your teachingsessions entitled"Grow Your
Faith", which I think is soexcellent and we're gonna be
talking about that today.
But what struck me is that whenthe audio started, the Keidra
(02:22):
that I was listening to was thesame one that was at that
retreat so many years agobecause there was just this
excitement in your voice as youbegan to talk about the
importance of us growing in ourfaith.
And so my hope is that ourlisteners are gonna hear from
that same Keidra today..
Amen...
as they get to know your heartthrough our podcast and as they
hear your heart on thisimportant subject.
(02:43):
And so I want to go through theteaching together and share the
things that stood out to me andthen I wanna get you to just
expound on it.
So, something you mentioned atthe beginning of your talk, is
that faith doesn't come bypraying for it.
Keidra Hobley (02:55):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (02:56):
And I don't know why, but that just landed on my
ears in a really fresh way whenI heard you say that because so
often we ask God for more faithto believe...
when, if we would just choose tobelieve what God has already
said to us..
Yeah...
we would find that he's alreadygiven us the measure of faith
that we need for the very thingthat we're praying for.
Mm-hmm.
Is that right?
That's right.
(03:16):
That's absolutely right.
Alright, and so you said thequestion is not, do we have
faith?
The question is, are webenefiting from the faith that
he's already given us.
So maybe just speak to that.
How do we benefit from ourfaith?
Mm-hmm.
And how do we get the most outof this gift that God has given
to us?
Keidra Hobley (03:32):
Well, first we have to realize we have it.
Mm.
Okay...
'cause we can't benefit fromanything that we don't recognize
we have.
If we're still constantlypraying and begging for
something that we alreadyhave...
that suggests in itself that wedon't even recognize we have it.
And so I think that's the placeto start...
is to acknowledge the fact thatthe Father has already given us
a measure and that that measureis sufficient...
(03:54):
and that if we need more forgreater things, there is already
a pre-prescribed way to gainthat...
and praying is not it.
I know that sounds kinda weird,but that's the fact.
If the word says that faithcomes by hearing the word...
then the only way that you'regonna increase the level of
faith you already have is bygetting in the word.
And so a lot of times we asbelievers try to avoid getting
(04:17):
in the word.
Hmm.
And so I think that's the placeto start.
Get in the word.
Acknowledge that you alreadyhave a measure..
Okay...
and then start using what youalready have.
Susan Dies (04:24):
So when we get into God's word, just find out
everything that we can aboutwhat God's word says about the
thing that we're praying forYes.
And choose to believe that.
Yes.
And act on that.
Keidra Hobley (04:35):
That's right.
Susan Dies (04:35):
Okay.
Keidra Hobley (04:36):
And I love the fact that you said,"and act on
that." Because faith is a verb.
It requires action.
We have to do something with it.
So I like the way you said that.
Susan Dies (04:44):
I think it's important for us to understand
that faith is this ongoingjourney as we talked about.
Mm-hmm...
and for me personally, whatincreases my faith in God the
most...
is when we create this historywith God, where we can look back
and see his faithfulness to usas we've trusted him.
Keidra Hobley (05:00):
Oh yeah.
I think the greatest example ofthat for me is financially.
I mean, literally because, myyoungest was in my womb when the
Lord told me to quit my job.
Susan Dies (05:09):
Okay.
Keidra Hobley (05:10):
Yeah.
And she's 20.
Susan Dies (05:11):
Wow.
Keidra Hobley (05:12):
And so, and so you talk about a walk of faith.
I haven't had a traditional jobpretty much since then.
And so to live by faithfinancially...
and I don't recommend thisunless the Lord told you to do
it'cause you'll go hungry.
But this was an instruction fromthe Lord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so just to trust him andtake him at his word because in
(05:33):
the natural it makes absolutelyno sense.
Right.
It makes no sense at all.
I mean, you have things you haveto pay for.
How do you pay for thingswithout income?
Well, in that moment, quit yourjob was the word of the Lord to
me.
And so if he said it.
I believed him.
I trusted him.
I could not wrap my brain aroundhow he was gonna do it.
Mm-hmm.
But over the decades, over the20 years that I've been trusting
(05:57):
him financially, it is miracle,after miracle, after
supernatural provision.
So there's nothing you can tellme now that will cause me to
believe that God doesn't have aninfinite number of ways to
provide.
So, yeah.
Susan Dies (06:08):
Yeah.
So you have to really praythrough things like that.
Yes.
But anyway, I love that.
2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us,"Believers live by faith and not
by sight"..
Mm-hmm...
and I see that in your life.
And so talk a little bit aboutwhat that means.
What does it look like to liveby faith instead of sight?
Mm-hmm.
I mean, how do we do that?
Keidra Hobley (06:28):
Yeah.
I think even in the lastepisode, I, I remember saying
that, sometimes I tell people,close your eyes so you can see.
Mm-hmm.
So when it says,"walk by faithand not by sight", I think, uh,
life circumstances...
the things we can see and sensewith our natural, physical
senses are things that we use asdata to make decisions, and, and
(06:48):
that's not how the Lord works.
He tells us his ways are not ourways, his thoughts are not our
thoughts.
And so when we have to operateby faith instead of by our
senses, by our sight, I'm notsaying ignore the natural, but
I'm saying allow thesupernatural to override the
natural.
Right.
When you know that God's in it.
(07:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
And so it takes a consciouseffort to do that sometimes
because we wanna make decisionsbased on what we can see...
instead of trusting God for whatwe can't see.
Susan Dies (07:17):
Something I think is so interesting, if you look at
the context of this verse in 2Corinthians that I just talked
about...
that we walk by faith and not bysight...
is that the verses before andafter...
verses 6 and 8, both say,"we areconfident." Mm-hmm.
The point being that our faithas Christians is not based on
wishful thinking and hope so's.
(07:38):
It's based on the unchangingnature and character of God and
on the truth of his word.
That has proven faithful timeand time again down through the
ages.
Now, Something you said in thelast episode that was also in
your teaching about growing inour faith is that we all start
out with the same measure offaith.
Yeah.
And I'm not sure I ever reallyeven thought about that before
(08:00):
because throughout my life I'veknown people who are really
strong in their faith, and I'veknown some people who are really
weak in their faith, and I don'tknow that I've ever let it sink
in before that we all begin ourjourney of faith with the same
measure of faith.
Mm-hmm.
And so talk about that.
Why if we all start with thesame measure of God-given faith,
(08:20):
why do some believers seem tohave so much more faith?
Keidra Hobley (08:24):
Yeah, well think about your natural body.
We all have the same muscles.
And why are some people strongerthan others?
You know, I would like to thinkthat I'm fit and strong and
healthy.
Mm-hmm.
But the truth is there's somemuscles in my body that I just
don't use or I don't use as muchas others.
And why is that?
Because I'm not beingintentional about exercising
(08:45):
them.
And so some people have strongerfaith because they're exercising
their faith muscles.
You know, it's not just exercisethough, it's also diet.
Our bodies are a reflection ofdiet and exercise..
Right...
and so is our faith.
Our faith is a reflection of ourspiritual diet and our spiritual
exercise.
So the diet is the word of God.
(09:07):
And so if we're feeding ourspirit good, healthy, spiritual
food through the word, that'sgonna grow our faith..
Right...
because faith comes by hearing.
Right.
And so if we do that...
and then exercise our faith,what does that look like?
That's stepping out in thethings that we've learned.
That's how you exercise yourfaith.
And the more you do that, thestronger your faith is gonna
grow.
And so some of us, even thoughwe start out with the same
(09:28):
measure.
Some of us have a stronger faithbecause we are eating more
healthy, nourishing spiritualfood..
Mm-hmm...
and exercising those spiritualmuscles, versus others who are
just comfortable.
Hmm.
We're just comfortable..
Susan Dies (09:42):
That makes me think about something that I heard
Christine Caine say one time.
Do you know who Christine Cainis?
I do know Christine Cain.
She's incredible.
She says, you know, we all wannahave more faith.
We all wanna see God move inmiraculous ways, but then we do
everything we can to live assafely..
Mm...
and as comfortably as possibleso that we don't ever need God
(10:03):
to do anything miraculous.
Wow.
Because most of the time whenthat kind of faith is required,
it's in circumstances andsituations in which we have no
control.
Uhhuh.
And if God doesn't come throughfor us, we literally have no
hope and no one wants to be inthose kind of circumstances that
require that level of faith, butyet we all want that level of
(10:24):
faith.
But this is the thing, at somepoint in time, if we live long
enough, there's gonna come atime when we need that kind of
faith.
Yeah.
And for those who are willing toput all their hope in God, no
matter what the circumstanceslook like, Isaiah 49:23 says,
"Then you will know that I amthe Lord, and those who hope in
me will not be disappointed."Yeah.
(10:45):
And this is God speaking andthis is his promise.
Um, now I know we're about toget on some sacred ground here,
Keidra Hobley (10:52):
Uh oh...
Susan Dies (10:53):
But we gotta go here because I know there are those
who are listening, who arethinking, you know, I've prayed
with that kind of faith.
Mm-hmm.
I've needed that kind of hope,and I've asked God to help me.
I've even begged God to help me.
But the thing that I feared themost did happen.
And now I don't know what to door what to believe, and I do
feel disappointed.
So what would you say to thatperson when they prayed in
(11:15):
faith..
Yeah...
and they didn't get the thingthat they prayed for...
and they don't even know thatthey believe God even heard
their prayers because it justdoesn't look like it.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Keidra Hobley (11:25):
Well, again, I would encourage you to know that
God's word is true.
And if he said it, it is truth.
And he's a God of answers.
He's a God who listens, whohears.
And so just because we haveprayed...
there's a real enemy who'sfighting to prevent those
answers from coming.
So sometimes the answer iscoming.
(11:45):
It just hasn't come yet.
So that's, that's one thing thatwe can take into
consideration...
that his timing is not ourtiming.
And then there are otherpotential reasons.
I'm just covering a few that arecoming to mind.
Sometimes we have to askourselves is what we're
requesting in alignment with hiswill?
And so that could be the reason.
And sometimes we just have toaccept the fact that we live in
(12:06):
a fallen world.
And that the enemy is real.
And so sometimes we just have topersist in prayer.
And even if we don't get ourway, you still trust God.
You still believe that he is agood Father.
You still honor him.
You still worship him...
and then you just worship yourway through it until he reveals
(12:26):
to you what's next for you inthat particular situation.
Susan Dies (12:30):
So, for you personally..
Yeah...
think about a time when maybeyou were disappointed.
Mm-hmm..
You prayed and prayed...
you knew you were praying inGod's will..
Mm-hmm...
you knew that the thing you werepraying for is something that
God would want.
Mm-hmm.
And yet it didn't happen.
Mm-hmm.
How did you handle thatdisappointment?
What was your thought process tomove through that...
(12:51):
and to even move forward fromthat..
Yeah...
disappointment.
Keidra Hobley (12:54):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, come on...
the greatest example I can givetoday is the fact that I'm a
single woman.
Mm-hmm.
Not by choice, you know?
And so, the fact that I prayed,I prayed, I prayed for my
marriage.
I fought for my marriage...
and, I sit here today as single.
And so, even though I fought andI prayed and I prayed and I
fought, it, turned out the waythat it did...
(13:15):
but I still chose to trust God.
And I still to this day chooseto trust God.
And, I accept the fact that I'mnot gonna figure it out.
I don't need to know all theanswers.
I still, to this day, don'tknow.
And I have to be okay with that,you know, and still trust God.
God, you still have a plan formy life.
You still have things for me todo and I cannot sit and question
(13:37):
why what happened, happened theway that it did, and allow that
to hinder me from moving forwardwith what he has for me.
And so I just choose to acceptthe fact there will be some
things that I don't understand.
And even though I don'tunderstand, it doesn't mean that
I can't still exercise my faith.
I still trust you, Lord.
I still worship you through it.
I still move forward with thethings you have for me.
(13:59):
Yes, absolutely there is real,tangible, natural pain that is
associated with some things thatwe experience in life, but we
cannot allow it to end there.
Okay?
Feel the feelings.
They are real...
and God gave them to us but thatdoes not have to define us.
That's right.
And it does not have to hinderour future.
And so I don't try to figure itout.
(14:20):
I don't try to, you know, makeit make sense.
'cause it, it makes no sense,you know?
And so I choose to move forwardwith the plan that God has for
my life, to surrender...
Susan Dies (14:30):
That's so good.
I know that you've said beforethat sometimes you just have to
surrender it to God.
Absolutely.
And you don't have to know thewhy's or the what's.
Mm-hmm.
And just the fact that he lovesyou, and he's sovereign, and he
allowed things to turn out theway they did regardless of your
prayers.
Mm-hmm.
You just had to walk in trustand faith.
That's exactly right.
(14:51):
And so that's so good.
God never promised that we wouldnot go through hard things, or
terrible things, or difficultthings, even tragic things.
In fact, God's main promise isthat he will be with us...
that he will never leave us orforsake us.
That he will heal what's broken.
That he will bring beauty fromthe ashes...
that he will turn our mourninginto dancing, and all of this
(15:12):
takes time.
And so we just have to keepbelieving.
Mm-hmm.
We have to keep trusting.
We have to keep moving forwardand just keep giving him our
hearts and our hurts, and knowthat even when it doesn't look
like it, he is doing somethingand he promises in Romans 8:28
that he's working all thingstogether...
the good and the bad...
for our good and for his glory.
(15:34):
And we know that He will becausehe's promised.
Yeah.
And you're a testimony of that.
Amen.
My life is a testimony of that.
Yeah.
And that takes faith.
It takes great faith.
Another point you made aboutfaith is you talked about the
different kinds of faithmentioned in the Bible, and
contrasted them, and I'm gonnaremind you of what they were.
Okay, good.
And then you just talk a littlebit about some of these.
(15:55):
You talked about little faith.
Mm-hmm.
Versus big faith or much faith.
Yeah.
You talked about weak faithversus strong faith.
Yeah.
Rich faith versus poor.
I love the way you said it.
Who wants..
Who wants broke faith?
I remember saying that.
We can be full of faith or wecan be spiritually empty.
We can have complete or maturefaith versus incomplete or
(16:18):
immature faith.
Yeah.
We can have genuine faith versusfake faith.
Mm-hmm.
Nobody wants fake faith.
Mm-hmm.
But there's a lot of it.
Uh, shipwrecked faith.
And then overcoming faith.
Keidra Hobley (16:30):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (16:31):
Talk about some of those.
Keidra Hobley (16:32):
Ooh, man.
I think I was just so amazedthat the Lord revealed to me all
those different terms adjectivesto describe the different types
of faith.
And so I thought it was reallycool to parallel those.
Yes.
But, genuine faith.
I think a lot of times wedeceive ourselves into believing
(16:52):
that we have great faith...
sometimes we believe we havefaith that we don't...
in certain areas, Because a lotof times we can speak faith
words and have no faith.
And, and we can be strong infaith in one area and weak in
faith in another area.
Susan Dies (17:09):
Right.
And it's not until that faith istested, it's in that area.
Yes...
that you find out if it's realor not.
Right.
You mentioned, speaking aboutgenuine faith, that Abraham
proved his faith..
Mm-hmm....
by what he did.
So in other words, by hisobedience.
God told him...
you're gonna be the father ofmany nations.
Yeah.
I'm gonna bless you.
(17:30):
I'm gonna give you a seed, I'mgonna give you a land...
but I'm gonna need you to leavethis land..
Mm-hmm.
And go where I tell you to go.
And Abraham believed God..
Yes...
and actually did it.
Keidra Hobley (17:41):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (17:42):
And for that reason, he did become the father of many
nations...
father Abraham.
Yeah.
And his was the nation throughwhich God brought his son Jesus.
Mm-hmm.
And of course, we know thatIsrael still has their land.
And that's, that's a whole otherpodcast.
A whole podcast.
We're not even going there.
But I thought it was interestingthat since you were talking
about real and genuine faiththat you talked about Abraham
(18:05):
and how our faith is provengenuine..
Mm-hmm....
by the things that we actuallydo.
Keidra Hobley (18:11):
Yeah.
Because genuine faith, faith ofthe heart, not just in your
head...
it stands strong no matter thecircumstances.
Hmm.
So no matter what circumstanceyou're in, you're still strong
in your faith.
That's how you know it's real.
That's how you know it'sgenuine.
And such was the case withAbraham.
You know, even the fact that hewas, what, a hundred years old
(18:32):
and his wife was 90.
He absolutely believed God whenhe said, yeah, can you imagine?
I can't even imagine that.
Yeah,
Susan Dies (18:40):
That your descendants are gonna outnumber
the sand on the seashore, thestars in the sky, and he's that
age?
Yes.
Can you imagine his wife?
Keidra Hobley (18:49):
Bless her.
God bless her.
Susan Dies (18:52):
Anyway, I was thinking about 1 Peter 1:7 that
says the ultimate purpose forthe hardest things that we go
through in life is to prove thatour faith is genuine..
Mm-hmm...
when we go through trials...
because it's easy to have faithwhen life is good.
It's so much harder to keepbelieving and to keep trusting
when life hurts and when itdoesn't make sense.
(19:14):
And I love that in this verse,Peter says that our faith is
more valuable than gold.
Mm-hmm.
And we know that gold ispurified by fire.
Keidra Hobley (19:22):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (19:22):
And so is our faith.
And I love the story about theGoldsmith who was asked,"How do
you know when the gold is pure?"And his answer was,"When I can
see my reflection in it." Oh,that's so good.
And so God sits as a refiner ofhis people...
and it's in the fires of lifethat he proves our faith
genuine.
What do you think about that?
Keidra Hobley (19:43):
I'm still stuck on when I can see my reflection
in it.
Susan Dies (19:46):
That's right.
Yeah.
Keidra Hobley (19:47):
Because a lot of times I think we are saying we
have faith and God cannot seehis reflection in us.
Susan Dies (19:54):
That's so good because the point is that our
faith is purified in the firesof life and when people can
still see Jesus in us..
Mm-hmm...
in the midst of the fire...
not just when life is good..
Come on.
When it's hard and when it hurtsand when it feels like our
heart's being ripped out...
it results in praise and honorand glory to God from the people
(20:15):
who are watching..
Mm-hmm.
And they see God in us, and theysee that he is the one who has
brought us through it.
And I was thinking about thisword through I think it's one of
God's favorite words.
Isaiah 43:2-3 says, when youpass through the waters..
Mm-hmm..
I'll be with you.
Yeah.
When you pass through therivers...
when you walk through thefire...
(20:36):
for I am the Lord your God, theholy one of Israel.
Your savior.
Amen.
So, one way or another, he haspromised to get us through it,
whatever"it" is, and in theprocess, if we will just trust
this promise..
Mm-hmm...
and just hold on...
our faith will be made strongerand others are gonna see and
know that our God helped us.
(20:57):
Yeah.
And that if he'll help us, thenhe will help them too.
And so our faith is anencouragement to others who are
also going through trials oftheir own.
And so...
Keidra Hobley (21:08):
Can I just say this right there?
Because..
You can say whatever you wannasay.
Because I'm just visualizing thethrough.
I love the fact that he didn'tsay around.
Because the through is the placewhere the faith is built.
Because if we constantly just goaround, we so often want to
outskirt life circumstances, youknow, and, and think we're gonna
have strong faith.
It's the resistance that buildsthe muscle.
(21:30):
Right?
Right.
It's the pressure.
It's the weight of life thatbuilds muscle.
Right.
You said.
So I love the fact that it'sgoing through those things, not
around those things.
Not over those things, you know,it's through.
So I, yeah.
Uh, I'll probably sit with thatverse a little bit after we get
off.
Susan Dies (21:47):
Well, I think we're about at the end of our time.
We're gonna pick back up withthis topic of faith in our next
podcast, because we still havesome other things to cover.
But let's go ahead and wrap thisup today.
Would you mind praying a prayerof faith over our listeners
today before we go?
Keidra Hobley (22:05):
I'll be happy to.
Father, thank you so much.
You're good.
You're faithful.
Your love endures forever.
We thank you dear Lord for themeasure of faith that you have
given to each of your sons anddaughters right now.
Father, I'm asking you to helpeach of us to walk in that
faith...
that we would put action withour faith.
Dear Lord, that we would notjust be hearers of your word,
(22:27):
but that we would be doers ofyour word.
Yes.
That we would apply those thingsto our lives that we have
learned from your word.
I thank you, dear Lord, thatyour word is good spiritual
food.
Help us to continue to feed onyour word.
Help us to exercise ourspiritual muscles, dear Lord, by
stepping out in faith on theinstructions that you have given
(22:47):
us both directly, and throughyour words so that we can be
strong in our faith...
and not weak in our faith.
Yes.
We thank you for it.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Welcome to the One Yes At A Time podcast.
(00:02):
My name is Susan Dies and I'mhere with my co-host, Keidra
Hobley...
and today we are continuing ourdiscussion about faith.
Faith is such a broad topic.
It is so deep and it's so wide,and for the believer, it is the
foundation for our relationshipwith God through Jesus...
and there's just no way that wecan cover this topic in 20
minutes so we've decided to justcontinue the discussion in order
(00:25):
to just try and at least touchon some of the different aspects
of faith and what it looks liketo live out our faith in our
everyday lives.
Now, Keidra, you mentioned inour podcast last week that as
Christians, we can't live a lifethat pleases God without faith..
Right...
which means that faith in God,and faith in his promises is key
to the Christian life.
(00:46):
It's how we come into arelationship with God through
Jesus, but it's also how we growin our relationship with God.
And so that's gonna be the focusof our conversation today.
And I shared with you recentlythat I went on your website,
keidrahobley.com.
and I was looking at some ofyour teaching materials.
You've been teaching God's wordto ladies for many years and I
came across some sessions thatyou recorded back when you were
(01:09):
doing your Refresh women'sretreats, sometime between
2016-2018...
and I actually got to be a partof that one time.
You invited me to come for theweekend and speak, which I have
to say is probably one of themost fun retreats that I've ever
had the privilege of being apart of...
it was so much fun.
In fact, I remember that eventhough I was the main speaker
(01:29):
for the event, you were the onehosting the event, and I
remember seeing a very differentside of you that I'd never seen
before.
I've always been used to thevery reserved Keidra...
Keidra Hobley (01:39):
yep.
Susan Dies (01:40):
But when that event started that night, I remember
thinking, who is this girl?
Do you remember me?
I said that to you.
I remember...
like, who are you?
Yeah..
Because this is not the Keidrathat I know.
It was probably the first time Ithink I'd ever seen you dressed
in anything other than a dressor a business suit.
Yep.
I think you were in jeans and acute shirt.
Mm-hmm.
You had your hair down.
(02:00):
And of course you have thatmillion dollar smile that
everybody knows...
but there was just a joy and afreedom about you that just
radiated Jesus.
Amen.
And I say all that because whenI went to your website I came
across one of your teachingsessions entitled"Grow Your
Faith", which I think is soexcellent and we're gonna be
talking about that today.
But what struck me is that whenthe audio started, the Keidra
(02:22):
that I was listening to was thesame one that was at that
retreat so many years agobecause there was just this
excitement in your voice as youbegan to talk about the
importance of us growing in ourfaith.
And so my hope is that ourlisteners are gonna hear from
that same Keidra today..
Amen...
as they get to know your heartthrough our podcast and as they
hear your heart on thisimportant subject.
(02:43):
And so I want to go through theteaching together and share the
things that stood out to me andthen I wanna get you to just
expound on it.
So, something you mentioned atthe beginning of your talk, is
that faith doesn't come bypraying for it.
Keidra Hobley (02:55):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (02:56):
And I don't know why, but that just landed on my
ears in a really fresh way whenI heard you say that because so
often we ask God for more faithto believe...
when, if we would just choose tobelieve what God has already
said to us..
Yeah...
we would find that he's alreadygiven us the measure of faith
that we need for the very thingthat we're praying for.
Mm-hmm.
Is that right?
That's right.
(03:16):
That's absolutely right.
Alright, and so you said thequestion is not, do we have
faith?
The question is, are webenefiting from the faith that
he's already given us.
So maybe just speak to that.
How do we benefit from ourfaith?
Mm-hmm.
And how do we get the most outof this gift that God has given
to us?
Keidra Hobley (03:32):
Well, first we have to realize we have it.
Mm.
Okay...
'cause we can't benefit fromanything that we don't recognize
we have.
If we're still constantlypraying and begging for
something that we alreadyhave...
that suggests in itself that wedon't even recognize we have it.
And so I think that's the placeto start...
is to acknowledge the fact thatthe Father has already given us
a measure and that that measureis sufficient...
(03:54):
and that if we need more forgreater things, there is already
a pre-prescribed way to gainthat...
and praying is not it.
I know that sounds kinda weird,but that's the fact.
If the word says that faithcomes by hearing the word...
then the only way that you'regonna increase the level of
faith you already have is bygetting in the word.
And so a lot of times we asbelievers try to avoid getting
(04:17):
in the word.
Hmm.
And so I think that's the placeto start.
Get in the word.
Acknowledge that you alreadyhave a measure..
Okay...
and then start using what youalready have.
Susan Dies (04:24):
So when we get into God's word, just find out
everything that we can aboutwhat God's word says about the
thing that we're praying forYes.
And choose to believe that.
Yes.
And act on that.
Keidra Hobley (04:35):
That's right.
Susan Dies (04:35):
Okay.
Keidra Hobley (04:36):
And I love the fact that you said,"and act on
that." Because faith is a verb.
It requires action.
We have to do something with it.
So I like the way you said that.
Susan Dies (04:44):
I think it's important for us to understand
that faith is this ongoingjourney as we talked about.
Mm-hmm...
and for me personally, whatincreases my faith in God the
most...
is when we create this historywith God, where we can look back
and see his faithfulness to usas we've trusted him.
Keidra Hobley (05:00):
Oh yeah.
I think the greatest example ofthat for me is financially.
I mean, literally because, myyoungest was in my womb when the
Lord told me to quit my job.
Susan Dies (05:09):
Okay.
Keidra Hobley (05:10):
Yeah.
And she's 20.
Susan Dies (05:11):
Wow.
Keidra Hobley (05:12):
And so, and so you talk about a walk of faith.
I haven't had a traditional jobpretty much since then.
And so to live by faithfinancially...
and I don't recommend thisunless the Lord told you to do
it'cause you'll go hungry.
But this was an instruction fromthe Lord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so just to trust him andtake him at his word because in
(05:33):
the natural it makes absolutelyno sense.
Right.
It makes no sense at all.
I mean, you have things you haveto pay for.
How do you pay for thingswithout income?
Well, in that moment, quit yourjob was the word of the Lord to
me.
And so if he said it.
I believed him.
I trusted him.
I could not wrap my brain aroundhow he was gonna do it.
Mm-hmm.
But over the decades, over the20 years that I've been trusting
(05:57):
him financially, it is miracle,after miracle, after
supernatural provision.
So there's nothing you can tellme now that will cause me to
believe that God doesn't have aninfinite number of ways to
provide.
So, yeah.
Susan Dies (06:08):
Yeah.
So you have to really praythrough things like that.
Yes.
But anyway, I love that.
2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us,"Believers live by faith and not
by sight"..
Mm-hmm...
and I see that in your life.
And so talk a little bit aboutwhat that means.
What does it look like to liveby faith instead of sight?
Mm-hmm.
I mean, how do we do that?
Keidra Hobley (06:28):
Yeah.
I think even in the lastepisode, I, I remember saying
that, sometimes I tell people,close your eyes so you can see.
Mm-hmm.
So when it says,"walk by faithand not by sight", I think, uh,
life circumstances...
the things we can see and sensewith our natural, physical
senses are things that we use asdata to make decisions, and, and
(06:48):
that's not how the Lord works.
He tells us his ways are not ourways, his thoughts are not our
thoughts.
And so when we have to operateby faith instead of by our
senses, by our sight, I'm notsaying ignore the natural, but
I'm saying allow thesupernatural to override the
natural.
Right.
When you know that God's in it.
(07:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
And so it takes a consciouseffort to do that sometimes
because we wanna make decisionsbased on what we can see...
instead of trusting God for whatwe can't see.
Susan Dies (07:17):
Something I think is so interesting, if you look at
the context of this verse in 2Corinthians that I just talked
about...
that we walk by faith and not bysight...
is that the verses before andafter...
verses 6 and 8, both say,"we areconfident." Mm-hmm.
The point being that our faithas Christians is not based on
wishful thinking and hope so's.
(07:38):
It's based on the unchangingnature and character of God and
on the truth of his word.
That has proven faithful timeand time again down through the
ages.
Now, Something you said in thelast episode that was also in
your teaching about growing inour faith is that we all start
out with the same measure offaith.
Yeah.
And I'm not sure I ever reallyeven thought about that before
(08:00):
because throughout my life I'veknown people who are really
strong in their faith, and I'veknown some people who are really
weak in their faith, and I don'tknow that I've ever let it sink
in before that we all begin ourjourney of faith with the same
measure of faith.
Mm-hmm.
And so talk about that.
Why if we all start with thesame measure of God-given faith,
(08:20):
why do some believers seem tohave so much more faith?
Keidra Hobley (08:24):
Yeah, well think about your natural body.
We all have the same muscles.
And why are some people strongerthan others?
You know, I would like to thinkthat I'm fit and strong and
healthy.
Mm-hmm.
But the truth is there's somemuscles in my body that I just
don't use or I don't use as muchas others.
And why is that?
Because I'm not beingintentional about exercising
(08:45):
them.
And so some people have strongerfaith because they're exercising
their faith muscles.
You know, it's not just exercisethough, it's also diet.
Our bodies are a reflection ofdiet and exercise..
Right...
and so is our faith.
Our faith is a reflection of ourspiritual diet and our spiritual
exercise.
So the diet is the word of God.
(09:07):
And so if we're feeding ourspirit good, healthy, spiritual
food through the word, that'sgonna grow our faith..
Right...
because faith comes by hearing.
Right.
And so if we do that...
and then exercise our faith,what does that look like?
That's stepping out in thethings that we've learned.
That's how you exercise yourfaith.
And the more you do that, thestronger your faith is gonna
grow.
And so some of us, even thoughwe start out with the same
(09:28):
measure.
Some of us have a stronger faithbecause we are eating more
healthy, nourishing spiritualfood..
Mm-hmm...
and exercising those spiritualmuscles, versus others who are
just comfortable.
Hmm.
We're just comfortable..
Susan Dies (09:42):
That makes me think about something that I heard
Christine Caine say one time.
Do you know who Christine Cainis?
I do know Christine Cain.
She's incredible.
She says, you know, we all wannahave more faith.
We all wanna see God move inmiraculous ways, but then we do
everything we can to live assafely..
Mm...
and as comfortably as possibleso that we don't ever need God
(10:03):
to do anything miraculous.
Wow.
Because most of the time whenthat kind of faith is required,
it's in circumstances andsituations in which we have no
control.
Uhhuh.
And if God doesn't come throughfor us, we literally have no
hope and no one wants to be inthose kind of circumstances that
require that level of faith, butyet we all want that level of
(10:24):
faith.
But this is the thing, at somepoint in time, if we live long
enough, there's gonna come atime when we need that kind of
faith.
Yeah.
And for those who are willing toput all their hope in God, no
matter what the circumstanceslook like, Isaiah 49:23 says,
"Then you will know that I amthe Lord, and those who hope in
me will not be disappointed."Yeah.
(10:45):
And this is God speaking andthis is his promise.
Um, now I know we're about toget on some sacred ground here,
Keidra Hobley (10:52):
Uh oh...
Susan Dies (10:53):
But we gotta go here because I know there are those
who are listening, who arethinking, you know, I've prayed
with that kind of faith.
Mm-hmm.
I've needed that kind of hope,and I've asked God to help me.
I've even begged God to help me.
But the thing that I feared themost did happen.
And now I don't know what to door what to believe, and I do
feel disappointed.
So what would you say to thatperson when they prayed in
(11:15):
faith..
Yeah...
and they didn't get the thingthat they prayed for...
and they don't even know thatthey believe God even heard
their prayers because it justdoesn't look like it.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Keidra Hobley (11:25):
Well, again, I would encourage you to know that
God's word is true.
And if he said it, it is truth.
And he's a God of answers.
He's a God who listens, whohears.
And so just because we haveprayed...
there's a real enemy who'sfighting to prevent those
answers from coming.
So sometimes the answer iscoming.
(11:45):
It just hasn't come yet.
So that's, that's one thing thatwe can take into
consideration...
that his timing is not ourtiming.
And then there are otherpotential reasons.
I'm just covering a few that arecoming to mind.
Sometimes we have to askourselves is what we're
requesting in alignment with hiswill?
And so that could be the reason.
And sometimes we just have toaccept the fact that we live in
(12:06):
a fallen world.
And that the enemy is real.
And so sometimes we just have topersist in prayer.
And even if we don't get ourway, you still trust God.
You still believe that he is agood Father.
You still honor him.
You still worship him...
and then you just worship yourway through it until he reveals
(12:26):
to you what's next for you inthat particular situation.
Susan Dies (12:30):
So, for you personally..
Yeah...
think about a time when maybeyou were disappointed.
Mm-hmm..
You prayed and prayed...
you knew you were praying inGod's will..
Mm-hmm...
you knew that the thing you werepraying for is something that
God would want.
Mm-hmm.
And yet it didn't happen.
Mm-hmm.
How did you handle thatdisappointment?
What was your thought process tomove through that...
(12:51):
and to even move forward fromthat..
Yeah...
disappointment.
Keidra Hobley (12:54):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, come on...
the greatest example I can givetoday is the fact that I'm a
single woman.
Mm-hmm.
Not by choice, you know?
And so, the fact that I prayed,I prayed, I prayed for my
marriage.
I fought for my marriage...
and, I sit here today as single.
And so, even though I fought andI prayed and I prayed and I
fought, it, turned out the waythat it did...
(13:15):
but I still chose to trust God.
And I still to this day chooseto trust God.
And, I accept the fact that I'mnot gonna figure it out.
I don't need to know all theanswers.
I still, to this day, don'tknow.
And I have to be okay with that,you know, and still trust God.
God, you still have a plan formy life.
You still have things for me todo and I cannot sit and question
(13:37):
why what happened, happened theway that it did, and allow that
to hinder me from moving forwardwith what he has for me.
And so I just choose to acceptthe fact there will be some
things that I don't understand.
And even though I don'tunderstand, it doesn't mean that
I can't still exercise my faith.
I still trust you, Lord.
I still worship you through it.
I still move forward with thethings you have for me.
(13:59):
Yes, absolutely there is real,tangible, natural pain that is
associated with some things thatwe experience in life, but we
cannot allow it to end there.
Okay?
Feel the feelings.
They are real...
and God gave them to us but thatdoes not have to define us.
That's right.
And it does not have to hinderour future.
And so I don't try to figure itout.
(14:20):
I don't try to, you know, makeit make sense.
'cause it, it makes no sense,you know?
And so I choose to move forwardwith the plan that God has for
my life, to surrender...
Susan Dies (14:30):
That's so good.
I know that you've said beforethat sometimes you just have to
surrender it to God.
Absolutely.
And you don't have to know thewhy's or the what's.
Mm-hmm.
And just the fact that he lovesyou, and he's sovereign, and he
allowed things to turn out theway they did regardless of your
prayers.
Mm-hmm.
You just had to walk in trustand faith.
That's exactly right.
(14:51):
And so that's so good.
God never promised that we wouldnot go through hard things, or
terrible things, or difficultthings, even tragic things.
In fact, God's main promise isthat he will be with us...
that he will never leave us orforsake us.
That he will heal what's broken.
That he will bring beauty fromthe ashes...
that he will turn our mourninginto dancing, and all of this
(15:12):
takes time.
And so we just have to keepbelieving.
Mm-hmm.
We have to keep trusting.
We have to keep moving forwardand just keep giving him our
hearts and our hurts, and knowthat even when it doesn't look
like it, he is doing somethingand he promises in Romans 8:28
that he's working all thingstogether...
the good and the bad...
for our good and for his glory.
(15:34):
And we know that He will becausehe's promised.
Yeah.
And you're a testimony of that.
Amen.
My life is a testimony of that.
Yeah.
And that takes faith.
It takes great faith.
Another point you made aboutfaith is you talked about the
different kinds of faithmentioned in the Bible, and
contrasted them, and I'm gonnaremind you of what they were.
Okay, good.
And then you just talk a littlebit about some of these.
(15:55):
You talked about little faith.
Mm-hmm.
Versus big faith or much faith.
Yeah.
You talked about weak faithversus strong faith.
Yeah.
Rich faith versus poor.
I love the way you said it.
Who wants..
Who wants broke faith?
I remember saying that.
We can be full of faith or wecan be spiritually empty.
We can have complete or maturefaith versus incomplete or
(16:18):
immature faith.
Yeah.
We can have genuine faith versusfake faith.
Mm-hmm.
Nobody wants fake faith.
Mm-hmm.
But there's a lot of it.
Uh, shipwrecked faith.
And then overcoming faith.
Keidra Hobley (16:30):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (16:31):
Talk about some of those.
Keidra Hobley (16:32):
Ooh, man.
I think I was just so amazedthat the Lord revealed to me all
those different terms adjectivesto describe the different types
of faith.
And so I thought it was reallycool to parallel those.
Yes.
But, genuine faith.
I think a lot of times wedeceive ourselves into believing
(16:52):
that we have great faith...
sometimes we believe we havefaith that we don't...
in certain areas, Because a lotof times we can speak faith
words and have no faith.
And, and we can be strong infaith in one area and weak in
faith in another area.
Susan Dies (17:09):
Right.
And it's not until that faith istested, it's in that area.
Yes...
that you find out if it's realor not.
Right.
You mentioned, speaking aboutgenuine faith, that Abraham
proved his faith..
Mm-hmm....
by what he did.
So in other words, by hisobedience.
God told him...
you're gonna be the father ofmany nations.
Yeah.
I'm gonna bless you.
(17:30):
I'm gonna give you a seed, I'mgonna give you a land...
but I'm gonna need you to leavethis land..
Mm-hmm.
And go where I tell you to go.
And Abraham believed God..
Yes...
and actually did it.
Keidra Hobley (17:41):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (17:42):
And for that reason, he did become the father of many
nations...
father Abraham.
Yeah.
And his was the nation throughwhich God brought his son Jesus.
Mm-hmm.
And of course, we know thatIsrael still has their land.
And that's, that's a whole otherpodcast.
A whole podcast.
We're not even going there.
But I thought it was interestingthat since you were talking
about real and genuine faiththat you talked about Abraham
(18:05):
and how our faith is provengenuine..
Mm-hmm....
by the things that we actuallydo.
Keidra Hobley (18:11):
Yeah.
Because genuine faith, faith ofthe heart, not just in your
head...
it stands strong no matter thecircumstances.
Hmm.
So no matter what circumstanceyou're in, you're still strong
in your faith.
That's how you know it's real.
That's how you know it'sgenuine.
And such was the case withAbraham.
You know, even the fact that hewas, what, a hundred years old
(18:32):
and his wife was 90.
He absolutely believed God whenhe said, yeah, can you imagine?
I can't even imagine that.
Yeah,
Susan Dies (18:40):
That your descendants are gonna outnumber
the sand on the seashore, thestars in the sky, and he's that
age?
Yes.
Can you imagine his wife?
Keidra Hobley (18:49):
Bless her.
God bless her.
Susan Dies (18:52):
Anyway, I was thinking about 1 Peter 1:7 that
says the ultimate purpose forthe hardest things that we go
through in life is to prove thatour faith is genuine..
Mm-hmm...
when we go through trials...
because it's easy to have faithwhen life is good.
It's so much harder to keepbelieving and to keep trusting
when life hurts and when itdoesn't make sense.
(19:14):
And I love that in this verse,Peter says that our faith is
more valuable than gold.
Mm-hmm.
And we know that gold ispurified by fire.
Keidra Hobley (19:22):
Yeah.
Susan Dies (19:22):
And so is our faith.
And I love the story about theGoldsmith who was asked,"How do
you know when the gold is pure?"And his answer was,"When I can
see my reflection in it." Oh,that's so good.
And so God sits as a refiner ofhis people...
and it's in the fires of lifethat he proves our faith
genuine.
What do you think about that?
Keidra Hobley (19:43):
I'm still stuck on when I can see my reflection
in it.
Susan Dies (19:46):
That's right.
Yeah.
Keidra Hobley (19:47):
Because a lot of times I think we are saying we
have faith and God cannot seehis reflection in us.
Susan Dies (19:54):
That's so good because the point is that our
faith is purified in the firesof life and when people can
still see Jesus in us..
Mm-hmm...
in the midst of the fire...
not just when life is good..
Come on.
When it's hard and when it hurtsand when it feels like our
heart's being ripped out...
it results in praise and honorand glory to God from the people
(20:15):
who are watching..
Mm-hmm.
And they see God in us, and theysee that he is the one who has
brought us through it.
And I was thinking about thisword through I think it's one of
God's favorite words.
Isaiah 43:2-3 says, when youpass through the waters..
Mm-hmm..
I'll be with you.
Yeah.
When you pass through therivers...
when you walk through thefire...
(20:36):
for I am the Lord your God, theholy one of Israel.
Your savior.
Amen.
So, one way or another, he haspromised to get us through it,
whatever"it" is, and in theprocess, if we will just trust
this promise..
Mm-hmm...
and just hold on...
our faith will be made strongerand others are gonna see and
know that our God helped us.
(20:57):
Yeah.
And that if he'll help us, thenhe will help them too.
And so our faith is anencouragement to others who are
also going through trials oftheir own.
And so...
Keidra Hobley (21:08):
Can I just say this right there?
Because..
You can say whatever you wannasay.
Because I'm just visualizing thethrough.
I love the fact that he didn'tsay around.
Because the through is the placewhere the faith is built.
Because if we constantly just goaround, we so often want to
outskirt life circumstances, youknow, and, and think we're gonna
have strong faith.
It's the resistance that buildsthe muscle.
(21:30):
Right?
Right.
It's the pressure.
It's the weight of life thatbuilds muscle.
Right.
You said.
So I love the fact that it'sgoing through those things, not
around those things.
Not over those things, you know,it's through.
So I, yeah.
Uh, I'll probably sit with thatverse a little bit after we get
off.
Susan Dies (21:47):
Well, I think we're about at the end of our time.
We're gonna pick back up withthis topic of faith in our next
podcast, because we still havesome other things to cover.
But let's go ahead and wrap thisup today.
Would you mind praying a prayerof faith over our listeners
today before we go?
Keidra Hobley (22:05):
I'll be happy to.
Father, thank you so much.
You're good.
You're faithful.
Your love endures forever.
We thank you dear Lord for themeasure of faith that you have
given to each of your sons anddaughters right now.
Father, I'm asking you to helpeach of us to walk in that
faith...
that we would put action withour faith.
Dear Lord, that we would notjust be hearers of your word,
(22:27):
but that we would be doers ofyour word.
Yes.
That we would apply those thingsto our lives that we have
learned from your word.
I thank you, dear Lord, thatyour word is good spiritual
food.
Help us to continue to feed onyour word.
Help us to exercise ourspiritual muscles, dear Lord, by
stepping out in faith on theinstructions that you have given
(22:47):
us both directly, and throughyour words so that we can be
strong in our faith...
and not weak in our faith.
Yes.
We thank you for it.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
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