Faith

[leafriverlizzie]

This is the article I wrote the day before the hurricane hit. I hope it edifies somebody.

The next fruit of the Spirit that we will be learning about is faith. In Galatians 5, some versions translate "œpistis"� as faith, and some as faithfulness. These two words are like two sides of the same coin and are interdependent. While faith is total dependence on God, faithfulness is being dependable to God and man. This week we will be focusing on faith. [/b]
Faith is a very important fruit, one of the first that we need to demonstrate and exercise as children of God. Romans 5:1 says "œTherefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."� [/i]If we want to have peace with God and if we want justification, then we must first have faith. In itself, the action of acknowledging that God exists, that He is the only God, and that we need Him as our Savior because only He can save us, is an act of faith. Hebrews 11:6 - "œBut without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."�
Once we have made that first step, then we start taking steps to grow[/i] in faith. There are different levels of faith within our lives:
1) [/i]No faith - Mar 4:40 "œAnd he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"� [/i]
2) [/i]Little faith - Luke 12:28 "œIf then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?"�[/i]
3) A measure of faith - Romans 12:3 "œaccording as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."�
4) We grow into greater measures of faith. [/i]Romans 1:17 "œFor therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith."�[/i]
5) We can experience great faith. [/i]Matthew 8:10 "œVerily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. [/i]
How can we accomplish this growth in our lives? First of all we need to realize that faith is something we do. It is demonstrated by action. It is more than a disposition, feeling, or belief. Hebrews 11 reflects this truth:"œBy faith we understand"¦Abel offered"¦Enoch was translated"¦Noah built"¦Abraham obeyed and went"¦Abraham fathered"¦Abraham offered"¦Isaac blessed"¦Jacob worshiped"¦Joseph spoke"¦Moses"™ parents hid him"¦Moses refused"¦Moses chose"¦etc"¦"� [/i]Faith is shown in a person by what one does. James 2:18 "œYea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."�
I have had faith described to me as a stairway of obedience. Obedience is the seed and faith is the crop. You must obey in order to gain faith. We start on the first level. We say "œLord, I can"™t make it up! Grant me more faith."� The Lord replies "œDo it anyways."� So we obey and work our way up. When we get to the 2nd level, then the Lord gives us faith to keep us up there, because we look back and see that we made it. This continues on to the next level and the next level. The amount of faith we gain depends on how much we obey.
Another reason that it is important to have faith is because of our adversary. How many times has Satan tried to come against us, trying to make us doubt God, doubt His Word, doubt that we are His children, or that everything will work out for good according to His purpose? Doubt is one of Satan"™s oldest tricks, one that he used with Eve in the Garden of Eden. But by faith we can resist him! [/i]Ephesians 6:16 says "œAbove all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."� [/i]
I"™ll close this article with one of my favorite descriptions of faith as told by Mark Buchanan: "œFaith is finally this "“ resting so utterly in the character of God "“ in the ultimate goodness of God "“ that you trust Him even when He seems untrustworthy. Trust God and rest in His character, His goodness, even when we can"™t explain Him."�

[Chuck7]

I have had faith described to me as a stairway of obedience. Obedience is the seed and faith is the crop. You must obey in order to gain faith.
Liz
Very nice illustration Liz. I was just talking about that with my wife. I believe temperance is similiar to that. I believe the more we sin the less self-control we reap. Thus / the more obedience we sow the more self-control God gives us.
Just a thought .
God bless,
Chuck

[Rebel Hog]

Yes Lizzie, you speak the truth sister! Thanks for your thoughts and this
post. I wish more pepole would read it. God Bless!

[m.t.hands]

great post leafriverlizzie, i am trying to climb the stairs daily, God bless you and mac, and your family.

[leafriverlizzie]

I believe temperance is similiar to that. I believe the more we sin the less self-control we reap. Thus / the more obedience we sow the more self-control God gives us.

Chuck, I hadn't thought about that as applied to self-control. You're right though. It's something to think about as I get to that fruit. I know when my 4 sons were all little I had a hard time dealing with self-control. I did a lot of yelling back then even though yelling never worked. It seemed that the more I yelled, the more they tuned me out! Then one day I examined myself and realized that I wasn't using that fruit of the Spirit in my life with the way I was raising my sons so I pleaded to God to help me be an example to my sons. I ended up making posters with the word "self-control" on it and I put one in every room of my house to remind myself when I felt like "losing it". It took about 6 months but it worked!

Anyway, thanks for your input!

[leafriverlizzie]

great post leafriverlizzie, i am trying to climb the stairs daily, God bless you and mac, and your family.

Thanks for the blessings m.t. hands, I wish the same blessings on you and yours!

[Snooky]

Sis Lizzie we have been missing your good posts lately. It is good to know that God has kept you and Bro Mac during this time.Two Sundays ago I taught on "Except ye be converted and become as a little child". Centering onhow a child just trusts his father requardless. He hasn't learned to question himyet. Last Sunday I followed with "when the Son of Man cometh, will he find faith" Faith as you know is simply a belief in, a trust in, a relience in God. Simply excepting God's word without question. I disagree with some that say faith comes by obedience. I believe obedience is a result of faith. If we don't believe, we will not obey. A believer in the word is a doer of the word. James said "show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works". We know that he was saying that his lifestyle would reflect his faith in God. When we really have simple faith in God and his word, we don't try to find a loop hole to avoid obedience, rather we look for a way to carry out the wishes of God that he reveals in the scripture. If you love me, (much is said lately about love) keep my commandments. Love and faith have a lot in common, they both manifest themselves in obedience to God by keeping his commandments. Without the keeping of his commandments there will be no faith, and there will be no love.

[Tazman]

Sister as others have said I will also, it is great to have you back sharing your testimony with us all, numerous very good points brought out in your posts and the replies also.

Something I have often wondered is about people like my mother, during heart surgery they lost her twice and both times she passed to the other side and returned. After this experience my mother had no fear of death, she no longer had faith................... she KNEW!!!! In a way that is a great thing, but there is so much scripture that spells out the neccesity of faith and she progressed beyond faith to KNOWING for a certainity.

I have faith in God, I also had faith in my mother, as a result I sometimes wonder if part of my faith in God and what he has promised is the faith God wants me to have because part, but not all of that faith is due to my mothers KNOWING?

[leafriverlizzie]

Bro. Snooky, I just want to clarify my view on faith as it is tied in with obedience. We all have a measure of faith when we come to accept the Lord as our Savior - Hebrews 11:6 - "œBut without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."� From that point on we start obeying because we love Him - John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commandments". But what I am talking about is levels of faith - growing in faith. None of us areautomatically bestowed with a bunch of faith. If that were the case then the disciples wouldn't have had to ask the Lord to "increase our faith". Growing in faith is a process that it is accompanied by obedience that leads to greater faith. The example I will use is my faith experience with tithes. I was taught that we are no longer under the law so we no longer need to tithe. So when I first got married I did not tithe, I just gave offerings. But then I started realizing that tithes started well before the law existed. At that time I was struggling economically. I never had enough money to buy my son pampers and milk. But I read in Malachi 3:10 - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]. I decided to "prove God" in this area even though I almost trembled in the process because Inever hadenough money to make it through the month. My faith was shakey at best in this area but I decided to obey. As a result I was blessed! To my joy, even though logically it should not have happened, I had enough to make it through the month! It was a hard thing for me to do, to release the tithes. I struggled for the first six months, but I determined to obey. Since then, every now and then when for some reason or the other I don't pay my tithes, I will always fall short in making it through that particular month. But I never ever fall short when I tithe. Now my level of faith in that area is different than it was back then. Why? Because I look back at my obediently stepping out in faith and I see the results. I no longer doubt that God will "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]." I have a greater level of faith in this area. Many times I have felt the Lord tugging at my heart to do a particular thing. In my humanity though I tend to doubt that I am able to do what the Lord is calling me to do. But when I step out in faith (obey), then I find a blessing and my faith grows in that area.

[leafriverlizzie]

Sometimes we let doubt creep in, like doubt that God will provide, or doubt in other things. But if we look back at where we are now, and where we have been, we will see that God will always come through. Here is a poem I have stuck on my desk at home that I would like to share......

Step by Step

He does not lead me year by year

Nor even day by day

But step by step my path unfolds,

My Lord directs my way

Tomorrow's plans I do not know

I only know this minute!

But He will say, "This is the way,

By faith now walk ye in it."

And I am glad that it is so;

Today is enough to bear.

And when tomorrow comes, His grace

Shall far exceed its care.

What need to worry then or fret?

The God who gave His Son

Holds all the moments in His hand

And gives them one by one.