Faith is by far the most elusive of the three walks of life. It is difficult to define but required to know God and must be experienced before we can be convinced that it is real and brings the miraculous into our lives.
How do we get faith? When we accept Jesus into our hearts to be our Lord and Savior, we are given a measure of faith. From the start He gives it to us. It is up to us to increase it and bring Him glory for others to see how worthy He is to serve. The Bible also tells us in Romans 10:17 that “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” [KJV] But we must first choose to walk in God’s light that is brought by hearing that preaching of the Word. It begins with a heart choice to bring the light God’s Word brings us. Psalm 119:30 says: The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light: their unfolding gives understanding [discernment and comprehension] to the simple. [AV]. We must be taught the Word of God is the only way we can bring faith into our lives and to be taught requires a teachable heart. When we hear God’s Word is preached and we allow it entrance into our hearts, it will bring faith.
Our walk in faith is strengthened, increased and perfected by hearing and studying the Word diligently. You cannot increase your faith any other way. You must first know what the Word of God says, and then apply it first in our hearts. I used the word “apply” because it’s like writing God’s word on post-it note and placing it on the mirror when we’re brushing our teeth every morning. And we also apply it in our prayers by standing on His Word and believing and then we speak it out. Our words can be very powerful but it requires as diligent walk with God and that’s where many fall short of it. It’s the diligence they can’t do but it’s the only way we can get it increased. We have to work the scriptures. We have to find the scriptures to support the validity of our requests, apply those scriptures in our prayer and intercession for it and speak it out of our mouths.
One of the key points to walking in faith is we must know that what we’re believing God is His will for us. There must be a confirmation both in the Word of God and in our own spirit. Many get misled by their own desires that are not God’s desires for us. They are desires conjured up by lust derived from our perceptions. That’s the carnal way of Christian life. Many Christians are misled by their carnal nature and the end result is the shipwreck described in the book of James. They crash and burn and become disillusioned about God because of their own self-deception. We must guard our hearts, for our of it flow the issues of life. Guard against lust at all costs because it is NEVER in God’s will for us. Lust deceives and when it conceives its sin, it always leads to the death of our faith. This is why I never teach to look at the circumstances for God’s direction. The devil deceives in circumstances. Jesus said, “my sheep know my voice and no other voice will they follow.” His sheep submit to His will and direction and guard their own hearts against the lusts of our own Godless nature.
The reason many have shipwrecked their own faith is because they followed the lust in their heart they assumed was God’s and never even questioned it or searched their hearts. We have no one to blame but ourselves for anything we allow into our hearts. We must continue in the Word and in prayer and don’t look to the left or to the right and compare other’s walks to our own. If we are misled but allow God’s correction, we’ll find that He can heal our hearts of the disappointment brought by self-deception. He can heal us of anything but we must allow Him to do so. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will never force His way into our lives.
Faith aims to produce gifts of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, and/or temperance. Faith must also be tried and perfected, bringing the fruit of patience. When God brings us a storm in life, He’s always looking to increase our faith – no exceptions. Sometimes His aim is to bring a specific fruit of the spirit and sometimes it’s all the fruits of the spirit, but it takes the testing of our faith for those gifts to manifest. It has been said that faith is like a muscle and must be worked in order to increase bringing results that God expects both in our lives and through us to witness to others what He will do for them.
But when we know what we’re believing God for IS His will, we must act on that faith. A key to the walk of faith is put it into action; faith without works is dead. Its the waiting time before the harvest of our faith that’s the most difficult. Many can’t last through the wait phase. But it must first be tried. When you put a seed in the ground, it requires waiting before the harvest. And the more torrential the rain and storms, the bountier the harvest. That is, if we hold on to God during the wait and don’t faint. We can be shaken during the wait, but we must always look to God as our source so the harvest can come. When the harvest comes, the faith increases for the next level and so on. If there’s no challenge, it’s not faith. Faith trusts God and obeys God regardless of the circumstances.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.” Faith is a seed that when allowed to grow, brings us not just a harvest, but brings us to a more intimate walk with God. Trusting Him and obeying Him. When that walk is increased in faith it can believe God for more as future challenges arise. Faith is not knowing God can do it; it’s knowing it’s His will for your life and He will do it for you. That comes with first being challenged by the circumstances, knowing it’s His will, applying His word in word and deed and waiting for the manifestation. It’s a cycle and our faith increases every time we’re challenged but we learn with each challenge. The Bible also tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God” and “those that believe God must believe that He is and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
The Bible tells us in Galations 5:6 that Faith works by love. Again, each walk of life is dependent upon the others in order to function correctly. How can we walk in faith if we don’t walk in the light God’s Word brings? [Psalm 119:11] And how can we walk in faith if we don’t walk in love with others? [Gal. 5:6.] So when you’re believing God for something and seeking Him diligently about it because you know it is His will, expect the enemy to come against you. The best thing you can do at this point, the point of challenge, is to not take it personally. That’s a weakpoint for most. They take it personally which is taking a shot in the heart. The shield of faith guards the heart but when you’re taking the attacks personally, you’re throwing your shield to the ground. Remember, you must do the guarding here and the enemy will challenge that love walk. Count on it.
Now where many even in the faith camp miss it here is that they forget that the Word of God is law and our dominion is in Christ and Christ alone. So since our dominion is in Him, it’s the laws of the spirit in Christ Jesus we must abide by and adhere to and in the very areas we miss it is the very areas the enemy has permission to come against us. Satan can’t operate illegally even here on earth. That’s a huge misunderstanding in Christians. He can’t operate by serendipity. He must find legal grounds in which to come against you. No exceptions. So don’t be surprised or take a shot to the heart when Christians come against you because they’re allowing themselves to be used by the enemy. Many do so because their uneducated in the Word or asleep at the wheel. We all do it so we can’t point fingers here. And if you’re walk in the light is good and you’re grounded in the Word, he’ll usually come against you in the love walk since that’s where he’s most successful. Rarely does the enemy come against those grounded in the Word in their walk of light because it’s a huge waste of time. Unless, of course, we’ve given him evidence to suggest it just might be worth his time but that’s a blog for another day.
So in conclusion we can safely rely on the Word of God that the walk of faith is valid and genuine unto God when:
- We first know what we’re believing for is His will;
- We diligently seek God and work His word in our lives in prayer;
- We diligently work His word into our lives in deed and confession; and
- We walk in the light of His word and order our conduct accordingly;
- We walk in love with others; and
- We wait for the harvest.
Recent Comments