Faith

Faith key #1: Knowledge brings faith

Knowledge of the truth (in God's Word) brings faith. Faith is believing something, thus requiring something to believe. The new age movement believes that we can 'believe things into existence', which is not the same kind of faith that us believers should have. Our faith is based upon the truth in God's Word. Thus, knowing what God's Word has to say about something gives us the ability to believe it. Our faith should be based upon God's Word.

Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

For example, how can you have faith to pray for a healing, believing that He will heal you, if you didn't know it was God's will for your healing? This is why Satan works so hard to tell the church today that it may not be God's will for them to be healed! Why? Because it casts doubt, the opposite of faith, upon the hearts of God's children! How can you lay hold of the promises of God, if you don't know what they are? We must first know the truth, then believe it. That's Biblical faith!

Mark 9:23, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

In the verse above, the word believeth means to trust. Jesus was in essence telling His disciples that all things (referring to the promises of God) are possible for them who will trust God for them (believe).

How can you believe something that nobody told you? You can't. That's why it's important to know what the Word of God has to say, so that we can believe it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing God's Word:

Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Faith key #2: Faith and a pure conscience

One time the Lord spoke to me about the connection between a clean conscience and faith. He told me clearly that you must KNOW you are clean spiritually, because your faith depends on it. How can you confidently approach God, when your conscience is dirty? The truth is, you can't!

Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

We need to have a true heart of full assurance of faith and washed clean from an evil conscience.

If you struggle with a guilty conscience, then you owe it to yourself to read the teaching on Dealing with Guilt.

Faith key #3: Faith works through love

The third key to operating in faith is to be rooted and grounded in love so that your faith will operate through love. The Bible tells us clearly that all believers should be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, if we want to experience the fullness of God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. When we are grounded in the love of Christ,

Ephesians 3:16-20, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

We are told to put on the breastplate of faith and love... the two go together like hand and glove!

1 Thessalonians 5:8, "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation."

As we walk in the Spirit, the love of Christ will begin to flow through us, and will give birth to much faith. Among the fruit of the Spirit, we find both faith and love:

Galatians 5:22-33, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

When the love of Christ is flowing through us, it brings fourth much faith. God's Word tells us clearly that faith works through love.

Galatians 5:6, "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."

A great hindrance to faith

One of the greatest hindrances to faith is strongholds. If we see something wrongly, we can have a very difficult time believing God for something. For example, if you see God has a cruel and distant God who wants you to be sick and poor, how can you believe that it's His will to heal and bless you? Strongholds can be devastating to our faith! You can learn more about strongholds in the following teachings:

Faith

Faith is trusting in God. Lack of faith is doubting God. The Lord has shown me three things concerning Biblical faith. When you combine these three elements, we can operate in mountain moving faith!

In Mark 9, there was a boy that had an unclean spirit, such a strong unclean spirit that even Jesus' disciples couldn't cast him out. They were regular deliverance pastors going about casting out demons on regular bases, but for some reason, when they reached this case, they were unable to cast it out:

Mark 9:17-18, "And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not."

Now Jesus had given His disciples authority over all powers of the enemy, so they clearly did not lack authority to drive out that unclean spirit:

Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

So what did these disciples lack? Clearly they didn't lack authority! What they lacked was faith in their authority:

Mark 9:19, "He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me."

Now in Matthew 17, this story is also told, and when they asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out the spirit, He told them flat out... they lacked faith!

Matthew 17:19-20, "Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

We need to stop wavering and start taking God for His Word and lay hold of His promises! If He said we shall cast out demons, then it means He's given us the ability to drive out those evil spirits! If He's said we have a right to be healed in Jesus' name, then we have that right, and we ought to start trusting Him and believing it!

Christian faith is basically taking God for His Word and believing the promises He's made.

Faith

Luke 18:8b (NIV) When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

Believing The Truth

Faith is believing in what is true. Faith has two elements: 1) being convinced of the truth, being certain of reality, having evidence of unseen things, and 2) believing, hoping in, embracing, seizing the truth.

Heb 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Heb 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Heb 11:1 (NEB) Faith... makes us certain of realities we do not see.

Heb 11:1 (Mof) Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see.

Heb 11:1 (Wey) Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.

While faith requires being convinced that what we believe in is true, just knowing the truth is only half of faith. God's word must be hoped for, embraced, seized!

Luke 17:5 (NIV) The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

Believing is not exactly the same as faith. For belief to be faith, it must light on what is certainly true. Yet Scripture gives examples of situations where belief alone is required, even commanded. There's no time for evidence collection, to wait, to hear, for certainty. Just believe. Like Peter walking on the water--don't think, act! God even requires us to believe in him when, temporarily, the evidence looks bad: to trust. [We will study belief and trust separately.] God requires belief and trust in moments of human weakness, but faith is what makes us strong. Faith is the state of being convinced about what we hope for.

How To Get More Faith

Contrary to popular teaching, faith is not mental delusion, presumption or self-deception, but a work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Rom 10:17 (NIV) Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Rom 10:17 (Phi) Faith, you see, can only come from hearing the message, and the message is the word of Christ.

Rom 10:17 (Wey) And this proves that faith comes from a Message heard, and that the Message comes through having been spoken by Christ.

New-Age Faith

Eze 13:6 (NIV) ... they expect their words to be fulfilled.

Faith faith faith

What Is Faith?

Faith is an essential part of our relationship with God. It is a prerequisite to beginning the conversion process, which is a necessary step on the road to salvation and eternal life.

Without faith we can't please God (Hebrews 11:6), essentially because if we don't believe in Him and believe Him, we won't really be trying to please Him! In the New Testament, both faith andbelief are generally translations of the Greek word pistis. People who live by faith as followers of Jesus Christ are called "believers" (Acts 5:14).

"The main sense of the word 'faith' in the NT is that of trust or reliance... [Pistis] bears the sense not of faithfulness alone, but of the reliance and trust that is the basis of man's faithfulness, i.e., the faithfulness that expresses confidence in the faithfulness of God" (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, 1982, article, "Faith").

How does the Bible describe faith?

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith goes beyond what we can perceive with our physical senses, so it does not work by the rules of science. Faith allows us to believe that the invisible God can do what is physically impossible. In that sense, faith is built and grows on a spiritual plane, not a physical or scientific one. But that doesn't mean observation, science and rational thinking aren't part of how we come to believe in our miraculous Creator God in the first place. In fact, there is no contradiction or conflict between godly faith and true science. After all, since God is the Creator of everything, science is the study of God's creation.

Is our belief in God based on a rational foundation?

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse...

1 Thessalonians 5:21
Test all things; hold fast what is good.

God's way is rational, and He wants us to test it out and prove that it works. But there is more to faith than what we process in our rational brains. There is a spiritual and emotional component that is a gift from God and grows as our relationship with God grows.

Who is the source of faith?

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

As we saw in the last lesson, our relationship with God starts with God. He calls us and opens our minds to understanding and believing. That initial seed of faith is a gift of God and, as we will see in a future lesson, faith is also a fruit that comes through using God's Holy Spirit.

What can we do if we don't have enough faith?

Mark 9:23-24
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

Matthew 7:7
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Mark gives this poignant example of a father recognizing his lack of faith and asking for God's help. God is pleased when we recognize our own inadequacy and seek His strength and encouragement.

How do you grow in faith?

Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hearing and studying the Word of God can help us see God's faithfulness in the past and His solid promises for the future.

Is believing in God enough?

James 2:19
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God wants us to believe in Him. (For help in strengthening your belief in our Creator God, see our booklet Life's Ultimate Question: Does God Exist?) God also wants us to believe what He says. (For more on this, see Is the Bible True?) He wants us to diligently seek Him, which is done through prayer, Bible study, meditation and fasting. (See these helpful articles: "The Privilege and Power of Prayer", "Learn, Live and Love the Bible", "Meditation: What's on Your Mind?", "Fasting: A Spiritual Power Tool!")

What did Jesus Christ tell us to believe?

Mark 1:14-15
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Gospel means "good news," and the news about the return of Jesus Christ to set up God's utopian Kingdom is the best news this troubled world can hear! When we believe the gospel, we will be motivated to share this good news (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). (For more, see The Gospel of the Kingdom.)

What did Jesus Christ tell us to do?

John 14:15
"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

When we believe what God says, we should do what God says. (For more, see The Ten Commandments.)

What is dead faith?

Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

James 2:20
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Just calling Jesus our Master isn't enough, and just saying we have faith isn't enough. Our growing belief in God will motivate us to strive to obey God—to do His will and obey His law.

What is living faith?

James 2:17-18
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Real, living faith motivates our actions. There is no conflict between James and Paul, as some believe. When Paul said faith was a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8), he continued by saying we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

When we believe in God and believe God, what will we be motivated to do?

Matthew 3:8
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance...

Romans 2:4
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

As we saw earlier in Mark 1:15, Jesus commanded us to repent and believe the gospel. God's goodness leads us to this next step in turning our lives toward God. And as John the Baptist mentioned, repentance also involves fruits, or changes in our lives. We will cover repentance in more detail in the next lesson.

Apply Now

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). One good way to grow in faith is to study the examples of faith recorded in the Bible. The chapter "Examples of Living Faith" from our booklet You Can Have Living Faith leads you through a number of inspiring biblical examples that can strengthen your faith. Please read that chapter and read the related Bible passages.

Especially focus on God's promises of love, protection and faithfulness in Psalm 33:4; 37:28; 97:10; Proverbs 2:8; and 2 Thessalonians 3:3. Other favorite faith-strengthening scriptures include Romans 8:28; Philippians 4:7, 13; and Hebrews 13:5-6. Write out at least one of these scriptures and put it in your wallet or somewhere else to keep it with you and reread occasionally

Word of God !

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4 : 12

Happy Sunday.

The more of GOD you know, the much of him you enjoy. Happy Sunday.

Joy Is A Gift From God

The word ‘joy’ is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires…the expression or exhibition of such emotion…a state of happiness” .  Let us look at the biblical

Worldly Joy Is Fickle And Temporary

The joy that the world offers is a pale imitation of the true joy only God can give us.  The joy that unsaved people experience is a temporary joy that comes and goes depending on the situation that person is in at the time.  If things are going well, there is joy.  When things are difficult, there is no joy.  In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends utters some insightful words:  “…the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?”  (Job 20:5 ESV cf. 20:18).  There can be no true joy apart from God.

In The Old Testament, Joy Was Associated With The True Worship Of God

Joy is a prominent feature of the true worship of God in the Old Testament.  Wherever people know, love, and worship God, His love instills a joy, that only He can give, into the hearts of His worshipers (I Chronicles 15:16; Ezra 3:12, 6:16; Psalm 16:11, 32:11, 51:12 and many more).

In the times of King Hezekiah, the Israelites rededicated themselves to God and we read, “So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem” (II Chronicles 30:26 ESV).  The people’s renewed commitment to God reignited the joy in their hearts that only He can produce.  Believers today can experience this same joy when he or she is dedicated to Jesus.

Joy Is A Gift From God

Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, who resides in the heart of the believer, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…”  (Galatians 5:22 ESV).  Since God is the author of all these good things, when one becomes a Christian, and is united to God through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit imparts these qualities to the believer.  Joy is also an integral part of the Kingdom of God and will exist wherever believers are present, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17 ESV).

Doing God’s Will Increases Our Joy

As many Christians can attest, being involved in the spread of the Gospel brings joy to the believer’s heart.  Personally, when I see someone become a follower of Jesus or I know that someone has discovered a truth from God’s Word that will encourage him or her in their walk of faith, I cannot help but feel a sense of joy.  The apostle Paul also experienced this often in his ministry (II Corinthians 1:24, 2:3; Philippians 1:4, 2:2; I Thessalonians 2:19, 20, 3:9; II Timothy 1:4; Philemon 1:7; and many other passages).  The writer of Third John experienced the joy of ministry, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4 ESV).

Circumstances Cannot Take Away Our Joy

In Second Corinthians 6:10, Paul says that Christians can even be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (ESV).  This means that even when we are in the midst of a situation that legitimately brings us sorrow, our inner joy is never taken away.  The very core of our being can still rejoice in the fact that we are forgiven children of God who enjoy an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe.  Our joy is strengthened when we remember that, no matter what the circumstances, God is with us and He is above all.

The Only Thing That Can Steal Our Joy Is Sin

Godly joy is a wonderful thing; it is a supernatural gift from God to every believer.  However, one warning must be issued.  Sin can steal our joy.  It is difficult to experience the joy of our relationship with God when we have done something that damages that relationship.  Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit; when we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sin, we interfere with the flow of joy (among other things) from God.  If we find that we are experiencing joy less and less, we may need to reevaluate our relationship with Jesus Christ to make sure we are living as we should.

Christians Should ‘Rejoice Always’

Christians Should ‘Rejoice Always’

Merriam-Webster defines ‘rejoice’ in this way, ‘to feel joy or great delight’.  There are several passages in the New Testament where Paul instructs us to ‘rejoice’.  These passages carry a sense of urgency or command, as if Paul were saying that a Christian is to be full of joy and he is urging believers to make sure that their relationships with God and others are relationships that produce joy (Philippians 3:1, 4:4).

Paul writes in First Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (ESV).  This joy, prayer, and thanksgiving should characterize the life of the Christian.  It is God’s will for the believer (see v. 18); this is how God wants us to live.  “Rejoicing always” does not mean that we are to paste a fake smile on our faces no matter what is going on in our lives or the lives of those we love.  It means that we are to remain steadfast in our knowledge that God is our strength and comfort, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves.  If our relationship with Jesus is right, and we confess and repent of any sin of which we are aware, we will experience this supernatural joy at all times…whether those times be good or bad.

JOY JOY JOY !!!

We see this in the writings of several New Testament authors:

James says that we should, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3 ESV).

Again, we read of the inspired determination of the apostle Paul as he faced incredible hardships, “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.  Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” (Philippians 2:17-18 ESV).

The apostle Peter encourages us with, “…rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (I Peter 4:13 ESV).

Morning pals!

D woman Jesus met at the well of Jacob, who had 4 husbands, waited for no further enquiries on how to witness about Jesus when she realised she had actually met with d Messiah. If you've truly met with Jesus, if ur salvation is genuine, u'll wait no further than to talk to someone about how Jesus suffered, bled & died just to have us saved! Let d passion for soul winning consume u. That's when God recognises u as being wise. Morning pals!

Word of God

Whenever the Holy Spirit moves, God speaks. Which means the Word of God Travels, I pray it will arrive at your location in JESUS name.

Try Him Today!

L-O-V-E

L - listening
O - obey
V - value
E - endurance 

Proverbs 15:1 (KJV)

'A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.' - Proverbs 15:1 (KJV)