Discover the Power of Faith
Faith is essential to life, but what is it? What does it do? Why is it important and how do we nurture it?
The Bible says much about faith. You can discover how powerful it is and be changed by exercising it. Abraham is considered by many as the father of faith. Here’s what it says about him in Romans 4:20-22:
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
What is Faith?
There are many definitions but, when we consider the life of Abraham, it can be defined as believing the words of God. This is a simple belief that what God says is true.
Faith is unconditional. It does not depend on our circumstances or on how we feel.
It is continual. For it to be real we must believe for the long haul and, as we see in Abraham’s example, through all the chapters of life.
It is relentless. Faith has power to go through good times, through the wilderness and through times of waiting.
It is our way of observing the world. When we practice faith, we begin to see things from God’s perspective. We perceive spiritual truth as ultimate truth. We discern the works of the devil for what they are and understand the manifestations of evil and good in the world.
What does faith do?
It is the means of salvation. When we exercise faith, we experience God’s grace. That means it allows us to see sin as sin and accept the consequences of that sin. It also allows us to recognize that Jesus died for our sins and see that Jesus rose from the dead that we would be justified and receive eternal life.
It helps us understand that when we repent things change. With confession – God forgives; with a change of mind and heart – God transforms.
It is likewise the means of sanctification. When we consecrate our lives to God, he purifies and empowers us.
Faith also provides for daily living in the power of the Spirit. When we believe, we experience the presence of God. When we believe, we hear the voice of God.
Why is faith important?
The Bible tells us that we must live by faith not by sight. That means we look at the world differently.
Romans 14:23 tells us that whatever does not come by faith is sin. In other words, when we abandon it to live as our appetites, common sense and reason dictates, we fall into sin.
How do we nurture it?
We must feed and exercise our faith for it to be healthy. Here’s a simple path to do that.
We decide to believe. This decision is our initial birth into a life of faith. We decide that God is trustworthy and that we will no longer doubt at all. We hold nothing back. This decision is firm in the moment and is also firm for a lifetime.
We experience God’s grace. Our faith always means we will experience God’s grace. Faith and grace are inseparably linked in God’s economy.
We allow God’s grace to change us such as we have already talked about: salvation, sanctification, sustaining grace for daily life.
We stay focused on a life of faith. Primarily we do this through:
Prayer. We must have focused, one-on-one time with God every day. We also must be engaged in continual prayer, which reminds us that he is still there.
The Word. Our time reading our Bibles helps us listen to the voice of Jesus. We need to read wide gaining as much as we can of the knowledge of God. That means reading the Bible over and over again. We must also read deep, meditating on scripture in order to go deeper into the mind of God.
We must continually decide to believe. Every time we read and are reminded of God’s promises, we believe; continually reading and reminding ourselves until they are imprinted on our hearts and minds.
We listen for his voice. Faith help us hear his voice. As we spend time in the word and prayer, we listen. We ask questions and wait for the answer.
We trust God’s leadership. Since his leadership is perfect, we follow unconditionally. This entails some risk but carries great reward.
Finally, in order to nurture our faith, we must daily remind ourselves. In the hectic pace of life, we tend to forget, get distracted and drift. We need reminders.
This is your reminder!
It’s time to renew and reenergize your faith!
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