Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
"My faith has found a resting place..." is how the hymn begins... What
is the resting place of your faith today, dear lady? Whether you have
consciously picked a place or not, your faith does have a place in which
it rests! "My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God...."
begins the third verse of that same hymn. It seems to me that the writer
of this hymn certainly understood not only the importance of faith in
the Christian's life, but also the source of it. Yes, faith is the next
fruit of the Spirit that we are going to be looking at today...
Romans 10:17 (KJV)
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
The Word of God is the true source of our faith. No Word, no faith! The
beginning, the progress, and strength of faith are by hearing the Word.
Can you define faith? Is it just a blind optimism, a "feeling" that everything
is going to work out all right? In light of Romans 10:17 above, we can
extract the proper definition of faith. True Bible faith is confident
obedience to God's Word. Hearing it, and then doing what God says! Every
step of faith should take us closer to the Lord - in spite of circumstances
or consequences! We seem to forget this part of faith don't we, ladies?
Faith affects our total response to the Word of God. Circumstances may
seem impossible, consequences may seem scary as we fear the unknown, but
we trust God's Word and act upon it in total obedience when faith rules
our hearts. Faith presses forward and gains victory over unbelief... Through
the power of the Spirit of God, faith permeates our minds, hearts and
wills and moves them toward a total trust, an active leaning upon the
One that loves us and died for us!
Romans 1:17 (KJV)
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:
as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The Word of God is the source of our faith, so what then is the object
of our faith? What is the resting place of our faith? God Himself, the
Author of our source of faith - the Word, must be the object of our faith,
for our faith is only as good as the object in which it is resting…
Hebrews12:2a (KJV)
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith….
We dare not place faith in self or others - for humans are capable of
failing. You and I do not have the capacity to be truly faithful apart
from the Spirit of God. In fact, we receive the righteousness of God through
faith at salvation and righteousness continues the same way it began in
us – by faith. Ladies, we have a God who will always be faithful, He will
never leave us nor forsake us! Nothing can even separate us from the love
of God. How sad it is to witness many unbelievers and even Christians
limiting themselves by placing faith in their own human understanding
of things rather than in the superior being of the God who knows all!
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
But 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.
Here is our main problem... Believers do not diligently seek the Lord,
for if we did, we would find our faith growing! Our faith grows with our
fellowship with God. We fellowship with God through the reading of His
Word, and through prayer. The more you know someone, the more you trust
him or her, and so it is in our relationship with the Lord. If we do not
spend time getting to know Him, we will not trust Him with the circumstances
in our lives, hence our faith in Him will be limited by our lack of obedience
to His Word in this very matter. This will also hinder our prayer lives
as well. Do you ask people you don't know and don't trust for help? Neither
will you ask God for help in prayer without faith in Him! You will waver
and hesitate to pray, not truly believing He will answer or help. You
will in this way receive no answers to prayer and then be tossed about
with doubt in the God you don't know well enough - and aren't spending
enough time getting to know! Ladies, it will be impossible to please the
Lord living your Christian life in such a faithless manner. We must have
both the desire to please Him and the diligence to seek Him! Faith must
accompany both and will grow as we yield to the Spirit of God…
James 1:5-6 (KJV)
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him
ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
God graciously gives us this fruit of the Spirit as a shield in our Christian
lives. It is a shield of living faith that trusts in the power and promises
of God and goes to war! It's a faith that conquers fear. Many of God's
people fear failing the Christian life and conduct crippled lives when
all they need to do is ask God for wisdom and the Bible says He will give
it! We can then stand behind God's wisdom and find safety and security.
When you ask for wisdom, do you trust God to help you in certain areas
of your life, or are you having second thoughts of Him? You see; faith
is a defensive weapon that protects us against Satan's darts. The devil
points his darts directly toward our hearts and minds, desiring to bring
us into disobedience with God and destroy our walk with Him and our trust
in Him...
Ephesians 6:16 (KJV)
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Ladies, we must utilize this God-given shield, picking it up for protection!
It is a defense every way. God is not going to jump in front of us to
protect us from the enemy’s darts; we have to put forth some effort too!
He supplies the shield, and we must apply it! What a shame when you and
I have the necessary equipment for successful Christian living and we
do not use it!
Hebrews 4:2 (KJV)
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it.
Would you go to war and not take your rifle? Why go to spiritual war and
not take your shield of faith?! The devil has some darts that he will,
and probably already has sent your way. How did you do? Did you get hit
by any fiery darts of lies, impure imaginations, hateful thoughts, doubt,
fear, temptation to compromise etc., or did they bounce off your shield
of faith which you took into battle with you? Scripture says the shield
of faith quenches ALL fiery darts. You never know when Satan will shoot
a particular dart, so keep that shield of faith held up at ALL times.
No more excuses for why you are waning in your walk with the Lord - it
is simply due to a lack of faith on your part! There is no profit to the
Word you read or hear preached if it is not mixed with faith. I hope you
are holding your shield today...
Philip. 2:16 (KJV)
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Lastly, faith as a fruit of the Spirit is not only able to go to war,
but to wait. Faith can lay hold of blessings at a great distance... Hebrews
11 is a well-known and wonderful chapter on the workings of faith and
I hope that you will take some time to read it through, for you will be
greatly motivated and encouraged in your faith. All throughout this chapter,
saints gone by exemplified a faith that was able to wait on God. You will
find they were firmly persuaded that God would perform all that He promised.
Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services,
and patient sufferings. I wonder if our faith is the same kind of an example
to this generation? You see, faith changes a person's focus and perspective,
placing it on the eternal rather than on the temporal...
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.
Yes, faith obediently waits for God's purposes to be fulfilled and God's
promises to be fulfilled. Waiting is one of the most difficult things
to do, amen? But one of the best ways to be found waiting, is to be found
obeying! It helps the time fade away and the purpose to be clear. The
purpose of our faith is to glorify God. We want HIS will to be accomplished,
don't we? (We should!) Even if we don't know when it will take place,
or even get to witness God's purposes accomplished in our lifetime, we
can know that He is faithfully at work. So too, must we be while we wait
on Him! Faith desires to endure rather than escape... What is your focus
today, dear lady - the temporal, or the eternal? Is every Word of God
you hear or read mingled with faith? Is your faith willing to wait, or
waiting to run? Is there something that you need to trust God with even
though you can't see what the future holds? Faith is the only way we can
please God with our lives. May your faith find it's proper resting place
- in the Lord!
But the fruit... Is there any in your life?
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003
