What is Faith???

The key that Paul speaks of again and again to the Romans is that all of this Wisdom and Glory and Life and depth of God are, from first to last…by faith. Both our justification and our sanctification are by faith. Our ability to find God and reflect His Glory in the inner man comes not by striving but by "seeing Him who is invisible.” It comes by being able to live a life from first to last that is focused on Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s requirements of us, and focused on Him as the potential for all of the Power and Glory of God to be manifest in us.

So, how does that affect my daily life? If I’m a complainer or a whiner…if I slump back in times of difficulty and trial…if I sever relationships rather than pour into them…if I pull away from God and shrink back and forget Him rather than turn my face fully towards Him””then I’m walking by sight and not by faith. I’m walking in a way that invites demonic presence into my life, rather than God’s Presence and Glory into my life.

If you had to describe what faith is, there are many ways you could do that because faith is a diamond with many facets. But one thing that faith will always be is an attitude. Certainly faith has to do with the knowledge of God””no question about that. So now, in view of your knowledge of God, what is your attitude? That will be the indicator of whether you really believe God or not. If you really believe God, it will affect your point of view. How you view other people will totally depend on whether your faith for them and for yourself is in Christ, or whether your faith instead is in works””theirs or yours.

Everything in life comes back to this issue of where we place our faith. Where do we place our confidence and trust? How do we decide how we’re going to feel about things and how we’re going to view other people? It’s either "faith from first to last” or there’s a curse on your life, as Paul said to the Galatians. As you perceive the world around you””the heavens and earth, the circumstances at work and home, your health, your business dealings and relationships””if you live by anything other than faith, then there’s a curse on your life. If we won’t perceive things through the eyes of faith, other attitudes begin to creep in…bitterness, frustration, anxiety, fear, judgment, criticalness, and laziness. Nothing but corruption begins to fill our lives and hearts.

"Faith from first to last,” isn’t some generic, "Yes, I believe in God,” and "Yes, I know the proper doctrines.” Forget that junk””we’re talking about…do you really trust Him from the heart? Do you look at life through the eyes of what happened on Calvary? If so, your faith in Him will affect your attitude. It will change how you view and respond to others. It will determine the kinds of things you whisper in the inner chambers””the remarks you make to your spouse, children or roommate and the behind-the-scenes thoughts you hold in your heart. How you view people and what you say comes either from faith in Christ, or from worldly, carnal attitudes where you see both men and God after the flesh.

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LORD as I read the above teaching again I realize I didn't trust YOU today. I didn't believe all that YOU have said, I doubted and I sinned against YOU. I am sorry LORD, I pray please forgive me for my doubt, for giving in to fear, and for not trusting YOU in all things. LORD YOU have never failed me not ever and I know all things happen for YOUR good pleasure and so that I might grow ever closer to YOU. LORD I pray that as I move forward YOU will keep reminding me what faith is. YOU will keep pointing me back to JESUS help me truly daily live by faith! Amen!!

Faith affects your attitude in everything you do in every circumstances of your life.

Let’s see your attitudes when you’re under stress. Let’s see what you do when you’ve been treated unfairly (or so you think), or something isn’t going right on the job. What do you do then? What will you do when a relationship isn’t turning out as you thought it should, or someone treats you in a way you don’t think is proper or right or just or kind? How do you respond? What will you do? Faith is not measured by how many doctrines you can spew off. Your faith is measured by what you do under stress. What do you do when life isn’t adding up and it isn’t meeting your expectations? What do you do when your circumstances take you out of your comfort zone and out of your element of understanding? Is your face towards God with implicit trust?
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Just wanted share this here with some few as the Lord gives leading. Do I fully, implicitly trust God?. My actions and attitude should always make my answer evident.

God bless
Mj

Thanks for this post and thoughts MaryJane.

Put simply, Faith is to Trust and Obey.

The more difficult part as you have alluded to is the actual trusting and obeying in those testing times.

There are different levels and applications of faith. In saving faith we put our 'trust' on Christ's atonement for us and 'obey' His authority over our lives. Every day we have opportunity to trust and obey Him (faith) in specific situations and directions He sends us.

Thank you for the reply. Yes the difficult part is the actual trusting in those times. I am seeing that there is still a great temptation in my heart to run ahead and do things my own way instead of walking by faith and following in HIS footsteps as HE leads me. Through all of this I realize GOD is showing me some very key things that I still struggle with in my life: fear, worry, control, and doubt. All of these sins are tied up for me because of a lack of faith. I am seeing that so clearly. I am seeing that in these areas of my life its about staying close to JESUS, its about holding on so tight and never letting go because if I do, even for a moment I will fall back into those old sinful patterns. Its about taking thoughts and circumstance to HIM in the moment and giving no room to self or the enemy. I am reading through a teaching shared with me on faith and one thing I read last night and again this morning was this: "but I do know that it has to be our faith that rings out, and it has to be your faith that apprehends the Heart and the Mind and the Voice of God and stands firm on that in spite of any circumstances or heartache that life will bring you. The storms will come. Have it fixed in your heart and mind exactly who Jesus is and that His promises are your Anchor and Hope."

I am reminded its not by my strength, its all about keeping my eyes and heart focused on JESUS.

Thank again for sharing what the LORD put on your heart.
God bless
mj

i think true saving faith is born in us as we get bornagain

the gift comes to us as we receive revalation of the tangelable presence of the holy spirit

gods love is shead abroard in us by the holy spirit and from the moment of regeneration ,,we begine to for the first time in our lives trust god ,,becasue he has givern us a profound reason ,,a living reason ,,,to trust him ,,

we only trust god when we have met god and god by his miricaulas power dispels doubt and fear

saving faith is an aribute of god ,and is a part of his devine nature that he infuses into us us ,,into our iner man

saving faith is not a reaction of our flesh toward a holy god ,,,,,for in me that is in my flesh dwels no good thing

god excepts nothing that our flesh can produce to play any part in our salvation

he only excepts the death of our old man and nothing else

we are comamded to have faith ,,,,,to trust in god ,,in the scence that we are exasise what god has givern us as a gift ,,in that same way we are to exasise any other gift from the holy spirit ,,,,,,,,,we must stir it up ,,,and we must ask god for more revalation of his presence and in turn we will be bold becasue of it ,,,and ask god to brand our hearts a fresh with his promises through is word ,and bring life to his word regulury as we feed on the word of god and the exortation and admonishings of the saints

its a good thing to labour at having no cofidence in the flesh and no self esteam ,,,repentence from dead works ,,the so called good works of the flesh are to be hated regarding us pesonaly ,,when we train our selfs to repent in that way ,we are left with no options but to trust god in all things

blessings

I was continuing to read and this just jumped out at me this morning: "Let Your Heart Rest"

Take a minute and let your heart rest. Maybe your mind is driving toward this thing or that, but just ask God to let your heart rest before Him. Turn your face towards Him and ponder some of what you remember (or some of what you don’t remember : )). Lift your heart toward Him."

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In this time when I am struggling with uncertainty and to really walk in faith it is a very good reminder to turn to the LORD and just be still before HIM. To just take HIS hand and listen to all that HE has for me. When my mind starts racing with all the "what if" that I know are places I shouldn't be going its really vital that I step back and seek HIM. GOD gives me all that I need to walk by faith, I am with out excuse, I am learning that part of overcoming doubt, fear, worry, and lack of faith is quieting my mind, and just seeking HIM, being in HIS WORD reading HIS promises and knowing they are true. Remembering that JESUS is the YES and AMEN to all of GOD'S promises, these are truths I can rely on and live by.

A very good exhortation I wanted to share: "You’ve got to resolve that God is able, that He hears you and knows you, and that He will meet you on the ground of believing Him. He is who He said He is, so don’t let any unbelief linger in your heart."

God bless
mj