Faith - what is our faith in? If it is in our belief about GOD and His ability to save us then our faith is misplaced. Yes, this was a trick answer.
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Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #36
Title: Faith-fulness
Date: January 10, 2022
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse(s):
Galatians 5:22 – ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…’ In the KJV the word is faith and is defined in part as fidelity. As fidelity faith is certainly faithfulness, but the word faith carries more of the quality that I believe GOD appreciates, and more so – that which He requires of us.
Luke 7:50 – ‘Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."’
Rom 5:1 – ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…’
Faith - from G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): - agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
Intro: If my count was correct the word faith is mentioned 34 times in the book of Romans, alone. It is mentioned 229 according to a word count in the e-sword Bible program.
Going back to the definition once more faith on our part is more than faithfulness. While we are to have faithfulness to GOD and to our beliefs, faith accomplishes far more.
Devotion focus: GOD requires faith in Himself and His Word.
If you keep in mind the Fruit of the Spirit is GOD’s nature and that faith is listed as 1 of the 9 aspects of GOD’s nature, this will help bring faith into clear understanding of what it is in practice.
· Faith in GOD is more than an intellectual agreement that GOD exists. If I had a terminal illness I can believe/have faith that medicine exists to save me. That belief doesn’t do me any good if I stop there. I must place my faith in the power of that medicine to save me by taking it and applying it.
In a spiritual way, I have a terminal illness that is killing my body. It is called sin and we’re all dying from the effects of sin. Like a virus and no one escapes.
GOD provided a cure for this virus. It is the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for sin. If I believe this and apply this cure to my life by faith, then and only then do I live, not only eternally – we all have eternal life lived in either Heaven or Hell, but I live spiritually connected to the very life of GOD.
Placing faith in Jesus’s death on the cross as the complete and only payment for sin accepted by GOD saves my life from eternal death. At the moment I pray confessing I am a sinner under the curse of death and ask Jesus to save me, my spirit is born, my name is written in the Book of Life in Heaven, and my destiny is changed from eternal hell to eternal Heaven.
Beyond saving faith, we need faith to accomplish our work for GOD with lasting effects. The following account helps with understanding this principle, although I am not advocating trying to cast out demons. Not without knowing what you are doing. And since I
Show notes at HopesHarbor.net
