Have Faith in God!!!

Act_16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. 

Rom_14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Mat_21:21  Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Mar 11:23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

For this post I will digress from "Dead or alive" and give you what I felt led to share on today. Where He leads we follow and our Agendas should never take precedence.

There is a distinct difference in scripture between "the faith" and "having faith". This is chiefly why I believe in the "Word of Faith movement", not withstanding the numerous lost people out there who take it the wrong way. And this goes for every known belief movement by the way. Show me a Christian denomination that doesn't have loonies and I will show you the Second Coming of Jesus.

The faith is the belief core which identifies all who belong to Christ. It was a title used to identify us during the early days of the Church because we were different. It also describes the way in which we come to belong to this body of Christ, which is by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave His life a ransom for us. Therefore the undertone when one declares himself a Christian is that he is convivted in that one truth even though he has not seen Jesus facially or heard from Jesus necessarily. The substance and object of his beliefs is an intangible. That is why we were called those of "the faith". Therefore we can establish that "the faith" is an explanatory noun i.e it is a name given to us by virtue of certain traits unique to our worship.

Having faith is another thing altogether, if we are to look at the Word of God didactically. Having faith is the present continuous state of conviction in God. This one is applied primarily to a person or collectively to a group of people who possess the trait. It is the heart element that gives birth to the title above. It is apparently a measurable trait, but only at a spiritual level. 

Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

It is that response of the human heart to the unctions, the instructions and the revealed truths of Gods Word (Read Heb 11). Even though it is an intangible trait, it has tangible results or outworkings. Mark 11:22 is the foundation for the popular "faith moves mountains" slogan. Jesus Himself intended for us to understand this aspect of Christian life. It is what I call the "circumstance changing obligation" of a Christian. Someone might say "the working of miracles and transformation of lives is all God's work" and that is very true. However the scriptures clearly require that we avail our faith for God to use as He sees fit. This is because God works through men to accomplish His agenda on earth. Otherwise the work of evangelism would be entirely His. Paul tells us that faith without works is dead. This he said in admonishing those who were of the faith, but had no corresponding actions to put their faith to work. 

WHAT FAITH DOES

1. Matt 6:30- Faith assures us of God's provision and gives us peace in God. It's one of the most basic outworkings of faith. Having peace in God because you know the provision is guaranteed. Also read Dan 3. The Hebrew boys were at peace when their lives were at risk.

2. Matt 14:31- Faith will enable us to do seemingly impossible things. A lack of it will lead to us drowning in life's challenges. COntrary to popular belief these days it's not grace alone needed to survive the storms of life. It's grace through faith!!

3. Matt16:8- Faith helps us understand the mysteries of God. Also read Heb 11:3. There are certain things that only a man of Faith can understand.

4. Matt17:17- Faith helps us alter the situations in other peoples lives. Be it sickness, or posession having faith will enable us to take a stand on their behalf and deal with the supernatural bondages. Also read James 5:15. There is a prayer birthed in the heart of a man of faith, it is "his" prayer that can save the sick.

HOW FAITH COMES

Faith can come and that is one of the greatest joys of the faith!

1. Rom10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Every kind of faith can come through the hearing that comes from the Word of God. (Another story altogether!) This is why we listen to the Word of God, why we meditate on it. We want that hearing that brings faith into our hearts!

2. 1Cor2:4-5. Faith can also come through witnessing the power of God on display. Acts 1:8 tells us that we will be witnesses after being endued with power from on high! Proof producers of the goodness of God hallelujah!!! And when men sees the proof they will come running to the light. 1 Cor14:24 shows us that a display of the gift of prophecy can lead to the conviction of a man unto repentance. Hence we need miracles in the Church in these last days. A cautionary note though is that, not every miracle is from God. Just like not every preacher is sent of God.

Stay Growing in the faith and in faith!! It's the guarantee that your future is better and brighter! It's the guarantee that you will make the world brighter and better for others as well!

In His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe