Wednesday 25 April 2012

Faith in the Promise Keeping God

What is faith?  It is the confidence assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see.  God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.  Hebrews 11:1-2 NLT

It is important that we build our faith on a regular basis to see the manifestation of God’s promises in our lives. In describing faith, let’s use the illustration of a pregnant woman.  The moment a woman conceives and tests confirms that she is pregnant, we say she is expecting.   Having faith is similar to being pregnant, you conceive when you believe and you then start to expect those promises to come to pass. 

You have to spend time or intercourse with the Word of God so you can be pregnant with His promises because faith cometh by hearing and hearing of the word of God.  Faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good news about Christ.  Romans 10:17 NLT.

Recently, I told God that ‘I needed more faith’ because of some things that I want to see happen in my life.  God asked me ‘how much time am I spending with His word.  He made me realize that the more of someone’s words I hear, the more faith I will have in them.  So if I want to increase my faith in Him, I need to spend more time with His word so that I can conceive His promises in me by the Holy Ghost.

Faith is activated by speaking God’s word.  ‘For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved’. Rom 10:10 NLT.  Jesus demonstrated this principle in Mark chapter 11: 20-23 when he cursed a fig tree and the tree withered from the roots.  The disciples were surprised when the fig tree dried up to the root just as Jesus commanded but Jesus was not surprised because he was expecting the fig tree to wither from its roots.

Your expectation is a sign of your faith so check your expectation.  A pregnant woman will not be surprised when she gives birth because she will be expecting to deliver a baby after nine months.

Some of us will say that I read my bible everyday but I don’t seem to have faith.   We need to realise that our heart is the soil for the seed of God’s word and we are responsible for making our heart a good ground.  Here are some of the things we need to do to make our hearts good grounds:

Ø  Stay close to the living water so that your heart can receive the nutrients it needs to bear fruit. Psalm 1:1-3
Ø  Keep negative thoughts and doubts from your mind.
Ø  Pray instead of worrying because the cares of this life will crowd out God’s word from your heart.
Ø  Study until you understand what God is saying, you can’t believe if you don’t understand the word.
Ø  Believe and hold unto God’s word because persecutions will arise for the word’s sake.

Have faith in God's faithfulness.

Blessings,

Dupe