Christianity Oasis Forum

[saint701]

Hello All,


Blessings!

We have been discussing the necessity of faith, and how it is that through faith we access the grace wherein we stand. We have understood that the abundance of grace is ever present for us in our walk with God. But do we really understand the necessity of faith? Do we understand how wonderfully precious faith is? Do we understand how diligently we must go about keeping our faith strong?

We keep our physical body strong by feeding it, exercising it, keeping it clean, protecting it, and resting it. Is our faith of no less importance? Seeing that to a large degree our eternal destiny rests on the keeping of it, such would seem good sense to do for our faith. To this point we have discussed Faith Priority Number One, Feeding It!

We feed our faith by reading the Word of God, meditating upon it, getting it down into our heart of hearts by confessing it aloud, and we do this until we are strong in faith, believing it. We do not limit our understanding by feeding only on the Bible, but we also feed upon those understandings given us by the Gifts of God, those great men of faith which are our examples, such as Kenneth Hagin and Paul Yongi Cho.

Now we turn to Faith Priority Number Two, Exercising It! Faith without works is dead, James tells us.

Jas.2

1. [20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
2. [26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

If we have fed our faith properly, exercising it should not be overly difficult. We may encounter some resistance at first, as always there is a resistance factor as we build strength for any endeavor, but begin somewhere we must.

Heb.6

1. [12] That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Word of God is pregnant with every possiblity for our needs that we could possibly dream of. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE! Jesus said to those that would follow Him there is one work only that we must do.

John 6:

[29] Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

So ever when exercising our faith, priority number one is to be certain that first we have a strong, unshakable belief in Jesus and all that He has accomplished on our behalf, even all that is inherent in the abundance of His grace that He has provided for us.

Priority number two is to identify that which we are lacking and have the greatest need of. Priority number three is to identify the scriptural truths needed to justify our request. Priority number four is to write out a prayer of faith based upon those scriptural truths. Priority number five is to pray and believe IN OUR HEART that we have received. Priority number six is to thank God for His grace in granting our request. Priority number seven is to be patient.

Growing in faith is not easy. There is resistance. There are challenges. But as we feed our faith, and begin to exercise it, we grow stronger in faith. We increase in faith. I have found patience accomplishes this. I have found that the longer that I have had to wait on a matter before God, the more determined I have become to see that which I have believed for made manifest in my life.

I have found myself becoming more and more like an old junk yard dog, or a snapping turtle, that reptilian creature that grabs hold and will not let go until it thunders! Paul told Timothy to lay hold on eternal life. Now that is the kind of faith I want, the kind that grabs hold of Jesus and will not let go!

1Tim.6

1. [12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
2. [19] Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint701.