Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Have Faith in God, not in Your Faith

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him." (Job 13: 15)

Job was an upright man, but not a righteous one. Abraham received righteousness in the eyes of the Lord because he believed on Him (cf Genesis 15: 6), not for anything that the Patriarch did, said, or even thought, beyond taking the Lord God at His Word.

Job still stood by "his own ways," still insisting on coming to God on his terms.

It is His Word that sustains us, that maintains us, that retains us through all things:

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." (Psalm 119: 60)

And also in the Old Testament, the prophet writes:

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55: 11)

Jesus affirmed the eternity and power of His Word:

"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4: 4)

Jesus the preached in the Sermon on the Mount:

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5: 18)

and

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17: 17)

Later, the apostle Paul affirmed:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

And Peter also wrote:

"But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1: 25)
 
Too many believers are trusting in their tenacity, in their strong sentiment, or in the right burst of emotional verve in order to move God. It's not about how much, how often, how strong we

God is already moving; we need to trust in Him, not in our trust in Him:

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12: 3)

We have the same measure of faith.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." (Galatians 5: 22)

Faith is a fruit of the Spirit, which He brings forth in us as we abide in Christ:

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." (John 15: 4)

And the gift of faith is ministered to us by the Power of the Holy Spirit:

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12: 4)

Later followed by:

"To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;" (1 Corinthians 12: 9)

In fact, unlike Job, who lived before "the mediator" whom he sought had come (Job 9: 33), we have the one mediator living within us, and by His faith do we live:

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2: 5)

and then. . .

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)


It's not the amount of faith, but the Person whom we believe in. It's not our ways that maintain us, but the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14: 6) who lives in us, whose faith moves us, who prospers us as we receive from Him!

Have faith in God, not in your own faith, because He has given it to you already! And we are called to walk by faith! (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

 



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