{"id":382,"date":"2015-03-21T04:09:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T04:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=382"},"modified":"2015-06-06T05:23:17","modified_gmt":"2015-06-06T05:23:17","slug":"living-by-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=382","title":{"rendered":"Living By Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth\u201d John 4:24.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as the substance of things hoped for (confidently assured of) and the evidence of things not seen. Because God is a Spirit, John 1:18a declares \u201cNo man hath seen God at any time\u201d. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The triune God in his divine essence has never been seen by mortal flesh, but all men know he is there. \u00a0His law is written upon our hearts. \u00a0The heavens declare his handiwork and testify of God\u2019s invisible presence which we see through the eyes of faith.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The source of faith is God. \u00a0Faith is a gift from God. \u00a0Romans 12:3 says that we are to \u201cthink soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith\u201d.<\/em> \u00a0Speaking concerning the distribution of gifts by the Holy Spirit, I Corinthians 12:9 says \u201cto another <\/em>individual – is given\u00a0faith by the same Spirit\u201d.<\/em> \u00a0Hebrews 12:2 says \u201cLooking unto Jesus <\/em>(who is God), the author and finisher of our faith\u201d. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

W.E. Vine\u2019s dictionary of New Testament words defines faith as a firm persuasion or conviction based upon hearing. \u00a0\u201cSo then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God\u201d<\/em> Romans 10:17. If you want to have faith or to increase the faith that you already have, then study the Scriptures with a willing heart. \u00a0Developing a strong faith is a process of growth in God\u2019s word, line upon line, precept upon precept.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Faith is vitally important. \u00a0Faith is necessary to please our Creator. \u201cBut without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him\u201d<\/em> Hebrews 11:6. \u00a0God desires to give the gift of faith to all men, but he will not give it to those who resist his Spirit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saving faith is faith which rests only upon Christ\u2019s merit and work on the cross. \u00a0His once for all death, burial, and resurrection give us access to God\u2019s gift of salvation. \u00a0Although our works do not factor into salvation, when one is saved or born again, works follow salvation. \u00a0James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

II Corinthians 5:17 states \u201cIf any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0After a person is saved, the things or works that characterized his\/her life as an unbeliever fade away and are replaced by new things or works that are characterized by obedience to Christ and His word. \u00a0Faith that does not produce \u201cnew things\u201d is dead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In our everyday Christian life, there should be a proper order concerning; what our faith is based upon, our faith itself, and our feelings. \u00a0The facts of Scripture always come first. \u00a0Our faith is built upon God\u2019s promises, therefore our faith follows the facts of Scripture. \u00a0Feelings are last and should always follow in that order. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes as Christians we do not feel saved, loved, or secure in our relationship with God. \u00a0We must always remember that our faith is built on the facts of God\u2019s word (God cannot lie), not our feelings. If we allow feelings to take the lead, our Christian life will take on the roller coaster ride that feelings often do. \u00a0We will become unstable and inconsistent Christians.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hebrews chapter eleven is the \u201cHall of Faith\u201d. The whole chapter is devoted to hero\u2019s of the faith. There are many familiar faithful listed and some that may be \u00a0surprising. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are many results of faith. \u00a0When faith is properly placed we have access to salvation (Ephesians 2:8&9), peace (Romans 5:1), rest (Hebrews 4:1-3), joy (I Peter 1:8), understanding (Hebrews 11:3) and more. Check them out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe just shall live by faith\u201d<\/em> (Romans 1:17). \u00a0Faith is a way of life. \u00a0It is not a blind leap in the dark. \u00a0Faith is founded upon the truth of God\u2019s word. \u00a0Faith\u2019s objective is to know Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are not a believer, you should know that \u201cas many as received him <\/em>(Jesus Messiah), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name\u201d<\/em> (John 1:12).<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth\u201d John 4:24. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as the substance of things hoped for (confidently assured of) and the evidence of things not seen. Because God is a Spirit, John 1:18a declares \u201cNo man hath seen God at any … Continue reading Living By Faith<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":561,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}