Posted in Bible, Charismatic, Discipleship, Grace, Holy Spirit, Life in the Church
Be a Person of Faith
By Mike Noel
In my last post I encouraged us to grow in walking in the Spirit. One thing that goes hand in hand with walking in the Spirit is walking by faith. The Christian life is a life of faith. That the righteous shall live by faith is stated in Habakkuk, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. Faith is trusting that God and his promises are trustworthy and acting upon them. Jesus often commended those who demonstrated faith. In Matthew 8:10 it says he marveled at the Centurion's faith. He often replies to people that it will be done according to their faith. Jesus also reproved his disciples when they demonstrated a lack of faith. As his people we would be wise, therefore, to learn from both his commendations and reproofs.
We have each been assigned a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). It is our responsibility to exercise and grow that faith. Every day we face challenges where we need God’s grace and power. We should look as these challenges as opportunities to walk by faith. Our flesh wants us to run and hide at these times. We must learn to ask, “What does it mean to trust God in this situation?” And we should also ask, “What does Scripture say about this situation? What promise of God can I look to and meditate on and trust in?” Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ (Romans 10). As you sow to the Spirit (Galatians 6) by feeding your heart and mind with God’s Word, you will find yourself empowered to grow in trusting God in everyday life.
Growing in faith will also help us grow in the area of prophecy. Romans 12 says we should prophesy according to our faith. One way we can increase our faith in this area is to spend time asking God (1) for prophecies and (2) to be able to give those prophecies with an anointing or gifting from the Holy Spirit. Don’t allow false humility to keep you from doing so. Cultivate a desire to build up (encourage, exhort, and/or comfort) the church with prophetic words. Get alone with the Lord and talk to him. He loves when we do. He loves when we ask him for things that we can only receive through trusting him. Believe that the God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) is able to do so for you.
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