Faith is seeing the evidence of what we believe and seeing it through God's Word, rather than by what we see with our physical eyes.
Paul the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 4:18,
...while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen...
While we realize that ...we walk by faith and not by sight... (2 Corinthians 5:7) by what means does God choose to bring His children into faith and maturity?
While faith is a work that God does from the very start, He brings it to us to us through His Word and He strengthens our faith the more we hear His Word.
Paul writes in Romans 10:17,
So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When one becomes a believer it is because they first hear the gospel; one then grows in grace and in faith through the teaching of this same Word. The Word of God is powerful, Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and says,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received [it] not [as] the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
The Word of God is not mere words on paper; it is living and active! It works effectually (Gr. Energeo = Puts forth power) in those who believe.
The Truth is that many believers are simply ignorant of what God says about them. The Old Testament prophet Hosea writes and says,
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Hosea 4:6
Every day many Christians live well beneath their privileges as children of God, one of the reasons being, they simply don't realize the extent of what they have been given because they don't know what God's Word says about them; this is all the more reason to look into His Word in order to see what we have been given and then to share this same Truth with others.
I would encourage you dear believer to get into God's Word, learn who you really are and what you have been given in Christ and then you will find yourself growing stronger and stronger in faith each and every day.
This article is an excerpt of Gracespirations Daily Devotion by Paul Rupe.
Paul has served as an associate pastor as well as a number of other positions in his local fellowship. He currently is web administrator for Gracespirations Daily Devotion an outreach of Teleo Ministries.
You can visit Paul online at http://teleoministries.blogspot.com
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