Faith to Commit

In an uncertain world, it is a comfort to return to the One who loves us supremely and has given us hope, vision, purpose for the future.

At one time we had no hope beyond what we could do for ourselves - constrained by all that could befall us. We had no vision or purpose that did not in some warped way ingratiate ourselves and massage our own pride despite how lofty and altruistic we could make it sound, we knew deep down inside that we were lying to ourselves.

Now, through the revelation given to us, we can see that there is a reason to get up tomorrow, to declare that we will persevere and see through the job we have been given until we see its completion. For our Father is faithful and can be counted on to stand beside us, prompt us, ead us and even carry us if the going becomes too hard for our feeble faith. For it is His work that He has begun in us, and He will not see it fail.

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Your Faith has Power!

As small as a mustard seed...

If you have ever seen one, you il know why Jesus said this. They're tiny!

Yet, packed inside that insignificant capsule is a tremendous souce of power. The same is true for you. Your faith has poer beyond what you see or experience. It may seem insignificantly tiny in proportion to the challenge you face. But the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is standing ready to glorify that same Jesus through energising you, transforming your circumstances and bringing about miraculous change.

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Building faith for life

Why exercise faith?

Why believe?

Why not?

By spending time disciplining your thought-life, feeding your mind, soul and spirit: educating yourself in the laws of the spiritual dimension of your life, deepening your relationship with the Father, gaining an understanding of how He has dealt with others in the past; you build up a lifestyle tat will have a positive impact on yourself.

You will know who you are.

You will know what you want.

You will know you have an Eternal Father who loves you immensely, who is looking out for you and who will bring you to a position where you can fulfill your destny.

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Building faith for life

Why exercise faith?

Why believe?

Why not?

By spending time disciplining your thought-life, feeding your mind, soul and spirit: educating yourself in the laws of the spiritual dimension of your life, deepening your relationship with the Father, gaining an understanding of how He has dealt with others in the past; you build up a lifestyle tat will have a positive impact on yourself.

You will know who you are.

You will know what you want.

You will know you have an Eternal Father who loves you immensely, who is looking out for you and who will bring you to a position where you can fulfill your destny.

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Faith, the final frontier..

It's a corny pun. But there is a great deal of truth in it. We are used to dealing with a material universe. If we can't experience it, touch it and see for ourselves, we're instantly sceptical. Into this dimension, Jesus calls us to live a lifestyle of faith.

More succinctly, He exhorts us to accept the Kingdom (God's rule in our lives) like a child.

What does this mean?

We accept the reality of faith with eager anticipation. Rather than acceping unquestioningly, we are curious, we want to investigate - to see it at work; we talk of it as reality - now. We don't think about how stupid we will look if it doen't come to pass we dn't start picking apart motivations and agendas to find an illusory 'real' reason to explain what's happening.



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Faith in what at Chistmas?

For some, Christmas is a time of reaffirmation of faith. There is certainly much to support this. We are reminded of the power of the almighty God, who reached down to Earth, delling amongst us to demonstrate that a life of faith was not only possible, but necessary for us.

But it is important to see the trappings that come with the festival for what they are. Just baggage. Traditions are important. They remind us of things that we might otherwise neglect. But if a tradition gets in the way of the truth - if it obscures what it was originally meant to promote, it's time for a rethink.

If carols and Chistmas cake help you reach out to people looking for the Christ, then give yourself to promoting the festival for all you're worth. But remember, Frosty the Snowman did not die for your sins; Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer is not the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit, and Santa Claus does not sit at the right hand of the Father.

If you need wisdom - just ask. You will receive. If you're stuck for the right words to explain what the real Christmas means to you, remind yourself of the promise tht the Holy spirit Himself would speak through you. Yo are privileged to have an opportunity to share your faith in the source of all that is good about Christmas, and as you share your faith, the Good lord will bless you further, give you greater insight into the destiny He has for you - in this world and the next.


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Building Faith at Christmas

Advent is a time of preparation. An opportunity to remind ourselves of the hisortical reality that our faith is grounded in. Whether we like it or not, it is inescapable. The same Jesus who was born as a vulnerable human being two millennia ago is the author and source of the entire universe.

For the Almighty to humble Himself to the point where he dwells amongst us, not only to demonstrate how a life of faith should be lived, but to empower us to be able to reign victoriously over our circumstances and see His vision of a world whose inhabitants are in a right relationship with Him come to fruition - this may seem blasphemous to those whose concept of God is deficient, where their idea of deity is constrained by a transcendence that renders Him ultimately impotent. But this scandalous grace is precisely what we have come to experience in our lives.

For us to deny this reality would be to narrow our minds and ignore the transformational power of the resurrection that has already made us into completely different people.

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Faith to Multiply

Faith is infectious. You will have seen it before, a man with confidence who can speak boldly and with clarity to calm the nerves of those around him. As a student, I learned this from my pastor, who would remind me of what was truly important and focus my attention on the positive when all I could see was a single negative obstacle.

The same is true of fear - it is our choice. We can decide what we would like to mutiply in the lives of those around us.

We can produce believers, who will pass their faith on to others. All it takes is a change of direction in how we see ourselves, a realignment so that we work with God's Spirit in bringing about positive change instead of reacting to the circumstances around us.

There is a cost, of course. But what price is too great for the One who bought us with His own blood? With that perspective, our hardships pale into insignificance and the benefits leap into prominence.

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Renewed Faith

Faith is not a one-time that's-it or it's never going to happen type of experience. You exercise faith, then live in the benefit of it - it's a lifestyle choice.

In another post, I'll say more about the important ink beteen faith and patience.

However, right now it is worth focussing on the fact that once you 'see' with the eye of faith, you will need to feed that perception of the reality that God has shown you, to allow yourself to focus more clearly on seeing His will come to pass.

Reminding ourselves of the vision God has given us is not an exercise in pointless navel-gazing. Rather it is an essential time of renewal of faith, an opportunity to remind ourselves of our ultimate goal.

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Faith in Faith?

Faith is not some magical force that will do things for you that you should do for yourself. Faith is trust, it is an integral part of a real relationship with a loving God.

To see faith merely as a spiritual force to be believed in and be manipulated is to miss the point entirely. We believe because we have come to know the Father fr ourselves and have come to the conclsion that He is faithful loving, just and all-powerful. Faith grows naturally from this relationship. It doesn't have to be forced by an exercise of the will or imagination.

On the contrary. A true faith teaches us that the source of our power is entirely dependent on focusing on Him, not on the by-products of our relationship. It would be as nonsensical to have faith in faith alone as it would be to assume that possessing an autographed photograph of a celebrity enables us to act on their behalf with their authority devoid of a relationship with them.


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Building Faith?

Two quick questions:

What did you do to build your faith up today?

• Read a devotional book
• Study your Bible
• Talk to someone to receive encouragement

What did you do to build up someone else's faith today?

• Send an encouraging email
• Pray with a friend
• Choose not to spread damaging gossip

Please note, Paul wrote: 'there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ' for a purpose. Even if you answer, "Well, actually, I did none of those things." You still are in His arms, He still loves you just as much, He still has a plan for you to prosper. You didn't disqualify yourself from receiving His grace, instead He wants to empower you right now so that you will have a better story to tell tomorrow.


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A living faith

There is a dynamic to exercising faith. It is not enough to look at the past. We should neither be discouraged by past failures, or be limited by our past successes. We have been called to a life where the One who called us is able to do far more than we could ever ask or imagine.

But to do this He must be allwed to breathe life into us continually. Our lives changed at a once for all event when He changed our nature and took up residence in us. But that was not the end of the story. It was merely the beginning.

Now He calls us to allow Him to work through changes on a daily basis so our lives grow to more fully reflect Him, His power and grace. To help us with this, there are a number of promises He has made which we can confidently put our trust in.

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Faith to listen

If we believe that the Almighty is, a priori, a God who speaks; and that He is no respecter of petty human rank- that He will speak to the outcast beggar as well as the great ruler; then the question we should ask ourselves is not, "Does God speak today?" but: "What is He saying to me, now?"

It therefore becomes our responsibility to determine if there is anything that would be a blockage or hindrance to prevent us from hearing God clearly.

A starting point, of course is to read what He has already said, asking Him to reveal insights to you to help you hear Him more clearly.

An essential key is to act on that revelation.

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