When we are born again we see and put into action for the first time the faith of God. That is when we step from having a dead spirit with nothing to base our hope on, and no way to truly believe for the things of God into a a world full of hope, promise, power and victory!
God’s promises are actualized through faith. In Genesis 17:5 God tells Abram who at ninety~nine had no children, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.” Abram means “father” or “exalted father”. Abraham means “father of many nations”.
God’s faith is clearly shown in Romans 4:16-17 where Paul writes about that covenant. 4:17; “...as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did...”. God’s faith declares a thing not just when you can not see it; He calls it into existence before it exists. That is precisely what happens when someone invites Jesus into their heart. Once that life changing and eternal miracle occurs, that spirit that was dead is now alive. It was made new and alive through faith in the gospel message they heard, and they remain a new creature full of God’s faith. I am not going to develop that here. Here I want to say that faith and unbelief are not the same thing. Yesterday I mentioned unbelief was a subtle process that occurs when we focus on the things of this world more than on God, resulting in believing what is focused on, the worlds message and not Gods'. Unbelief is a soul and flesh thing. Being a flesh and soul issue, unbelief is overcome by prayer and fasting. Praying is your vital connection to God, and fasting teaches your flesh that your new spirit man is in charge. The more you quell the demands of the flesh and soul, the more you are in prayer, the less influence the world has on you. Of course you can fast anything, but there is much wisdom in fasting the source of your unbelief. Matthew 17:20-21 So Jesus said to them,“Because of your unbelief;for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Ironically enough those verses alone usually pull out the unbelief in Christians. Those are red letters folks, Jesus said it. Nothing will be impossible for you with the faith as a mustard seed. The thought we go to with the mustard seed is that is so incredibly small, the smallest of seeds. That is an accurate parallel because faith is a decision, a lifestyle. It is not an ability one possess, it is our faith, the faith God gave us to trust Him to bring things into existence. Loving to eat nutritious food I just have to interject this; mustard seeds have amazing healing properties in them and are overall quite nutritions. No shocker there that Jesus used the mustard seed. :-)
Faith is a spirit thing and is encouraged by reading God’s Word, Romans 10:17 and praying in the Spirit, Jude 1:20. You were given God’s faith the instant you gave your heart to Him. Everyone born again is given the same measure of faith. You have the faith of God in you. He does not mete it out in pints and quarts according to some arbitrary counting system; He gives the same measure of faith to everyone that accepts Jesus as their Savior. You have everything in you to believe for and see wonderful things happen just as the disciples did. Encourage your faith and walk confidently in it, buffet your unbelief where it is needed and live the extraordinary supernatural life God gave you!
Photo provided by Me and my mustard seed.
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