Faith Part One: September 2, 2011

SEPTEMBER 2 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2011.

FAITH

PART ONE

DEFINITION:

Confidence or trust in a person or a thing; a belief in God; the obligation of loyalty to a person.

SCRIPTURE:

The just shall live by faith. Habakkuk 2:4.

“O you of little faith.” Matthew 6:30.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. II Corinthians 5:7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Faith is an exciting “WORD” for us to discuss. We have listed four verses (above) because each verse has something special for us. Please read carefully each of these verses.

We live by faith every day. It is easy to believe in things we can see and touch. It is much harder to believe in things that are unseen, but we do that every day. We accept the things that are unseen by faith. Let us share with you some examples:

We cannot see air but we take air into our lungs every time we take a breath. Although we cannot see it we have evidence that it is there because of the effect air has on us --- it provides us life.

When you get up in the morning you take your first step by faith. You believe by faith that the floor will hold you and by faith you assume your leg is strong enough to hold you. When you are driving your car on the road and come to a hill, you continue by faith not knowing for sure that the road is still ahead.

When it comes to spiritual things, we enter a relationship with Jesus by faith. This faith cannot be seen or touched but it is evidenced by the effect He has on our lives. Faith in Jesus changes ones outlook on life. When we have a relationship with God through His Son, faith becomes a shield for us. In Ephesians 6:16 it reads that above all, we are to take the shield of faith with us all the time to quench the fiery darts of the evil one --- Satan.

May we share with you this warning? If you do not experience in your life the reality of knowing Jesus, after you say that you have accepted Him as your Savior, we urge you to take a careful look at your relationship with Jesus. A relationship must be a heart relationship that you take by faith and not just a head relationship.

A relationship can grow only when time is spent with the one we desire to have a relationship with. To grow in our relationship with the Lord we must spend time with Him. The more time we spend reading and studying His Word the more our faith will grow and we will be drawn into a closer relationship with Him.

Read again the words of the writer of Romans as he wrote in Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We will continue our comments on faith in next Mondays devotional.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Galatians 3:28.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Help me to be certain concerning my relationship with Jesus. Increase my faith so that with every step that I take this day I will be confident that You are walking by my side. May the love of Jesus abound in my life so that others see my faith by my walk and my talk.