Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
What is faith? Faith happens when we hear God in our hearts (Rom. 10:17). Faith is not towards a promise or some tangible thing. True faith is a supernatural response towards God when we hear His voice in our hearts. God doesn’t speak to our souls. He speaks to our spirit and then our spirit responds with the substance of faith to speak to our souls. We are inspired from within with thoughts, reasonings, imaginations, emotions, and desires that testify of our belief in God who spoke to our hearts. We believe in Him, therefore we respond to His voice. We don’t just believe that He is. We believe in who He is. We believe Him! We believe Him when He speaks; therefore, we respond to His voice with the actions of our lives. Faith is a spiritual substance, and it testifies of the Spirit of Wisdom working within us. It will motivate us to move forward in our relationship with God in life.
As leaders in the body of Christ, we must set an example, inspire, and lead those in our sphere of influence to a lifestyle of being obedient to the faith. This is not obedience to a belief system; it is an obedient response to the personal voice of God within our hearts. Faith toward God, as the Being who loves us and has our best interests in mind, will be evident through actions on our part that create a path to the future in all things. Faith works through love; therefore, where there is no revelation of love, there can be no faith. Since faith works through love, faith is towards a person, not merely a promise (Gal. 5:6).
Faith is a testimony of true wisdom. That wisdom is the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of men. It’s not a wisdom based upon experiences in our lives, but wisdom inspired by God’s voice to our hearts. If experience plays into it, it’s an experience of relationship. It’s an experience of growing love. It’s a wisdom of changing character, nature, way, power, and authority. It’s a wisdom that has many unknown realities in its reception and thus it requires a constant trust and intimate connection with God in our hearts. Because of this, it’s a wisdom that is constantly willing to yield. It’s a wisdom that inspires a continual teachability within. It’s a wisdom that empowers us to change, grow, and mature in our relationship with God. It empowers our love for God and that love is demonstrated with continued acts of faith. It’s a wisdom of the tree of life and not a wisdom of the knowledge of good and evil.
God’s way is faith because God’s way is relationship—Spirit to spirit. Faith is the evidence of hearing God speak to our hearts. It results in actions on our part, but those actions are inspired by a revelation of God’s love for us. As leaders, we don’t lead people for works of ministry or service. We lead people to demonstrate works inspired by faith. We know that God loves us and thus we hear Him in our hearts. We respond with actions of love towards Him and towards who and what He loves. It’s by the power of God’s grace that we are granted a right relationship with God in faith. We hear Him and we respond to His voice of love with the actions of our lives. The life that we live we live by faith towards Him in all things. It’s a testimony of grace and the power of God at work in our lives. It’s not a discipline of the flesh or a mere obedience to a ‘what to do’ code.
Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
God is at work in our hearts through His internal, eternal kingdom of life and peace in Christ. We are born to be loved by Him and when we receive a revelation of His love for us, we cannot help but love Him and all that He loves. We are being transformed from the kingdoms of self to the kingdom of our Lord and Christ by His anointing within our hearts.
Faith without works is dead. The evidence of faith is seen in the outward actions of our lives. Those actions are not efforts to attain to faith. The are the fruit of faith from within. Faith is a matter of the heart, and true works are works that are motivated by the heart. They are works that are motivated by God’s love for us and our love for Him. Faith is the testimony of being loved by God and loving Him. In this, we love others not just with the words of our lips but the actions of our lives.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
