July 1, 2022 LIVING BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT
2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Romans 1:17, 5:1 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
1 Timothy 6:12a “Fight the good fight of faith.”
There is a tendency for us to live by what we see, by logic, and by human understanding. However, one of the core teachings of the gospel is that of living by faith; not blind faith, or faith in our own ability, but faith in God and all that He has said. This is not to say there is no place for logic or reasoning, but it is saying that our faith in God is to be the guiding principle we live by; if logic contradicts our faith in God, then we are to live by faith. Faith is not something we muster up; Romans 10:17 tells us “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” For many, faith is a very broad term and the word faith is used lightly; but true faith in God is specific and well defined. One gains faith as he hears and receives as true the words of Christ. The obvious point is that for our faith in God to be strong, we must be hearing and or reading the words of Christ and embracing all that He has said. The words Jesus spoke are not up for debate; His words are unalterable and they stand forever. In this world in which we live, there are many voices and many forces calling us to live according to our own dictates or according to what others say. Our battle is to stand firm in our faith. There is a warning for us; we cannot take pride in our faith as our faith is not something we produce; faith is a gift from God as we see in Ephesians 2:8. In the Hebrews verse above, we are told that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” If we are focusing on what we ‘see,’ then we will find many things to discourage us, frustrate us, and defeat us. Faith looks beyond what we see; faith believes that God is at work in our present circumstances. And we can be assured that our hope in Christ and the plans He has will come to pass. Faith sees beyond; faith gives us peace in the present; faith overcomes fear, doubts, discouragement, confusion, and hopelessness. Living by faith does not happen automatically; we must “fight the good fight of faith;” we must exercise our faith. Let us ask God to cause us to be people who live by faith in Him, and not by sight.
Matthew 7:24-26 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the flood came, and the wind blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
Blessings,
Buddy
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