I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:10 (portion)
The only pure life is the life yielded to the Spirit.
If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith in God is a real, active, and living thing. God is alive, and powerful. Faith sees Him, and the word of His power overcomes what cannot be otherwise overcome, and carries a person with it through otherwise impossible situations.
It was by faith in God that David conquered the giant, and it was by faith in God that Jonathan, his friend, along with his armor bearer, single-handedly took on an entire Philistine garrison. It was by faith that overcame their weaknesses and came to be firmly established in the land.
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.
1 Peter 1:22
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5). This is what we are aiming for.
We are called to love. The verse at the beginning indicates our problem. We cannot love without God (1 John 4:7). Why? Because our souls are corrupt without Christ.
We are called to love from a pure heart, because it is only out of pure, sincere motives, that we can truly open up and be open to others, without being hurt. It is in the place of His perfect love, with no fear, that we are able to truly be brothers. This is the mark of the authentic gospel.
And, this cannot happen without sincere, gospel faith. It simply can’t. When you walk by the Spirit you do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16). It is by faith that we come to know and believe in God’s great love for us (1 John 4:16). It is in the secret place of Him that we are able to live.
One word from God’s lips is worth more than a thousand others.
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, enlightening the eyes.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the honey-comb.
Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward.
Psalm 19:7-11
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple
Luke 14:26
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Heaven and Earth will pass away before any one of His words passes away. Many people would like to interpret this passage into obscurity, equating it with similar, albeit, related scriptures, such as this one.
I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
John 3:11
One of the tenets of the Gospel is faith. This can mean many things to some people, but a Bible definition goes something like this: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). While many people claim to have a “faith”, their claims prove to be nothing at all. They are houses built upon sand (or worse), and they have no ability to stand up for the Truth.
There is only one way to walk consistently in the power of God, and that is focus. What a man beholds, he sees that thing, and it is magnified in his imagination.
If a man set gaze upon it, he can possess it, though it is costly.
Consider the following:
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Jeremiah 31:33
We are under the New Covenant. We are not under the old, and we are not looking for another. Jesus died for us, not only for our actual sins committed, but to remove our sinful nature. As the prophet writes, to remove the heart of stone, and replace it with a heart of flesh.
What is one of the simplest ways to teach faith? The Beatitudes.
Right here, the Teacher demonstrates one of the simplest ways. As small as it is, it can grow to be the largest of all “garden plants”.
Take any dire situation you have as a Christian. Take any lack, or any shortage, any place where your feel worn thin, and pressed hard. Everyone encounters these, and even Jesus said that we would experience storms, even when we were built upon the rock.
Most Happy are those who are poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 5:3
He who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought.
1 Corinthians 8:2 (paraphrase)
The most interesting thing about the gospel is that, you could have all the words right, you could say all the right things, have all the right demeanor and mannerism, you could know when to shout and how to dance, but you could be just as much of a devil as Judas was. That’s right. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.
You don’t have what it takes. You never have, and you never will. If you can do it, it isn’t God, and it needs to die.
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