Monday 14 March 2011

Faith Series : Hindrances to our faith : Part Four

"For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love" (Amplified Bible, Galatians 5:6).


Our faith is a gift that the Lord has given to us through Christ and not through our performance. We can't earn faith through the things we do, but like everything else the Lord has given to us, have to believe, receive and put our trust in what He has accomplished and given to us through the cross of Jesus. Faith has been given to us, but is hindered through unbelief, fear and also as we can see through the verse just mentioned, a failure to walk in the love of God. As we walk in love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ and also the people that we come in contact with, our faith is activated, energized and expressed through the love that God has placed within us. As we walk in love, our faith in God, in His promises begin to manifest in a real and tangible way. Our faith begins to work. 


What is love? 1 Corinthians (13) is the great love chapter and tells us exactly what love is and I would encourage you to read this chapter over and over again, as it's an expression of how God's love is towards us. Romans (8:38-39) says that nothing can seperate us from the love of God. What we do or don't do, cannot change God's love towards us, there's nothing that we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do, to make Him love us less. His love for us is unconditional, consistant and not based on our performance. Reading the bible, praying, going to church and doing good deeds are all good things, that we as believers should all be doing, but not to change God and make Him love us more. We should be doing these things, so that we will be changed and so that we will love Him more. Love is a manifestation of God's character, nature and all that God is. The bible says that God is Love and when we begin to love one another with the love of God, God's character, nature and pressence is released into this world and our faith becomes more effective and produces results.


We can love like God, for the bible says in Romans (5:5), that the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Glory to God, we have God's love within us! We have the same capacity and potential to realease and manifest the love of God, wherever we are and whoever we're with. As we choose to beleive that we have God's love in us and choose to love those around us, in ways that the Holy Spirit leads us to, we will see our faith work and produce life and hope. We may not feel like loving those around us, but make a descion today to love those who may have hurt you in the past. You may be holding unforgivness towards them, but choose to release the love God into their lives. You can make a difference in people's lives, through the power of love.

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