8.54 Without faith it is impossible to please God!
The Bible declares, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). Today, Jesus has done everything on the cross. Our part is simply to believe. We don’t have to labor under the law anymore. When we believe, we honor Jesus, and it pleases God.
When people make a choice to continue laboring under law to earn why God has already given through Christ, it means that they doubt God, they doubt His unconditional love, they doubt His abundant grace, and they doubt the finished work on the cross. It also means that they trust in their own ability more than they trust Him. It saddens God; it does not please Him at all!
God wants us to trust Jesus completely. We are to believe 1) who we are in Christ, 2) what we have in Christ, and 3) what we can accomplish through Christ. Every day, we live on the basis of faith. We walk in our new identity in Christ - not of the old man. We draw on the provisions of God – not the limitations in the natural. We walk by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit – not in the efforts of the flesh.
Paul calls our Christian journey a fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12). We are to grow from faith to faith. There are many hindrances to faith. The key hindrance is trusting in self-performance under the law. Sometimes we may not even realize that we have slipped into that mode. After all, everything in the natural world is under the system of law. We are to grow in our dependence on Jesus – from faith to faith.
Another hindrance is to walk on the basis of the temporal things that we see, instead of depending on Jesus’ finished work – which is both invisible and eternal. As Christians, we are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). There is a spiritual battle within us. The natural mind looks at natural circumstances and responds with human effort, while the spirit-man looks at the promises of God and responds with faith. God is pleased when we live our lives by faith in Him, in spite of the circumstances.
Faith in God’s Word should determine our experience. Our experience should not determine our faith. Smith Wigglesworth often said, “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.” A believer who has faith in God’s Word is stable and not easily moved by circumstances. Through faith, he changes both his internal outlook and external circumstances.
Today, we can experience rest when we walk in faith. We do not try to earn what God has given us on the cross. We can only receive His grace by faith. We no longer walk by sight according to our circumstances. We walk by faith in His promises. When we walk by faith each day, we will experience His divine guidance and intervention in our lives. Circumstances will begin to change and mountains will be removed.
When people make a choice to continue laboring under law to earn why God has already given through Christ, it means that they doubt God, they doubt His unconditional love, they doubt His abundant grace, and they doubt the finished work on the cross. It also means that they trust in their own ability more than they trust Him. It saddens God; it does not please Him at all!
God wants us to trust Jesus completely. We are to believe 1) who we are in Christ, 2) what we have in Christ, and 3) what we can accomplish through Christ. Every day, we live on the basis of faith. We walk in our new identity in Christ - not of the old man. We draw on the provisions of God – not the limitations in the natural. We walk by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit – not in the efforts of the flesh.
Paul calls our Christian journey a fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12). We are to grow from faith to faith. There are many hindrances to faith. The key hindrance is trusting in self-performance under the law. Sometimes we may not even realize that we have slipped into that mode. After all, everything in the natural world is under the system of law. We are to grow in our dependence on Jesus – from faith to faith.
Another hindrance is to walk on the basis of the temporal things that we see, instead of depending on Jesus’ finished work – which is both invisible and eternal. As Christians, we are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). There is a spiritual battle within us. The natural mind looks at natural circumstances and responds with human effort, while the spirit-man looks at the promises of God and responds with faith. God is pleased when we live our lives by faith in Him, in spite of the circumstances.
Faith in God’s Word should determine our experience. Our experience should not determine our faith. Smith Wigglesworth often said, “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.” A believer who has faith in God’s Word is stable and not easily moved by circumstances. Through faith, he changes both his internal outlook and external circumstances.
Today, we can experience rest when we walk in faith. We do not try to earn what God has given us on the cross. We can only receive His grace by faith. We no longer walk by sight according to our circumstances. We walk by faith in His promises. When we walk by faith each day, we will experience His divine guidance and intervention in our lives. Circumstances will begin to change and mountains will be removed.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 10:06 PM
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