Have Faith In God

HAVE FAITH IN GOD!

By Rodney W. Francis

It is good for us to be reminded that faith is an essential part of the Christian life. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). The whole of Hebrews Chapter 11 is an insight into the impact of faith and what it can accomplish.

Faith is so essential that we need to be very clear in our hearts and minds as to how we get faith, and how we need to activate it to please God.
Faith is an action!

“Faith comes by hearing (“the sense of hearing, and also, the thing heard”), and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). That hearing is by listening to the Holy Spirit of Truth, and then learning to obey what He says or asks of us. Whatever He says to us is exactly right for us and enables us to rise up in faith to accomplish what God desires of us. Hearing is a present tense experience. God speaks in the now, and so we need to be listening to what He says to us. Once we hear what He is saying to us, we then have to act upon it to demonstrate to God that we believe what He is saying to us.

Faith is an action – it is obedience to what God says to us personally.

The word “faith” means: “faith, i.e. firm persuasion, the conviction which is based upon hearing, not upon sight, or knowledge; a firmly relying confidence in what we hear from God in His Word” – Bullinger’s). It is not presumption, or our trying to believe what we have read in the Bible or Christian literature, etc. It is personally hearing God speaking to us in the now ~ today!

What is He saying to you?
And how are you responding to His voice?
Our response determines whether or not we have that faith that pleases God.

We are living in times where we need to stand strong in the faith of Jesus Christ; where we need to be building up our faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. What God says is more truthful than anything that mankind can think up. When God speaks to us He is speaking Spirit to spirit. We need to know that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). That is why we Christians are so mis-understood by the people of the world. We have a knowledge and experience that they cannot comprehend until they are born-again by the Holy Spirit.

All the great men and women of the Bible that God used in mighty and amazing ways were men and women who first heard the voice of God and then obeyed what He asked of them.
What He spoke and asked of them gave them the revelation of God’s calling and purpose for their lives, and their response in obedience to what He spoke to them was that faith that pleased God.

These faith principles have not changed. They still apply today.

We have the responsibility to listen to God with a commitment to doing whatever He asks of us.
When we have that kind of obedient attitude, then we are going to be amazed at how God can use us to do things we have never done before, and how He can work in and through us in ways we have never experienced before. Praise the Lord!
God is looking for men and women of faith today that He can work through.
Are we available?

FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS!

Jesus taught us that there are no limits to what can be accomplished through faith in God. Consider these words He spoke: “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe (“be persuaded, to rely upon, to trust”) that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:22-24).

Jesus gives the illustration of removing a mountain. That shows us He can remove anything that is much bigger than us if we “have faith in God” and do not doubt. Nothing is too big for God to deal with when we activate that faith from listening to Him! Active faith is demonstrating to God that we believe Him more than any other voice, opinion or thought. Things happen in wonderful ways when we walk in the faith which Jesus is talking about. Hallelujah! We need to trust what He says enough to act upon it, and then see how God confirms His words with signs following.

Jesus also taught us: “If you abide (“to remain, abide, dwell; to wait for” – Bullinger’s) in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments (“charge”), you will abide in My love . . . these things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:7-11).

THE MONEY IN THE FISH’S MOUTH

In Matthew 17:24-27 we read of the act of faith that Peter had to do in order to get the money to pay the temple tax. Jesus told him to go fishing and that the first fish he caught he was to look inside its mouth and he would find the money sufficient to pay the tax. Such a happening took real faith on Peter’s part, but it happened because he believed what Jesus told him and went fishing. It is very likely that his natural mind would have been saying that that was a ridiculous thing to expect ~ to find money in a fish’s mouth, etc. But it happened because Peter was obedient to what Jesus said to him.

It reminds me of the very first time I went to Llanelli in Wales. I drove into a car park there and noticed a man standing at the end of the park. When I got out of the car that man walked up to me and said these words: “Excuse me, is your name Rodney Francis? He was a total stranger. That sure got my attention, and I replied, “Yes, who are you?” He said, “Let me explain: I am a Christian, and this morning when I was in prayer to God He gave me your name and told me you were coming to this car park today and I was to come and stand in the car park, and give you this envelope”. He handed me the envelope and walked away. I opened the envelope and inside was 200 British Pounds. These kind of experiences have happened for me, especially since God asked Jean and I to live totally by faith, and not to ask people to financially support us ~ and He would show us what He could do for us. We have lived this way for over 21 years and have been amazed at how God has supplied our needs in ways that never happened before when we had the ‘security’ of a Pastor’s salary. God is true to His word, and when we obey what He asks of us, we experience Him in ways that demonstrate the truth of His promises to us. Hallelujah!

Faith works!
The more we listen to God’s voice and obey what He asks of us, the more we will experience the supernatural of God in, to and through our lives.
Remember, it is faith that pleases God, and the more exercise faith, the more we will experience Who and what God is like.
He is the same today as He ever has been.

You can trust His promises to you. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and will respond to every act of faith that we do. What He has done for others, He can do for you. Trust Him, act your faith and watch what God can do for you. Hallelujah!

"The Gospel Faith Messenger" Ministry. PO Box 57, Paraparaumu 5254, New Zealand. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.