DAY 5: THE FAITH OF MAN AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD I
30 DAYS DEVOTIONALS WITH PREACHER SAM
THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY
SEPTEMBER 5, 2022.
TOPIC: THE FAITH OF MAN AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD I
BIBLE READING: ROMANS 4:13-25
VERSE FOR MEDITATION: HEBREWS 11:6 NKJV
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The promises of God are made effective through faith (Rom. 4:13 cf. Phm. 1:6). Abraham obtained the promise through faith and it was accounted to him for righteousness. We won’t receive God’s promises if we lack faith in our lives, for He is a rewarder of those with faith.
There is a difference between faith, trust and belief. Belief is a mental acceptance of a claim as truth regardless of supporting or contrary empirical evidence. In James 2:19, it says, “… demons believe [God] and tremble.”
Trust is a confidence that one has on some person. But faith goes beyond belief and trust; if you only believe that there is one God, demons do and they tremble, there must be an action (Jam. 2:19, 20). The Bible says, “By faith Abraham obeyed…” (Heb. 11:8).
I may trust you, but that doesn’t mean I have faith in you. For example, Samuel trusts James that he could keep his money, but he so much have faith in John that he gave him his money to keep. Faith is an act!
For the illustration above, it means you can have faith in some persons or things. But Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” (Mk. 11:22). And from personal study, I discovered that their faith in God can be expressed in two ways; the faith toward God (Heb. 6:1), and the faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20).
The faith toward God is the faith that made us justified (Rom. 5:1). For we are saved by grace through this faith that we have toward God (Eph. 2:8).
But the faith in the Son of God is the faith that we must live by, for the just shall live by faith (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Just as how animals live by oxygen to survive, we ought to live by faith in Jesus Christ to please God (Heb. 11:6), and this faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). That was what Jesus Christ meant when He said, “… Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4). In other words, our physical food cannot sustain our survival, we also need the proceeding words of God- that’s faith.
Many believers only have the faith toward God, but have not had the faith in the Son of God. At best, they’ve trusted God that He could give them the promises, but have not had faith in Him enough to receive those promises. Faith is an act! And it comes by hearing the word of God! Have you acted upon His word? Have you obeyed His instructions in order to see the promises manifested?
PRAYER:
DEAR FATHER, I AM SORRY FOR MY FAITHLESSNESS AND DISOBEDIENCE TOWARDS YOUR WORD. PLEASE HAVE MERCY. AMEN!
DECLARATION:
I HAVE THE FAITH TO RECEIVE; I WALK BY FAITH.
JOURNEY THROUGH THE CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST:
JOHN 2-5
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