The Stimulus For Faith

You Have Faith

Someone might be going through this study series and saying, ‘Grace, I want to experience God, but I do not have faith for it, and even when I think I have faith, I don’t believe my faith is enough’.

Truth is; you have faith. If you confessed and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have faith. You were saved by grace through faith.

Saving faith is a gift from God that is received by hearing the Word….

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

Without faith, it is impossible for anyone to become saved.

“For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].” Romans 12:3 NKJV

We all became partakers of the nature of God at the new birth.

God is a God of faith, He operates by faith, He created the whole world through faith. That is why Galatians 5:22 can list faith as a fruit of the spirit. You cannot have a fruit without a seed. God imparted His nature/seed into our spirit at the new birth.

So at the new birth, everyone receives a measure of faith. What anyone does with this measure of faith is entirely up to them, however truth remains that this faith can be developed to a greater measure.

So faith is in you, in your spirit man.

The thing with faith though is that it doesn’t just happen, it doesn’t just start getting things done on it’s own, it has to be stimulated, aroused, awakened. Faith always works on a stimulus….

What Is A Stimulus?

A stimulus is….

“something that rouses or incites to activity” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). A stimulus is a thing or event that evokes a specific reaction or response.

The stimulus for faith is the Word of God.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 NKJV

“So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.”
Romans 10:17 ERV

Faith is not positive thinking

Positive thinking is an optimistic attitude of focusing on the good in a given situation. A positive thinker approaches good and bad situations in life with the expectation that things will go well. Positive thinking has been shown to impact both physical and mental wellbeing of individuals. For example, it can help with stress management. Other ways to manage stress include; to identify and possibly eliminate the stress object, take a walk, eat right, drink some more water, sleep some more, hang out with the kids, with friends or your spouse, watch a comedy or nice movie, visit amiable extended family members.

So ultimately positive thinking can help with improving health and wellbeing. But positive thinking is not faith. Positive thinking can potentially improve someone’s outcomes and experiences, faith reveals who someone already is.  Faith (based on the Word), shows you who you already are and encourages to take it.

Faith is not Common Sense

The dictionary definition of common sense means to have sound judgment, which is not necessarily based on specialized knowledge. A smart, level-headed person is expected to be able to understand and assess a situation rightly. So common sense is ordinary good sense or sound practical judgment. Having a good sense of judgement that is based on available facts or mere simple perception is great, but that not is faith.

Faith is based on the Word of God, it doesn’t happen by simply forcing oneself to think only on the good or by taking the seemingly right decision or making the right choice.

Faith is based on the Word of God.

Faith begins where the will of God is known. The Word of God is His will. So faith comes by knowing the Word of God.

Let’s see a few scriptures….

“For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:13‭-‬15 NKJV

What can we say about this passage of scripture?

1. For anyone to become saved, he/she must first be exposed to the Word of God. 2. There has to be a deliberate act to make the Word available to where it’s needed so faith can be stimulated.

There is no believing/faith without the Word.

Now see Romans 1:16-17….

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16‭-‬17 NKJV

One of the many things we see in Romans 1:16-17 is that the gospel of Christ is the power of God to save. The Word of God is God’s power to save and this happens when the Word is applied in faith.

How faith works…

Faith is: God said it, I believe it, therefore I say it and I receive it and I act like I have it.

In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus teaches on how faith works….

“So Jesus answered and said to them, “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 that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Mark 11:22‭-‬24 NKJV

…..says…..believes…..says…..believes….no doubting……believe. This is how faith works.

We become followers of Christ by faith (Romans 10:9-10), and we continue to live as Christ’s followers by faith.

You don’t really need to start off with a big or great faith to experience God and enjoy victory, faith grows, from little, to great, to exceedingly great. But you have to start from where you are. A faith as small as a mustard seed can get things done…..

“So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.“
Luke 17:6 NKJV

You have faith in you.

What do you believe? You can’t believe in the air, your believe must be based on something. Faith is based on the Word of God.

What are you believing God for? Have you found the scriptures to base your faith on?

You want to experience victory or success? Expose your spirit man to the Word of God; read it, meditate on it, confess it, listen to it, watch it,… until it becomes a revelation to you, then faith will spring up in the inside of you to act as you should…..in accordance with your believe, then you’ll have good success/victory.

Faith is the Believer’s way of life; …. remember that the just shall live by faith.

Thank you for joining me again.

The Bible describes Abraham as the Father of faith. Why so? Please join me next time as we consider another very interesting subtitle; The Faith of Abraham. See you soon.

Remember that you can access previous parts of this study as follows; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Characteristics of God Kind of Love. Parts 7 and 8:  Winning Through Love. Part 9: How to develop our love nature. Part 10: Giving Is Not (always) Love. Part 11:Victory Through Faith: Understanding Faith. Part 12: Victory Through Faith: The Righteousness of God.

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