We are to enter into an ever-expanding lifestyle of faith.
We thank the Lord for all that He is providing of Himself to us. That He doesn’t just give us things, He always give us Himself. Christ being birthed in us is the hope of glory. Christ in us, glorifying us.
The Lord put us into Christ, that he might penetrate us. The father putting us in Christ is our starting point. Christ in us is our finishing point. The lord gives us all the benefits of being in Jesus, while being in the process of being transformed to be like Him.
We ask through the increase of your words in our hearts, that you would bring us into a greater sense of celebration with you for all that you are and all that you do inside of us.
Gen 1:26 says that we were made in God’s image. But everyone has continually fallen from that image into themselves.
That is why the part of us that connects to God must be quickened through the new birth of our spirit, and we must be put into Christ, so that through our union with Him, His image can grow in us so that we begin to partake of it and reflect it.
We behold that image, and it is transferred to us and transforms us. The habits of a life lived in separation from Him are displaced through the infilling of His Spirit in our hearts (thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and responses).
Everything that we are coming into as individuals, or as a company of people is because we are being made in the image of God. We have a close resemblance to someone majestic. We have the same character, attributes, and personality of that person; we are being made in His image. It may still be in seed form, but it is in us nonetheless, and we are learning how to walk in it.
God is making us like Him in regard to the whole area of faith, which is our journey. That we learn to believe as God believes.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to make us like Christ. This is why God has supplied key ministries in the body of Christ, to help us with that process.
Eph 4: 11And he gave (imparted by the Spirit, entrusted to their possession)some apostles ;and some prophets ; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 for( cause-from which something proceeds) the perfecting (completion of the process)of the saints, for( motion into) the work(performance, business, the thing wrought-created) of the ministry(service) , for(motion into) the edifying(building as a process, the act of building, spiritual advancement) of the body(an organized whole made up of parts) of Christ;13 Till(until) we all come in(motion into) the unity(oneness) of the faith, and of the knowledge(clear and exact knowledge-insight obtain through intimacy) of the Son of God , unto(motion into) a perfect(fully completed growth, having reached its end, moral-spiritual standards, spiritual development, completeness-full age) man, unto the measure (a measure of capacity)of the stature(maturity) of the fullness(full measure, completeness, all His virtues and excellencies) of Christ;14 that we henceforth be no more children(beginners), tossed to and fro (to fluctuate, a wave moving us), and carried about(driven about) with every wind of doctrine(thing taught), by the sleight(trickery, fraud, deceit) of men, and cunning craftiness(any means necessary to reach an end), whereby(motion towards) they lie in wait(method) to deceive;( active deceit, a wandering out of the right way)15 But speaking the truth(presenting an action as the truth-what we see the father do we do, to act genuinely-the revelation of what God would do, to express the reality of love) in love, may grow up(momentary-condition, to increase, God causing the growth, capacity enlarged) into(motion into) him in all things(totality-whole), which is the head, even Christ;16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together(together-to join-word) and compacted (together-to uplift, exalt, manifest perfection)by that which every joint(part of, contact) supplieth(aid-help), according to the effectual working(active exhibition, God at work in the believer) in the measure(portion allotted) of every part(portion-share), making(continued action, create) increase (God causing the growth)of the body unto(motion into) the edifying( the act of building, spiritual profit, advancement) of itself in(intimate union) love.(seeing the need and meeting it)
We are learning how to have knowledge-when the bible talks about knowledge; it is talking about knowledge with experience. It is talking about having an experience about what we get to know. Knowledge without experience is not worth anything.
We are to have knowledge with experience of the son of God, so that we can come to maturity so that we begin to understand and walk in the measure of the stature of Christ’s fullness.
We need to get an idea of what does that fullness look like for me. It is a question that all of us must ask at some point. Whether we are in ministry or not it is a lifestyle question. What does the fullness of Christ mean to me in my life and in my circumstances?
If we are going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we are going to have to learn to think in line with that fullness. We are learning to grow up in all aspects into Jesus. We are being conformed to His image, as he believes so do we, as He sees things so do we. As He speaks so do we. As He thinks so do we. As He acts so do we, as He is, so are we in this world. Our journey is into His image. A believer believes like God believes, because he has God’s faith.
FAITH IS RELATIONAL
Faith is relational. It is a conviction regarding God’s nature and character. There are things we get to know about who God is and what He is like. He does not lie, we have a conviction that God only tells the truth, so all we have to have is His word. He is righteous; He can only do what is right for us. God can only do right by me. He loves us, He is our keeper. All his promises are true. He is faithful; He keeps His word to us.
Faith requires a firm belief in God’s nature. Part of our journey is that the Holy Spirit is going to bring us face to face with the nature of God for us. We get to stand in, we get to prove what is true, this is what God is like for me all the time. Our testimony is actually part of our faith; it is part of our faith walk.
Our testimony is not what we are like before we got saved; it is what God is like for us now all the time. This is the area therefore of absolute reliance upon His dependability.
When we know who God is for us, when we know His personality and His character towards us as an individual, we are able to approach Him in faith and with conviction. Lord, I know this is what you are like, and I know this is what you are teaching me right now, I know this is what you are showing me right now about yourself.
The beauty of God is that when He shows us something new about Himself, He gives us all the benefits of that straight away, even if we mess up on the learning. That is grace.
As soon as God gives us a revelation of Himself, all the benefits of that revelation are ours even if it takes us three months to learn it. Even if we don’t learn it very well. He still includes us in the benefits of it.
He doesn’t say when you get this, this will be yours. He says while you are learning this all of this is yours. We may fluctuate but He never changes. His reliability inspires our dependability.
As we walk with Him, we learn how to develop relationship. We learn how to think, see. How He likes to think, how He sees things, how He likes to act, and we partner with the ways of God. He is a rewarder of those who look for Him in this life.
We are looking for God in this life of ours. We are looking for God, day to day. We are looking for God in the situations that we will have to go through. We are looking for God in the situations that we are in right now. We are looking for God and He is good. We are looking for someone who’s name is actually wonderful. When we are seeking the Lord, we are looking for somebody wonderful to show up. We are looking for somebody wonderful that we can put all of our faith and trust in.
If we want to walk in faith we must work on our convictions about God, who He is for us. What are the things that we are utterly convinced about Jesus, this is where our faith begins, this is where it rests. Our convictions must carry a boldness in our approach to Him. We can draw near the throne with confidence because we know that we are going to receive mercy and grace when we most need it. So, we have a conviction which enables us to approach God. there is a relationship with God that is a part of every single faith adventure. There is no faith issue that does not revolve around us getting to know God better. Faith is always about a relationship. We grow in faith by growing in relationship with God in the situation that we are in.
FAITH IS A RELATIONAL ISSUE
Every faith issue is about each one of us growing and developing in our knowledge of God, in our experience of God in the situation we are in, in our trust in God now, in our fellowship with the father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
Everything is a relational issue; faith is a relational issue. When we are in a situation and we are learning how to trust God, we are developing our relationship with God in the situation that we are in.
Faith develops as our relationship develops. So, when we trust God one of the things that happens because we trust God is that we don’t worry.
Trust and worry cannot inhabit the same space at the same time, one of them has to go and we get to choose. And we are choosing on the basis of who God is for us.
Because the Lord is trustworthy, we can put worry aside. Because He is always true to His word, we don’t have to be anxious in these circumstances. Faith is relational.
And if we work faith into our relationship, we are always going to have it. The problem with Christians is that they treat faith like an event, that we believe God for something, and in so doing we are separating it from Him.
We always believe God for something, but we do not just believe God for an event. We believe God for our life and our lifestyle, so what we want in our relationship with him is faith to be relational.
In every situation that we are in we are learning something more about who God is. Faith is so much easier if you express it through our relationship with Him and not through an event.
Faith comes from the inner man of the spirit where God lives on the inside of us. He lives in the hidden person of the heart, the secret place, where the Holy Spirit works so that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened so that we would know several things about God.
We have the same spirit of faith in us as Jesus did in Him because the same Holy Spirit lives in us- the Spirit of faith. So, as He lives with us, then His faith joins with ours. Faith is a gift of God, from God for God, because we please Him by believing Him. Faith is the product of a spirit filled lifestyle coming from the inner man of the spirit.
OUR PROBLEM IS NOT FAITH, BUT HEARING GOD
The evidence that we are alive is that we breathe. When we are dead, they normally say well he is not breathing, that is the evidence of being dead. We cannot be alive and not breathe, and we cannot be in Christ and not believe.
It doesn’t make any sense to be in Jesus and to have misplaced our faith. That is not possible, what we have misplaced is our relationship somewhere along the line.
Faith is not the issue; the issue is our relationship with God. If we are in relationship with God, we are in faith. We cannot be in Christ and have misplaced our faith. Faith is the evidence that we have a relationship with God. When we are in relationship it is easy to believe because God is a believer, and we have His nature.
Our problem is not faith, it is hearing God. Hath God said! IT IS ALWAYS A WAR OVER THE WORD. Once we hear God faith has come, then it has to work, and it works by love. If our faith is not working, it is because we don’t accept His love, something is blocking it from being shed abroad in our heart. The opposite of love is selfishness. When we are being selfish our faith is not working.
We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him. We have received the Spirit of God, who is a spirit of faith, who comes daily with a measure of His own faith to show us how to believe as a normal part of living.
The Holy Spirit shows us things to come, which is faith coming. Faith is not an event; it is God showing us events. Believing is like breathing, faith must come into our spirit and flow out of our spirit. It is God opening our eyes to see and our ears to hear.
There is no special faith, just powerful ordinary believing. There is a gift of faith, where God allows us to be in situations that are larger than our current experience of Him. God loves those moments, to thrust us into an experience that is bigger than what we know of God, and to get us across that divide He must give us a gift of faith.
Everyone could and should have a gift of faith experience at least once. It is where the Spirit of God comes upon us in such a degree that we are changed for that moment as He possesses us. We are so filled with His spirit that He takes over us. It will kill panic stone dead.
We cannot separate faith from God; Faith is part of God’s nature, so we should receive it in the same way that we receive love, joy and peace. It is part of His nature we should receive it in the same way.
Faith is always supernatural because it transcends natural logic and reasonableness. God puts faith in our heart not our head. This measure of faith that God has given us has a quantity and a quality attached to it.
God’s sense of measure is bigger than our sense of measure. God’s sense of measure looks a lot like fullness to us, but it is not, it is just the starting point. God cannot show us fullness right now we could not conceive of it. God must step by step teach us about His generosity, about how big it is, how huge it is.
We must learn it one step at a time. If we were dropped into the enormity of it, we would not know what to do, how to live in it. God’s measure is different than ours. Heaven’s way of giving is always about moving towards abundance.
OUR FAITH IS THE VICTORY
Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory, even our faith-1john 5; 4 we have an overcoming gene inside our spirit. It is in our DNA to be more than a conqueror. We must apply that thought to faith also, because when God puts us in situations that are bigger than us, that overcoming gene in us is going to have to kick in and our faith is going to want to go to that level.
It is important to have our convictions of God absolutely set in our mind for the season that we are in, and then realize that when God wants to take us into another season, the first thing He does is He is going to expand our thinking about who He is. He makes more promises to us about what he wants to be for us, so he reframes our life, season by season.
We start out with a 12-inch frame, then the Lord gives us another revelation of who He is, so He gives us a bigger picture and we end up with a bigger frame.
He is always reframing our experience, thinking and revelation of who He is. Every season we come into we must upgrade our language, so that it fits with our thinking and what we are seeing.
God is always reframing us. He says don’t say that about yourself. We are having revelations about God, but our thinking has not gone to the same dimension. We have a concept of the majesty of God, but we see ourselves as a grasshopper.
Whenever we get a revelation of God, our understanding of ourselves needs to be pushed out as well. We must start to see ourselves as the way that God see’s us. When God looks at us, He has perceptions of us and He has words around those perceptions. At some point in our relationship God will want to give us some kind of endearment (an expression of affection, especially a spoken one) in terms of how He sees us.
Daniel was a man greatly beloved. David was a man after God’s own heart. Caleb was a man of a different spirit. Abraham was the friend of God. What do these terms look like?
When God looks at us, He has compliments about us, that fit His perception of us right now. Faith must be relational. When God looks at us right now, He is seeing something that He gives us permission to see also.
And when we start to see that and our thinking starts to enlarge, and our heart starts to enlarge so that we can begin to take that on board as a confession. Our faith then rises to the confession, not just to our confession of God but also to the confession of ourselves.
We must grow to fit our identity. Our identity is how God see’s us. At some point we have to take this into our life, this is who I am. And I am learning to fit this picture of myself.
And every time God increases our revelation, He is going to reframe that self-perception that we have, and our faith will go to that dimension.