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This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to teach on “Minimizing Your Humanity and Maximizing Your Divinity.” For the last three messages we have been looking at levels of faith. I started out focusing on the lowest form of faith: faith in God’s works. We then learned about faith in God’s written and spoken Words. I even shared a little about what I consider to be the highest form of faith: Faith in God Himself. I pray you have enjoyed the teaching thus far. Before we move on and get back to John 14, I feel led to address “Faith in God” one last time.
When God allows you to see something and what you see causes you to activate and stretch your faith, that is good. It is also good when you read the Word of God and you have faith in what you read. It is even better when you hear from God and you have faith in what He is saying to you in a certain situation. But when you develop a true faith in God — in the person of God Himself and in His commitment to you and to the purpose He placed in You before the foundations of the world — you are then equipped to live an unyielding life of faith, because your faith will not be established on you or your power. At this level you appreciate what God allows you to see, read and hear, but even when you don’t have any of those, you live every day with a settled confidence. Bigger than having faith in His works or His written or spoken Word, when you develop an intimate relationship with the Father, you have can have a faith that is established solely upon your knowledge God’s goodness, favor and commitment towards you. When you live this way, it is hard for the devil to get you over into fear, doubt or unbelief.
Faith in God is all about Confidence in Him:
(1 John 5:14,15 AMP) And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
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Our Confidence is NOT in us.
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When we have faith in God and we ask Him for something we believe He wants us to have, our Confidence is IN HIM that He will give it to us.
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Faith is about being sure and certain.
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What to ask FOR must be birthed out of our relationship with the Father.
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When we have a relationship with the Father, He actually tells us what to ask for.
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The Father tells us what He wants to do in our lives.
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He tells us what to pray for.
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He tells us what to stand in faith for.
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He then tell us to believe that we have it, because He will see to it that it comes to pass.
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And while we wait to see in our hands, what we have already received in our hearts, our confidence is in God; and not in us, our ability to earn it, or our capacity to deserve it.
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God destined for us to have it by grace, He then reveals it to us, and we ask for it in faith; trusting in Him to bring to pass His perfect will for our lives.
(Phil 1:6 MSG) There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
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God started the work and He is committed to finishing it.
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He will never give up on you!
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He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Closing Confession: Father, the more I die to self, the more I minimize the flaws of my humanity, the more I factor out my limitations, and the more I focus on You, Your power, Your commitment to me, and Your grace, the more I am able to develop my faith in You! My faith is growing because I am shifting my focus from me to You. My faith is getting stronger because it is no longer contingent upon me being perfect, or doing everything right, or qualifying for Your blessing. The message of Your undeserved graced is liberating me. I feel the pressure fall off of me as I embrace Your amazing grace. I now know that You are more committed to me than I could ever be to You. I now know that You made plans for me before the foundations of the world. I now know that I am not a mistake and that I am here for Your divine purpose. I now know that You are committed to finishing what You have started in my life. So Father, as You lead me, I follow. As You give me the words, I speak them. As You lead me to perform works, I do them. Not by my power, but by Your grace. And as You lead me to ask for things, I ask for them in faith, with my faith firmly rooted and grounded in You and Your grace towards me. Since my faith is IN You and not in me, my faith is strong and unshakable. From now on my confession is: “I live by faith and my faith is in God! He tells me what to do, He starts the work, and He is committed to finishing everything He starts in my life!” I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
