Today we continue our series entitled, “Grace and Truth” by continuing to look at by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Our main scriptures are John 1:14 & 17. Let’s look at them again.
(John 1:14 NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 NIV)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
We have studied Galatins chapters 3, 4 and some of 5. For the last few messages we have been looking at Galatians 5:6. Let’s go back to it today.
(Galatians 5:6 KJV)
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things:
1. Faith works by love! Faith only works when you are convinced that God loves you and that He wants to use you for His glory, because of His grace, and not your performance. Because invariably your performance will not be good enough to measure up to the magnitude of the assignment wherewith you have been called. God calls you to do things that exceed your education and experience. He calls you to do things that far exceed your wildest dreams. So if you are not convinced that He is only calling you to do it because He loves you, and NOT your performance, you will never build up the faith required to believe God to actually do, THROUGH YOU, what He revealed. Faith works by love! Your faith will be strong when you are convinced that God ONLY wants to do what He wants to do in/with/through your life because He loves you! Because He is good, not because you are!
2. When God reveals His plans to you they will most certainly exceed your plans, but regardless of how big or good they are, most humans still have an issue with it, because they are wed to the plans they came up with before God revealed His. This then puts us in a situation where we have to choose. We can choose God’s plans, by faith, without a clue as to HOW they will come to pass. Or we can choose to continue down the path we were already on, chasing our dreams and desires, based on the plans we came up with. God wants you to choose His plans over yours, even though you don’t have all the details. This is hard. This requires faith. And this is why faith only works by love. You will NEVER WILLINGLY choose God’s plans over you own unless you are convinced that He loves you and that He will never hurt you. Faith requires trust. For you to give up your will for God’s will you have to trust God and you won’t trust Him with your whole heart unless you are convinced that He loves you!
3. Jesus was so convinced that the Father loved Him, that He trusted the Father enough to say, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” With those words, Jesus died to self in His heart, to the point where He willingly accepted the cross for us, trusting the Father’s plan, even though it caused Him much pain. Do you trust God enough to put His will above your own? Are you so convinced of God’s love for you that you willingly accept His will and pursue it by faith, even when it goes against what you wanted to do? And even when it may cause you pain? That, my friend, is living by faith.
4. Living by faith is about surrender and submission. Is your heart submitted to God? If it is, you are poised to accept what He wants to do in/with/through you, by His grace, and you provide the faith to bring it to pass in the earth. Your faith accesses God’s grace. That’s how it works.
5. When you are convinced God wants to do what He wants to do in your life because He loves you, you are able to provide the faith that accesses His grace. Not only do you provide the faith to believe God’s will in the moment, but you also provide the faith to walk it out daily, no matter how long it takes, until you see (IN YOUR HANDS) what you believed (IN YOUR HEART).
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am Your child. I am an Your heir. I am a joint-heir with Jesus Himself. My name is listed on the will right next to Jesus’. You love me with the same love you loved Jesus with. Empowered by this love, I live my life by faith in You! My faith is rooted and grounded in the fact that You love me. When I am facing whatever I am facing, I know You want to help me through it, to give me the victory, because You love me. Therefore I exercise faith for the victory based on Your love. I live by faith and my faith is fueled by Your love for me. My faith works because I know You love me with an everlasting love. I am the just. I live by faith. My faith accesses Your grace and I become the man/woman I was born to be! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
