Grace and Truth (Part 45): The Fruit of God’s Spirit (Faith Refresher cont.)

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 New International Version)

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 New International Version)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In this series we studied Galatians 3, 4, and 5.  We finally got to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are going through all the fruit of the Spirit.  Today we will deal with “faith that prevails”.  

(Galatians 5:22,23 The Passion Translation)  

But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:

joy that overflows,

peace that subdues,

patience that endures,

kindness in action,

a life full of virtue,

faith that prevails,

gentleness of heart, and

strength of spirit.

Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.

So what does this mean for you today?  I will close out the week with a few golden nuggets related to something that is key to understanding faith.  This is a key: God operates OUTSIDE of time and we do not.

1.  One of the critical concepts I believe we, as God’s children, must understand is the fact that God operates OUTSIDE of time and we do not.  God is eternal. One day we will be eternal as well. For now, while we live in the earth, we are finite and limited. We operate within the continuum of time.  God can operate in time, but He is not confined by it. He is outside of time. God’s natural realm is eternity. So when He speaks to us, He speaks from a position a call “the ETERNAL NOW.”  Let me explain.  When God looks at us He sees the entire span of our lives.  He sees what is, what was, and what has yet to be (see Ecc 3:15).  When He looks at us, He sees where we are, what His plans are for our future, and He even sees our children and grandchildren (the 2nd and 3rd generation).  So when God speaks, He never speaks in future tense.  For God everything is always NOW.   What is NOW to God is future to us.  When God says it, He speaks to us like it is already done.  Because for Him it is. But for us, who live in time, it may not happen for days, weeks, months or years.  

All faith is is basically the ability to believe what God revealed and to them come back from that experience influenced by it.  Faith is about perceiving and believing what God revealed and then about performing actions that align with what God said so God’s promises can come to pass in the earth.  When you live by faith you are living based on a different reality.  When you truly live by faith you are not moved by what you see down here, in this world.  You are living by what God said. This is why a true believer can receive a negative doctor’s report, a negative financial statement, or be in the middle of a troubling situation and not be troubled by it.  Why?  It is because they have received a different report from God and the report from God is more real to them than the report they received in this world.  

2.  When you understand the fact that God speaks to you from the position of the ETERNAL NOW and He is incapable of lying (Titus 1:2), you quickly realize that God said what He said because in His realm (eternity) whatever He promised is actually ALREADY DONE!  This is why God spoke to Abram in past tense, calling him the father of many nations, BEFORE he had any children with Sarai.  We serve a God who speaks BEFOREHAND in PAST TENSE.  Because for Him, it’s already done, even though for us it may not happen for some time.  Living by faith means the words you SAY, the actions you PERFORM, and the seeds you SOW, are all based on what God revealed.  Even when what God revealed is completely against everything you see around you.  You cannot be moved by what you see. You can only be moved by what God said!

3.  Jesus lived by faith.  This means He lived by every Word the Father revealed.  He only said what He heard the Father say. He only did what He saw (by revelation) the Father do.  Jesus was willing to be in-synch with heaven, even if it meant He seemed out-of-synch with the people down here, in this world.  We must be willing to live the same way. Jesus lived based on what the Father was saying, through the Holy Spirit, even when it was completely against everything that was going on around Him.  Jesus was not moved by what He saw in the natural. Jesus was only moved by what the Father revealed in the Spirit. Even if it took time for the revelation to manifest. 

I will give you an example.  Since Jesus only said what He heard the Father say, we know He was led of the Father to curse a tree one time.  In Mark 11 Jesus was leaving Bethany on His way to Jerusalem. This particular morning Jesus got up with a purpose.  His assignment for the day was to kick the money changers out of the temple area. Jesus received His assignment from the Father, through the Holy Spirit, and He set out to Jersalum early in the morning.  He left so early that He did not eat breakfast. On the way He saw a fig tree. He went to the tree to see if it had any figs on it. The tree had no figs. In the Spirit He saw the tree dried up from the roots.  And since faith is something you SAY based on what God revealed, Jesus said, “No man will never eat fruit from you again.”  Although Jesus said it with authority and definitely, nothing happened immediately.  It did not matter to Jesus because faith is not moved by what you see.  In eternity the tree was already dead.  In the earth it was going to take some time.  The next morning Jesus and His disciples walked past the same tree.  This time is was dead; dried up from the roots. Peter remembered what Jesus said the previous day and screamed, “Master, look!  Yesterday you told that fig tree to die.  Now it is dry and dead!”  Jesus answered, “Have faith in God!”  When you live by faith you live by what God is saying, not by what you are seeing!

4.  In closing, we are called to live by what God HAS SAID in His Word and IS SAYING by His Spirit.  We must believe God, even when all the sense-realm evidence around us is telling us the contrary.  We are not called to live by SIGHT (what we see in the natural). We are called to live by faith (what we see in the spirit).  We live by what God said and we are not moved by what we see.  

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith: 

Father, I am a believer and not a doubter.  I walk by faith and not by sight. Like Jesus, I only say what I hear You say.  I only do what You reveal to me that You want done. I am not living by the same reality as the people in this world.  I live by faith. This means that I live by Your reality, even when the earth has not caught up yet. I live by every Word You speak to me, even when what I see down here, in this world, is telling me something different.  I am not moved by what I see. I am only moved by what You say. I live in-synch with heaven, even if it means that I seem out-of-synch with what is going on in this world. I live by faith, led of Your Spirit in all things, even at the risk of looking foolish!  You are in eternity. I am in time. It is only a matter of time before I see, in my hands, what You revealed, in my heart. I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!