My Identity in Christ part 4: The Power of Faith in Truth.

Having Faith is key to living the Christian life. the author of Hebrews said

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 – NLT

three keys to living by faith

1. Faith needs an object. You can’t simply place your faith in faith– If you think about it. everyone lives by faith. the relationships we have by faith we put in people. The cars we drive on the road we have faith will get us to work. but when people fail us or our cars fail us. it’s hard to trust or not wonder what’s going to happen next. we. The most trusted faith object is that laws of nature. we know that gravity will work and that the sun will shine everyday. its pretty reliable. But the ultimate faith object is not the sun but the Son of God. God does not change. in fact Hebrews tell us.

• (8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
  Hebrews 13:8 – NLT
• God is immutable. his character is always the same. his love for you is constant.
• this is why we can place our trust in him

2. How much you faith you have depends on how well you know the object of your faith

• often when people are disappointed and believe God has failed them it has do do with a lack of knowledge about God and his ways.
• they expect a certain response or answer to prayer and when it doesn’t come in the form they desire they are angry.
• if you want your faith in God to increase you must increase your knowledge of God.
• if you have little knowledge of God and his Word your faith will remain small. If you have great knowledge about God and his word there is potential to have great faith.
• Faith in God is not about getting emotionally pumped up and forcing yourself to believe.
• that leads to presumption not Faith
• the only way to increase our faith is to increase our knowledge of God.
• (17) So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
  Romans 10:17 – NLT

3. Faith is an action.

• I remember when /tammy and I were dating and we went with the boys to Kapena falls and my son dylan taunting me common pastor dave don’t you trust God or something like that. my first time ever diving of a 35 ft cliff. 
• to grow in faith we need act on what we believe to be true according to God’s Word.
• if you have faith that you can do all things in Christ who gives you strength and go get that job that you want, start that band, take on that new ministry, start that new business. You prayed you planned only one thing remains. to just do it.

4. Distortions of Faith–

• When speaking about having faith in God and his Word we need to be aware of those who have let new age or metaphysical teaching into the church. were people believe that they can change reality with their minds. or manipulate God into doing what they want.
• there is nothing wrong with being positive but the idea if you claim or declare something to be true that’s not already to true in God’s Word is stepping outside the bounds of Faith.

5. Living by Faith in Our identity in Christ

• consider the following verses. these are a small sample of truths about we who are in Christ.
  • (13) For I can do everything through Christ,  who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13 – NLT
  • (19) And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
    Philippians 4:19 – NLT
  • (7) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
    2 Timothy 1:7 – NLT

6.What happens when I stumble in my Walk of Faith?

• we aren’t’ perfect. even the most mature saint will struggle at times. they key is that we don’t fall into a defeated attitude and stay there thinking God is disappointed with us or that he is done with us. This is why Jesus spoke in the gospel of John about leaving the 99 sheep to find the one that was lost and why he told the parable of the prodigal son who left his father and wasted his inheritance on wild living yet the father received him back. Whenever you struggle remember the one constant

7. God’s love for you is not based on your actions but his character

• this is not a license to just do whatever we want because if we stray to far. God does discipline those he loves but i think the bigger problem is dealing with the lies of our adversary.
  • (1) My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (2) He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
    1 John 2:1-2 – NLT
  • that means Jesus in in heaven before the Father representing us. what does that mean? Regardless of our performance God continues to love us. when we are secure in his love we will go about doing his will