"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6; KJV) The Greek word for faith is pistis which means trusting totally in God and all that he says. The Greek word for love is agape which refers to unselfish, unconditional, love that doesn’t look for any reward and in fact, tries to do everything it can for the object of that love.

Agape is the result of a decision. In other words, in the verse above, the apostle Paul was writing that we cannot expect our faith to work if we are not developing our love walk. A good way to check up on your love level is to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and see if there are any areas where you might be missing it.

Here is our quick summary: Love is never jealous but is patient and kind. Love doesn’t show off and is never rude, disrespectful or selfish. Love shuns evil but revels in the truth. Love doesn’t have a short fuse but believes the best of people, stands fast in trying situations, hoping and believing for God’s best for people and in all situations.  

Spending time studying the subject of love in God's word will also bring us more revelation on the subject and facilitate our faith.  But remember that after the study we must use our faith to demonstrate our love. Love must be put it into practice. If you are like us, I am sure you have lots of opportunities to do that every day.  

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye will have them."(Mark 11:24; KJV) So, what can we pray for in faith? Well, anything that is according to God's will (1 John 5:14-15) or anything in his word (the Bible).

So, what is faith? Faith is a strong trust, confidence and belief in God or more simply put: knowing that we know that we know that we know! This is not head or mind agreement with God's word but faith is of our spirit; knowing deep in our spirit that God's promises are: "yea, and in him A-men," for us (2 Cor 1:20).

We need the God kind of faith that: "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom 4:17). In other words, when we pray, our faith sees the answer and it is so real in our spirit that nothing can talk us out of it, even though we don't experience the answer to our prayer immediately in the natural, with our senses.

That kind of faith brings results in the natural. We stand patiently in faith (Heb 6:12), not wavering, just like Abraham, who held on for years waiting for God's promised son (Rom 4:20).

How often we want to get the answer by our own efforts, like Abraham and Sarah getting a son Ishmael by Sarah's maid (Gen 16). Paul criticized the Galatians for starting in faith, in the spirit, but trying to succeed in their Christian walk in their own efforts (Gal 3:1-3). There are no short cuts, we build our faith by time in God's word (Rom 10:17). Start using your faith at the level you are at, but work on building faith. Take the limits off God: "but with God all things are possible" (Matt 19:26).

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“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt 12:34). We know that what comes out of our mouths is what we believe and that our faith is strengthened by hearing the word: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17).

So, let’s build up our faith by hearing some words that God says about us. We are sons and daughters of God, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:14; 16-17). We are his (God’s) work of art (Eph 2:10). We are new creations (born again) in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus was triumphant over all the powers of darkness (Col 2: 15). In Christ we have the victory over those powers of darkness (1 Cor 15:57). We have been conveyed from the kingdom of darkness into God’s kingdom of light (Col 1:13) We sit in heavenly places with Jesus (Eph 2:6) Greater is he (the Holy Spirit) that is in us than he (satan) that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

These words were written to us, about us; my, how God loves us. Meditate on these words and speak them out, let them build up your faith.

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 Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 (KJV) are very familiar verses to many of us. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths".

The word "direct" (Hebrew, Yashar) means to make right, straight, and smooth.

So, if your path of life seems to be going a bit off course, God can straighten it out if you trust him. The meaning of the word acknowledge (Hebrew, Yada), in the present context, is to know our God closely or even intimately.

There is a similar verse in Psalm 37:5: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass". This verse reminds me of 1 Peter 5:7 where we are told to cast our care on the Lord because he cares for us.

If we truly trusted God, which is what we are told to do in our first verse above, then we would know for sure that God would guide and take care of us. That confident trust and faith in God will make it easier to cast our cares on him. We need to develop that intimate and faith filled relationship with God. As the apostle Paul taught (Phil 3:12), this can only come by pressing in to him, spending time in prayer, in fellowship with him, and in his word. As we spend time in his word our faith will grow (Rom 10:17). As we press in, the way will become clear and God will take care of the cares and concerns.  

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"For I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25; KJV). This was Paul speaking to the sailors on a ship that was caught in a huge storm. An angel from God had spoken to him and told him they would all make it safely to their destination. In Luke chapter 1 (verse 38) we have the account of the angel who appeared to Mary and announced that she would give birth to the Messiah. She also believed God’s word and said to the angel: "be it unto me according to thy word."

We know that Abraham was also someone who took God at his word. In Romans 4:21 we are told that Abraham was: "fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform".

Then in Luke 7:7 we read about a roman centurion who had a servant that needed healing. Jesus offered to go to his house to heal the man but the centurion said to him: "but say in a word, and my servant shll be healed" and he was. As you can see from all these examples there is great power in the word of God that is believed and acted on in faith.

Take God at his word today, believe it, speak it over your situation and watch God turn things around for you. “Nevertheless when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8)?

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.