Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Why Is My Faith Not Working?

Love is the realm of faith. God inspired faith can not operate and function the way God has created it to outside of the realm of Love. (before you go on, I want you to really think about this first statement of truth until you hear what it is saying).

God created faith for man so that man/woman would be able to believe God. This is the relationship God desires with His man. A man/woman that will believe Him, then go and do what he/she believes. But this God created faith (the exact same faith God created the heavens and the earth with, the exact same faith that Jesus walked this earth with, this same faith was given to you and me when we born again)was made to operate in the realm of Love. It can only successfully operate in this realm, for this God created faith is powerless and useless outside of Love.

Here is the reason that there is so much failure in the body of Christ, the Church, when it comes to faith (believing God). The child of God tries to live by faith (because the word tells him to live this way), but he refuses to walk in Love, therefore his faith is in vain, for his faith can not work outside of Love. One small nugget of truth is found in Gal 5:6 that declares; "faith works by Love", therefore you could say, faith will not work outside of Love.

The Church (that's you and me, the believer) as a whole majors on believing God (faith). We want to know everything there is to know on how to believe God so that we can get our prayers answered, but we very rarely spend any time studying and thinking about the realm in which faith was created to work in. You must grasp this following truth and never let it get away from you;
"Faith was created to work in the realm of Love, Faith will not work outside of Love." I have never taken this truth to heart and have tried to use faith outside of Love and it has been powerless, bringing no results, then growing frustrated with God and His word and then saying something stupid like, "I did my part, but You (God) won't do Your part", and blaming God for my faith failure.

The first thing any believer must realize and establish in his heart is that God's Word is True. That must be settled in your heart or you will always be questioning the Word when you are being challenged and you don't see the results of what you are believing for. Settle it today if you have not done this; "God's Word is Truth" (Jn 17:17). It makes no difference what we think about it, the Word is True because God declared it (Numbers 23:19) and that's what makes it True. If God said, "faith works by Love", then that is the way it works, and it will work no other way. So instead of trying to walk in faith our way, we must do it His way to see faith work in our lives.

We must change our focus from "faith" to "Love". We must receive the commandment that Jesus gave us in John 13:34, 15:12 as a commandment (not as a suggestion or as an opinion) and do it as a commandment. This is the only way that we will walk in love by taking what Jesus said and receiving it as a commandment. We must learn everything there is to know about Love. A good place to start is 1 Cor 12:31- 1 Cor 13:8 (Amplified bible is the best translation of these verses if you have one). As we begin to learn about Love, the importance of it, and then walk in it, faith will then begin to operate on it's own. It won't be forced or used selfishly, but it will be this God created faith (real faith) because it is coming out of the realm of Love, therefore it will be powerful and mighty and will accomplish what we are believing for. (Matt 21:21-22) This is the very realm that Jesus Himself operated from. Jesus walked this earth as a man, and He walked in Love and was (and is) the most powerful man on the face of the earth. We can only do what Jesus did if we are willing to do what Jesus did, and that is to walk in Love.

If you are struggling with faith today, stop focusing on faith and turn your attention to Love. Strive (be deliberate) to master the Love walk, and your ability to believe God will follow you down that path of Love. Great Love produces great faith. LOVE, there is no other way for faith to produce what the believer is believing God for.

Because of what God has revealed to me about Love this day, I may spend the rest of my days on this earth focused on nothing other than "Love". You could spend a lifetime studying Love, and never learn it all (Eph 3:17-19), for God will show you something new about love everyday if you will allow Him to. This is the pathway I'm called to with the rest of my life and as I learn more about Love, then go and walk in it, my faith will grow and God's Truth which He declared, "all things are possible to him who believes"(Mark 9:23), will be a reality in my life.

Who would like to join me on this journey. There is plenty of room, for this is the road less traveled and it is narrow, but the Holy Spirit will guide us every step of the way and lead us to all Truth. This is God's designed way for His believing children. This is how Faith works, by LOVE and Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8).

A new commandment I (Jesus) give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13:34)

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He has given us commandment. (1 John 3:23)

5 comments:

Nancy said...

Sorry to say, I've been away from this for awhile. Had 5 blog readings to catch up on! I'll be studying all of them, for each one touched an area of my life. I know God's Word says he will complete what He started in us. Your writings will definitely help me to get on the 'right road'. Glad to say!, my daughter and her family are back here to stay after being in Alaska for 5 years. Another grandchild coming in December! That makes 2. I hope Amy, Dave & grandkids' year in Africa goes fast for you! I'm sure it will. Take care & God Bless!

Anonymous said...

Love and Faith are described in the Bible in Great detail,But how does a human being generate either one. One can not give what he does not have or has not experienced. I have been struggling with this for some time,(about 4 years) I have intellectual agreement with what the bible says but in my heart I don't really believe that God loves me Personally because I've never met Him or even heard him say my name. According to the sources available to me that must be a work of the Holy Spirit. I continue to beg God to open my eyes or to some how reveal to me what I am missing. Meanwhile I live in a state of ongoing desperation, trying to milk every drop of approval, affirmation from everyone around me.

Anonymous said...

The human is able to generate love and faith because after he is born again the Holy Spirit deposits God's love into the believer's heart (Rom 5:5) and Jesus is the author and developer of the believers faith (Heb 12:2). The human must yield himself to the love that is already in his heart to be able to walk in that love. This is an act of faith. You must believe that love is in your heart, then step out in that love. Don't wait to feel love before you move, faith has nothing to do with feelings, just believe it's there because the word of God says it's there. That's what we base everything on, the word of God. When you first received Jesus, He is the One who provided you the faith to believe that His sacrifice on the cross would save you, so you stepped out in faith and believed Him and you asked Him into your heart. Jesus started your faith and He will develop it by you looking into the word and believing what God says, then going and do what you believe. That's living by faith.
As far as God loving you, He loves you so much that He gave His only Son to die for you, so that you could live.(John 3:16) God also wants you to know that He loves you as much as He loves Jesus. (John 17:23) Now that's more than enough love for you and me, but you must accept that love by faith.
There is no need to beg God for what He has freely given. Accept God on His terms not yours. It takes child like faith to trust God and receive His promises into your life. God desires a personal relationship with you today. Don't try to figure it all out, just accept God according to His word. He requires nothing more from you than just believing Him. Reach out and ask Jesus into your heart and believe that He has come to dwell in your heart, for He has, if you have asked Him to. The Word declares it, it's time to believe it, not just know it. Be Blessed my friend.

Anonymous said...

Terry,
I Guess just don't have enough faith.
My name is not in the Bible. Wherever the Holy Spirit deposited Gods Love, (my heart) I can't find it. How is love that you can't feel supposed to heal 40 years of rejection.Love by faith is not enough, no love is enough if the lover is not available for you to EPERIENCE it.

Anonymous said...

If a person is starving and is given legal documents stating that he has inherited a warehouse full of food on the other side of the world, do those legal documents make his stomach stop hurting?