HOW TO BELIEVE GOD...THE HOW OF FAITH

HOW TO BELIEVE GOD…THE HOW OF FAITH

Nine qualities of the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
1. LOVE- brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
2. JOY- joy, gladness
3. PEACE- the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is
4. LONGSUFFERING- patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs
5. GENTLENESS- moral goodness, integrity, benignity, kindness
6. GOODNESS- uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness
7. FAITH- conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
1a) relating to God
1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
1b) relating to Christ
1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
1c) the religious beliefs of Christians 1d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
8. MEEKNESS- gentleness, mildness, meekness
9. TEMPERANCE- self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, esp. his sensual appetites)

Faith is a quality of the fruit of the Spirit. As New Testament believers, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us when we receive Christ as our personal Savior, and He bring His personality with Him. When we are yielded to the Holy Spirit’s authority, His personality fills us and eclipses our own. When we’re not yielding, we grieve the Holy Spirit and operate from our own carnal nature. Thank goodness, He still does not leave us, but our faith consequently shrinks. The more we are filled with the Spirit, the more faith we can possess. Because the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son, He always believes God. When He fills us, our fleshly faithlessness will yield to His belief system, and we get to possess and exercise it as our own.

Faithfulness – serving and obeying God- is the outward expression of an inward fullness of faith.

Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.

Faith comes through hearing the Word of God. Without a doubt, one of the biggest faith-builders we have is a relationship with God through His Word. The more we receptively expose ourselves to God’s Word through sermons, teachings, lessons, devotionals, and Bible studies, the more fuel we will add to the fire of our faith.

We can ask God to increase our faith. One way to have more faith is to ask for it. That is what the disciples did.

Luke 17:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent’, forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it will obey you.”

We can confess our unbelief to Christ and request His help to overcome it. Jesus Christ will never turn us away when we come to Him with gut-level honesty and request what we lack. Can you imagine how our lives would be transformed if we began petitioning Christ every day to help us overcome any areas of unbelief? Perhaps we are quick to say “I believe!”. But no sooner do those words come forth from our mouths than we are convicted by the Spirit of truth, realizing how utterly paralyzed we are by unbelief at times.

A Boy is Healed
14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?" 17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 "And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." 19 He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 "And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." 23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

We can grow in faith. Our faith develops, matures and grows as we continue to walk with God. The more we practice faith, the more faith we have to practice.
Psalms 37:33 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Trust: lean on, rely on, and be confident
Those who continually feed on God’s faithfulness are far more likely to have a ready supply when the challenge arises, because it abides in them.

In Summary: HOW
Faith is a quality of the fruit of the Spirit.
Faith comes through hearing the Word of God.
We can ask God to increase our faith.
We can confess our unbelief to Christ and request His help to overcome it.
We can grow in faith.

Shield of Faith-Pledge of Faith
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
5. God's word is alive and active in me.
This is our shield of faith. "I'm believing God"