Living A Faith Life

As we have discussed earlier, there are several key points that must be established for us to walk in our Christian faith as we should. Let’s look at these:

1. There must be a heart of humility, a heart of pride will never have fellowship with God, Proverbs 21:2-4 says, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
      But the LORD weighs the hearts.
      To do righteousness and justice
      Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
      A haughty look, a proud heart,
      And the plowing of the wicked are sin."

So we can see that no sin can be in fellowship with God, and He examines each heart to see the root desire motivation.

2. There must be obedience, and a willingness to be obedient to Him. This excerpt from a lesson from C.H.Spurgeon gives a picture of the importance of obedience to the Father:

“Fellowship with God was one of the richest privileges of unfallen man. The Lord God walked in the garden and talked with Adam as a man talketh with his friend. So long as he was willing and obedient, Adam ate the fat of the land, and among the rich dainties and "wines on the lees well refined," of which his soul was a partaker, we must number first and foremost, unbroken communion with God, his Father and his Friend. Sin, as it banished man from Eden, banished man from God, and from that time our face has been turned from the Most High, and his face has been turned from us;—we have hated God, and God has been angry with us every day. Christ came into the world to restore to us our lost patrimony. It was the great object of his wondrous sacrifice to put us into a position which should be equal and even superior to that which we occupied in Adam before the fall, and as he has already restored to us many things that we lost, so among the rest—fellowship with God.”- (taken from Fellowship with God Sermon, September 15, 1861).

We know that without obedience we walk in rebellion, outside of the pleasure of the Father( 1 Samuel 15:22- So Samuel said:
      “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
      As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
      Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
      And to heed than the fat of rams.”

Saul is a perfect example of a rebellious life in God’s service; the end is confusion and death.

3. There must be a knowing of the Father. We cannot have fellowship in any capacity unless we know the person and a loving covenant relationship requires a deep knowing and understanding of the one with which we are in covenant. This knowing can only take place through spending time and communing with that person. There must be a reading, eating and constant presence of the word of the Holy Scriptures inside of us. We are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit to allow an unlocking of the Spiritual truths of the bible that will build a powerful Spirit within us, if we properly consume it each day. We not only may mimic the truths in the scripture, but live within the power of the truths given.

4. The life of faith is a life of prayer. We must be a praying people! We must desire righteousness at all times ("If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"-Psalm 66:18).But, we know He will hear us if we are in Him. (But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.-Psalm 4:3) ("The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."- Proverbs 15:29).

Just as 1 Thessalonians tells us to, “"Pray without ceasing.” we must live our lives in a place of open communication with God. We ask within His will and not as James 4:3 warns , we ask  from a place of the Spirit and not the lusts of the flesh.

In short, if these conditions are met, we are ready to live a life of faith, to start by reason of use, to build reliance upon the Holy Spirit within us, as we know the Father and do His will through His blessed Son. It is in this condition that we begin to see the glorious manifestations of the Spirit following our lives as believers, things that are commonplace within the Spirit of our Lord. The foremost desire of that heart is to live and communicate the gospel for the entire world  to hear and act upon, knowing our lives must be used to not only speak, but by example, live this gospel before others each day.