FAITH

Are you like me in that you occasionally ask;  What is faith? What does faith really look like? What does faith require? Maybe I am alone with these questions. I don't question my faith in Jesus. But, there are times when I wonder if I really live my faith out loud. I wonder if people see a difference in my life because of my faith in Jesus.

Recently, I participated in a simulcast with Beth Moore. I had been preparing for this event for many months. Every time that Beth speaks at a conference I know I am going to hear from God. This time was no different! I sat in my family room with 6 other ladies, prayerfully waiting to see what God was going to teach me. Within the first few minutes one of the ladies had confirmation to an area that she had been praying about. With faith, she prayed and asked God to make some things clear in her life - He responded! In another few minutes I realized that I was where I needed to be - Beth was speaking about the reality of fear in our lives and how God doesn't desire or didn't design us to live a life of fear. This led right into my faith in Jesus Christ.

There are some things that I am fearful of, snakes, mice, fire, and dark parking lots to name a few. Do these things consume my life, no! But, do they raise their ugly heads in my life sometimes, yes! Now, I'd be less than honest if I didn't say that there are obviously other issues of fear in my life. I am working through these with God and only by His grace will they be abolished.
 Ephesians 2:4-9 says "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus he also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages he might display immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast." (HCSB) Ephesians 3:16-18 is part of Paul's prayer for spiritual power, "I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love,.."
I am a child of God! I am loved! I am a daughter of the King of Kings! My identity is in Christ and Christ alone. What do I have to fear - myself - my lack of faith - my weakness. Paul made it very clear that I am saved by grace. I am saved by grace through my faith in Jesus Christ. I have the Holy Spirit living in me through my faith in Jesus Christ. I need to be walking daily with this faith lived out for all to see.

As I continue to grow in my relationship with Christ, I see more clearly my weaknesses and my fears. I ask God to give me strength. I ask God to give me wisdom. I ask God to remove my weaknesses, my fears. So, in recent weeks, I created an acrostic for FAITH - Fear Abolished in True Healing. Because of God's grace, I am saved. Because of God's love, I am able to walk freely, without fear. His provisions are healing. I will continue to seek God's grace as I face my weaknesses and my fears, knowing that He alone will remove them and give me true healing.