By Faith

I am a morning devotions gal, I prefer to start out my day with the Lord. There was one season where I transitioned to having my quiet time in the evenings before bed, but that only lasted a short while and I returned to having my time with Jesus first thing. I believe there is sweet power in giving the first part of the day to Jesus and I could not measure the power that opening His Word in the morning has had on my life. There have been times when the Lord has awakened me with a certain scripture text or principle on my mind. Those are precious moments from the Spirit. 

Recently, I awoke with “faith” in my mind. This train of thought led me to Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Then there is the heart cry of the confused disciples in Luke  17:5, “...Lord, Increase our faith.” So, how is faith increased as the disciples asked for? Taking the passage in Romans, faith is increased by hearing the Word of God, and by spending regular, disciplined time taking in the scriptures. It is sitting at His feet just as Mary did in Luke 10, choosing that “better part” and trusting in Christ from Whom the increase comes. 

Looking up “faith” in Strong’s Concordance, I gained a beautiful definition and keener insight into meditation. Faith- "persuasion, moral conviction of the truthfulness of God, reliance upon God for salvation, assurance, belief”. Is that not beautiful? Moral conviction of the truthfulness of God, assurance that what He has said is true and it will come to pass because He has said it and He is God. My “treasure hunt” then led me to a loved and one of my most well-referenced passages, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” 

Think how this is all intertwined. I desire increased faith, assurance, and deep conviction as to the truthfulness of God. I want this for a strong and sure foundation to stand on in the trials and pain of life. That comes about by hearing the Word of God, by intimate, consistent, and intentional time abiding with the Savior, the Giver of faith. With the increase of trust in the character of God, I use that moral conviction to cast down the imaginations and lies about the character of God that Satan hurls at me in an attempt to dissuade me from my assurance and thus weaken my faith. Faith is intricate, but how beautiful it is!

The longer I walk with Jesus, the more time I spend abiding with Him, and in His Word, the Lord keeps His promise and increases my faith. When the tempests swirl, my assurance stands firm because I know Him, I have been with Him, I have proven Him and His promises and I pull from the “bank” of His past faithfulness in my human weakness and need for assurance. What a gracious Father! He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust, and instead of asking us to just blindly walk on in this faith journey, He gives us opportunities to try His promises, to test His Word, if you will, and then the next temptation, the next grief that He allows, we can harken back to what we know about His character from His Word, but also what we have experienced for ourselves. People talk about blind faith. I do not have blind faith. Far from it! I have experienced God, I have witnessed His working in my heart, in my life! He allows my faith, His faith in me (Galatians 2:20) to grow and increase with each passing day as I seek Him, place my trust in what He has said, and allow the Spirit to produce that moral conviction of the truthfulness of God in my heart.

“For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12