The Folly of Working Our Faith
Faith is one of the basic tenets of Christianity. I cut my teeth on the word of faith camp, and I am totally grateful for its emphasis on the word of God and faith!
One of the ditches I fell into in this context was making a work of mustering up faith. I grabbed the word of God and, instead of letting it minister grace to my heart to believe, I used it as a tool, stuffing it into my brain, hoping faith would pop out.
As a result, I left out the Person, Who is the Author of faith.
From Folly Faith to Christ’s Faith
God is so gracious that, indeed, He honored me in spite of my driven-ness. I was trying to work a system while operating under the unconscious assumption I was separate from God. This assumption caused me to operate as an orphan with a fallen mindset of looking from the outside-in. All while Papa was trying to convince my heart to sit at His banquet- chock full of my favorite things.
I was operating from an identity as fallen and separate, thinking I had to do something in order to please God and work His taskmaster system. I was operating from the fallen mindset of the deeds of the flesh, even though scripture said over and over that my old fallen nature was already crucified.
Galatians 2:20 says:
“My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of his cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, and dispenses his life into mine! (TPT)
I find it interesting that the old identity of being crucified with Christ is connected with living by the faith of the son of God. Not only that, but Christ’s faith is connected with His crazy love for me- and you!
Love Puts Faith on Steroids!
Indeed, faith works by Love!
For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love. – Galatians 5:6 (AMPC)
And it works, not just by some namby-pamby anemic human love. It works by the love of Love Himself that put His money where His mouth was and gave Himself up for you and me!
We get to partake of this faith – His faith – because we are already one with Him!
Diving into God’s Blessing
Question: How confident do you think Christ is in what He did on the cross for you? How confident do you think He is about having taken care of the sin, healing, peace, protection, and provision issues?
What issues do you have? Whatever they may be, I want to remind you of some crazy-good news that keeps on giving!
Romans 8:32 says:
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (NIV)
Essentially, Paul asks the question, “If Christ was given up for you and me, what lesser good thing would He possibly deny you and me?”
Here, we should retreat in the place of our pain, unbelief, sin, and sense that we are not worthy….. and let Love Himself minister to our hearts. Let Him minister to your heart in repeated doses until it becomes convinced that He is wildly for you – that His love stops nowhere. Let Him minister His faith for the answer(s) He has for you.
Getting Unstuck
This is practical Christianity that meets you right where you get stuck. This is exactly where God, Who is Love, wants to meet you and convince you of His truth: you are wildly and unabashedly loved, valued, and pursued. In this place, faith comes easy – it’s not even from you! Jesus gets to author it and finish it. (Hebrews 12:2)
I hope this blesses you! If you need more reminding, grab a copy of “Marked by Love”, or pick it up again!
Believing for huge breakthrough everywhere it hurts!
Love,
Catherine
