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Friday, October 16, 2009

faith is a fruit

as i continue to study ephesians, i see that Paul was trying to convey to us, the church, that this life that we have been given through Jesus is pretty amazing. we have been chosen, made holy, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, lavishly favored with wisdom and insight, made God's heritage, destined for the praise of His glory, and sealed with the Holy Spirit all because God is love and He picked us to be the beneficiary of Who He is. not because we did anything to make Him love us that way. He just does! He just does!

knowing this truth by revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, paul desired for his family, by spiritual birth, to see that revelation too. he prayed for us to come to a deep and intimate knowledge of God by having our eyes flooded with Light so that we could see the Truth and believe and "know." it is the revelation of Truth that births faith, not just the mere information. it is when God opens our eyes and shows us the Truth that we do believe. this kind of faith is not brought about by any effort or decision on our part. it is the result or the fruit of enlightenment of the Holy Spirit within us showing us deeper insights into Who God is, what He is like, what His plan of action has been and will continue to be.

it is in these times of dependence upon God within us and leaning on Him to open our spiritual eyes to help us to see the Truth, that we consume and partake of the revelation that He shows us. this is the experience of all that God's Word tells us is available to us because of what Jesus has done for us in His life, death, burial and resurrection. this experience of depending on and living with God in all that we do, is what God has desired from the beginning, life with and in Him not for Him!

recognizing that we are helpless to come to Truth on our own and incapable of making ourselves believe by trying our hardest because we know we are supposed to, is the first step in having our eyes opened to truly "know" and believe. as long as we think we are supposed to try to believe, we will neglect the power to "know" that lives within us. and, itstead of partaking of the Holy Spirit's nourishment, we will be vomiting it up and trying to find our own strength to accomplish what only He can do in us. you can not conjure up faith. you can't make yourself "know."
you can't just decide to believe. you either "know" or you don't. and, only the One Who Is can reveal Himself and make us "know" Him. true faith or "knowing" is the fruit of communion with the Spirit of the Living God Who abides within us.

18 comments:

Andrea said...

We are helpless to do anything on our own. Sometimes I try to go it on my own and it "never" works. You would think by now I would have learned my lesson and "never" do it again....yet somehow from time to time I think....I can do this! WRONG! I must trust HIM and HIM alone for the truth in "every" situation.

andrea

He & Me + 3 said...

I do want to be completely dependent on Him..for everything. I am a born leader and tend to try to do things on my own so this is definitely an area of struggles....trust & have faith in HIM, because He knows all and what is best for me.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

When I came to this realization, it really took the pressure off of me as far as evangelizing. I realized I could introduce the Truth, but only the Holy Spirit could make them "know" the Truth. Now I simply pray for those people that they will no the Truth by the Spirit and that they will become kingdom laborers.

Great post as usual!

Have a great weekend,
Jackie

RCUBEs said...

Can I just say "Amen!"? Have a great weekend sister Christy! I'm leaving here with a grateful heart knowing that He chose us, made us holy, adopted,...etc...so undeserved! Thank You Lord!

Loren said...

Christy,

Yes!! and Amen! It can't just be head knowledge ~ it must be in our hearts, in our being and that comes when the HOLY SPIRIT is allowed to operate in our lives! What a gift!!!
THANKYOU JESUS!!

E @ Scottsville said...

Just stopped by to thank you for always dropping by with your sweet words of affirmation on my blog.

I've been so swamped her lately that I'm allowing my blog friend's blogs slip away from me. I know this is just for a season and then I won't be so swamped,but for now.... gosh, BUSY!!!

Also going through a lot of changes here on the homefront. I'll blog about them soon, I'm sure. But for now, just keep me and my family in your prayers if you will.

Blessings & Hugs!

Erica

Karen said...

Amen, Christy! Like you wrote...you either know or you don't...I use to think I knew, but in reality I knew of...so thankful my eyes were opened....

Linda said...

It is one of those hard truths that is difficult to communicate to someone who is searching. I am thankful that, as you've said so beautifully, we don't have to do the work. It is His Spirit that lives within us and that draws people to the Father.

Tammy On the Go said...

thanks for your encouragement, we had a great day until the end of this day and it was another melt down and temper storm...what a challenge. I have to remember she is a little sinful unregenerated heart! But I love her so much and hope to show the same amount of Grace to her that God has shown to me.

Mich said...

You and I have a "fruit" theme going...

I needed to read this. Thanks.

happy weekend.

Daveda said...

wonderfully said! What a relief too!! If I had to make myself believe or have faith or trust or anything else I would be hopeless...Thank you Jesus that all I need to do is turn to you and receive :)

Yes, I got a job :) and its good, I have been praying about doing something for several months, but I wasn't pursuing anything, I left it in God's hands. One of the great things about this is that I am NOT doing it because I feel like I HAVE to, I am doing it because I want to. God has been providing and my trust is entirely in Him for our provision, now more than ever before.

This is an opportunity that I truly believe God placed in my lap for a reason much bigger than a job....don't know what yet, but it's something good :) I can just feel it!

Jen said...

What a relief it is! I love that He gives us rest by taking teh burden off us. What freedom!

Andrea said...

Dear friend, how lovely your words are. They are so true!

To know God, to believe Him is so much more than a superficial experience! Yes, it begins with salvation, but it progresses to greater and greater light and depth.

Thank you for your life and testimony, my friend.

In Christ's Love,

Andrea

Warren Baldwin said...

Christy Rose -
This is an excellent discussion. It has only been in the last few years that I have thought of faith as a gift. I thought of faith as something we are taught, develop and offer to God. And, to some degree it is all that. Parents teach their kids at least the rudiments of faith.

But even the ability to be taught, understand, and lift up eyes with insight all comes from God. Isn't it amazing how we want to make our saving faith OUR accomplishment? It's God's! Great reminder here!

Good post.

Joyeful said...

He gives us everything we need for life and godliness!! God is so Good! And what a wonderful reminder that we are chosen not based on anything we could "earn", but based simply on the love and abundant grace of our Heavenly Father!

Saleslady371 said...

This is beautiful and inspirational. "You cannot make yourself know." I love that. I was just talking to the Lord about you today and how grateful I am for your nurturing spirit. You must partake of the Holy Spirit's nourishment every day just like you write about it! I feel it.

Angela said...

this experience of depending on and living with God in all that we do, is what God has desired from the beginning, life with and in Him not for Him!
amen amen amen

Anonymous said...

;)
beautiful!
Kim