Hopefully it is pretty obvious to you why the first “upward” expression of the fruit of the Spirit is faith? Faith is the “lynchpin” that ties everything to the “cornerstone” of the foundation of love! For “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6) And our faith in and towards God is based on hope in Him, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Let us stop our travels here for as brief respite as we ponder that. Substance (ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change) of things hoped for (to cherish a desire with anticipation). And the evidence (something that furnishes proof) of things unseen (not seen or perceived). So then “faith is the ultimate reality of a cherished anticipation of something proven but not yet perceived by the physical eye.” (RV, Ralph’s Version, not revised version LOL) Paul goes on in Hebrews 11 to say 15 times “by faith” and twice “of faith” about those who walked after an invisible God in faith obedience. And all the more we who believe in Jesus are walking the same “hall of faith” walk. Why do I say all the more? Remember what Jesus told Thomas? “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen me you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) I tell you Brother, or Sister, if we are exercising faith upwards towards God then we are, to quote a country phrase, “walking in tall cotton!” And makes no bones about it, we are only to have faith in God, not in men! Faith in a man is misplaced faith and is evidence of a god having taken God’s place in one’s life! So you folks that have idolized your pastor and/or made him infallible, shame on you get right! So now that we are clearly oriented towards God and not a man, we can say that faith towards God is the key that opens the door of God’s love towards me, so I can release the “longsuffering, gentleness and kindness” so desperately need by those around me. This is only a partial summary, we will summarize all nine expressions of singular fruit of the Holy Spirit at the conclusion of our journey. Baruch HaShem Adonai
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:38:05 +0000
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