Wednesday 11 May 2016

SEVEN (7) INDISPENSABLE VIRTUES OF FAITH




Faith is the breath of the believer. Just as every human being need the breath of God to be alive, the believer also needs faith to prove his/her existential worthiness before God and mankind. “Now the Just shall live by faith;….”- Hebrews 10:38a.This connotes that the Just is dead without faith. Faith is the first step in walking with God. 
However productive faith does not walk alone. There are seven(among other) indispensable virtues that walks with faith. Without these virtues in place, faith will be unproductive. Let’s unravel these virtues

  • LOVE
Love is a catalyst to faith. What you love is what you attract.  It is love that produces strong faith which causes men to endure all odds till God’s promises are fulfilled. When love steps in place, all other things fall in their rightful places.  All things can fail but certainly not with Love.  “love never fails….” - 1 Corinthians 13:8. Perhaps your faith is not delivering because it is void of love.  Add love to your faith and you will see the unseen.

  • PATIENCE
The test of faith is patience. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh Patience” -James 1:3.  Your ability to wait for your fruitful season is what vindicates your faith. In life, everything responds to time and so is faith. Men of strong faith are those who have the virtue of patience as their backbone. Remember Job waited on God till his double portion was realized (Job 42:10). Patience is a virtue which should accompany your faith to see the impossible.
It should be noted that waiting periods are not wasting period. There is always what to do whilst you wait for your manifestation. God hates laziness or idleness. Step up with your dreams and wait for the increase from Above. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south” - Psalm 75:6.


  • KNOWLEDGE
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”- 2 Peter 1:3.
“…: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him Actions are weighed”– 1 Samuel 2:3.
It is what you know that causes you to be fully persuaded in faith. Knowledge breeds faith. The book of Daniel observes, “….: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits”- Daniel 11:32. Being strong in faith is functions of how you know your God. It is the knowledge Abraham had about God that informed his obedience to the promise (Romans 4:20-21). 
The three Hebrew boys had a kind of knowledge about God that caused them to be fearless. When king Nebuchadnezzar confronted them with a life threatening statement of sending them to the fiery furnaces, they said;“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up”- Daniel 3:17-18.
I supposed they would have read the portion of the scriptures which says, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” -Exodus 34:14. It was their knowledge in God that informed their faith and desire to please Him. To be ignorant is to be in tyranny, but to be knowledgeable is to be liberated. 
One wise man said,There is no mountain anywhere; everyone's ignorance is his own mountain”.What you do not know will always scare you in the area of your destiny. Hosea 4:6 continues, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:…”. Before you question your faith, check your knowledge base.

  • JOY
“Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”    – Isaiah 12:3.

The force of Joy enables you to access the provisions of salvation. Salvation is by the grace of God through Faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; …… ”- Ephesians 2:8. So far as you are joyful, your faith is active to disarm any force of evil on the earth. Paul and Silas were full of joy even when in prison. They prayed and sung praises before their maker “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed”. – Acts 16:26.
That was certainly not the effort of a man but God. Faith does not work with tears as most Christians think; faith works with joy. Joy attracts divine intervention with ease. 
No matter where you are or what happens to you per time, always remain Joyful. Joy is medicinal (Proverbs 17:22). To be robbed of your Joy is to be kept in perpetual bondage of sickness and torment. Whatever brings you Joy in life is a blessing, thus do not trade your joy for anything.

  • HOPE
“Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,”
- 2 Corinthians 10:15.

Hope is the pacesetter of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,...” –Hebrews 11:1.  Hope sets the pace; faith delivers the substance of things hoped for. Therefore without hope, faith is meaningless. In other words, there must be hope before faith will work. Confessions of hopelessness cannot deliver faith in anyway. Before you criticize your faith, check your level of hope. Expectations sometimes delay per human calculation, hence it will only take hope to keep your faith alive.

  • UNDERSTANDING
In the school of faith, understanding is prerequisite. Whatever you do not understand, you cannot succeed at. In an examination hall, the student with the deepest understanding is the one that comes up with success. Faith works with understanding.
It is one thing to know what you are reading and quite another to understanding. In the Biblical account between Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch found in the book of Act chapter 8, Phillip met the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53 and Phillip asked him a question.
“understandeth thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” - Acts 8:30-3.
So Philip begun to teach the eunuch till his eye of understanding was opened. When they got near a certain water, the eunuch said, “…. See, here is water; what Doth hinder me to be baptized?”- Acts 8:36. (Note that it was the Eunuch that requested for it because his eyes of understanding were opened).
What you understand is what you pursue. Scientist understands that when you add two moles of hydrogen to oxygen, you will get water. This is because it had been subjected to empirical research and systematic observation. The same way when understanding comes alive, faith is activated automatically.
Understanding is not just knowing the ‘what’ but the ‘how’. It goes beyond superficial Knowledge.   Althoughout Jesus’ ministry, He spoke in parables and mysteries such that even the Pharisees- the experts of the law could not understand Him. He said, “I will destroy this temple and build it in three days” – John 2:19. Presumably, if they understood what He was saying at the time, they would not have crucified Him. 
The world is void of understanding. They criticize the practices of Christianity but cannot deny the power behind. The wisdom of God is void of understanding to the natural mind. No professor or Human being anywhere can help you understand the workings of faith if he is not a covenant practitioner. Absolutely no one!What you understand is what you can willingly die for. Understanding here is simply possessing a working knowledge about the word of God.    

  • YOUR CONFESSION
The direction of your faith is determined by your spoken words. What you confess is what manifests. You cannot believe one thing and say something different. Your faith must be watered with the necessary spoken words to be able to see its fusion. Your words portray the state of your heart. “…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” – Matthew 12:34.Faith does not only believe; faith speaks.
If you really understand the Kingdom which you belong, then it would not be difficult talking about it anytime, anyday. What you believe on the inside, you speak on the outside.“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” – Romans 10:17-18.

To Conclude
When faith mixes with these indispensable virtues, undeniable exploit is a MUST. Have Faith in action, but also have these indispensable virtues in place to accelerate the action of faith. Faith cannot fail if these virtues are in place. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force”- Matthew 11:12.




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