The Anatomy of Faith

We are saved by grace through FAITH. Grace is God’s power to lift us up from the mud, cleanse us, set our feet on rock and empower us to live in His strength. It’s Jesus’ work, the work of the cross, grace, power, accessed through FAITH. It is NOT a hug to comfort us in our self-pity.

There are 6 brilliant satanic maneuvers against the soul: pollution and temptation, tiredness (in the moment of the greatest battle), distraction, anxiety/fear, anger/frustration, doubt and self-pity.

We need to have unstaggering belief to the Word of God. Fact is the Word of God, His promises, the unseen realities, and the nature of God. Experience is our feelings/emotions, the appeal of anxiety, the appeal of lethargy, and the appeal of grievance. We need to align our FAITH with FACT. When we doubt we are choosing to side against God and participate in the enemy’s thoughts; we’re doubting God’s nature and Word.

We can have complete faith because when God promises something, then He is able to perform it. He can not lie so if it’s written in His Word He is faithful to carry it to completion. Do you believe your God? That He can part the waters and deliver you? Or do you want to turn back into slavery. Doubt is a decision against faith. It’s starting at the enemy’s goods and that’s where fear/anxiety comes from. Our eyes should be taken off self, removed from our own weakness and allowed to rest implicitly upon God’s strength. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. His perfect love casts all my fear away.

            6 basic principles of faith are: the laws of heaven trump the laws of this earth and world, spiritual assurance is gained only through spiritual means (prayer obedience, patient endurance, purity of soul), faith is based on fact and NOT wishful/positive thinking, for faith to grow it must be fully invested, faith is always tested to prove its authenticity, faith remains steadfast and unshaken even when the natural realm lays out its arguments and presents its case of the utter impossibility of the task.

The Word of God is my rock. Everything I hear must be filtered through the Bible. In the church today there is often deception in the teachings where man has wandered away from the center of truth in text. The emergent church is always looking for new ideas to toss around. Many churches want to be accepting to the world and only care about their church growth and attendance so they take lightly the truth and water it down, making it softer, and thus incorrect. However God never changes. The truth has been the same through the ages. We must pursue the historic faith of old. Many times we feel only as if we are changed if we have an emotional feeling. But sometimes we just need to believe and live out what scriptures call us to, even if we don’t feel anything different emotionally. Live by the facts, not by your feelings. Stand upon rock, truth, His Word. You will not be shaken.

(content from message of www.ellerslie.com)