Faith

Romans chapter 1 verses 17 says "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith". As Christians, faith is a word that we are all familiar with and just as the bible says in Hebrew 11 verses 6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him." The question then is what is faith? Recently in our weekly bible class, I asked the question is faith to do with our expectations from God or our sacrifice unto him. The majority answered faith is to do with our expectations from God. The truth is God's faith as he demonstrated it to us is more to do with sacrifice.  Abraham whom we know as the father of faith demonstrated his faith towards God through his willingness to sacrifice his son unto God and God fulfilled all his covenant promises unto Abraham because of his obedience to sacrifice his son unto him. As we saw in the story of Abraham, God replaced Isaac with a ram and this ram of course is symbolic of Christ the Lamb of God. Today when we speak of faith, it is more to do with what we want from God and the attitude of many is that if God does not give them what they want in this world then he is unfaithful to them. If God has given us his begotten Son as a demonstration of his faith towards us, it means God has made way for us to have what count most, which is eternal life of peace, rest and joy for our souls.  If we cannot see God's faithfulness through his sacrifice for us then it means God can never satisfy us because human wants are insatiable. God by giving us his Son gave us our soul needs and desire. Our wants are of this world and because God's love is divine, he may not necessarily give us our wants but will always meet our needs. If we see God's faith through Christ then it becomes easy for us to sacrifice for God's glory. The faith of many Christians today is simply vanity faith. As such, many fall daily into the trap of the deceivers that promises world riches and instant breakthroughs because they do not understand the concept of faith. The Christians that have real breakthrough in life are those that are prepared to sacrifice unto God for God sake. Many Christians have made huge sacrifices to promote God's kingdom and most of this people have little or no support from their so-called Christian brethren.  Following a Holy spirit encounter that I had four year ago my faith shifted from expecting God to give me everything I want that is all wordily to me wanting to do everything for God's glory. My Holy Spirit encounter activated a service mission in me towards God however I soon discovered that most people with a yearn to serve God are mostly on their own particularly at the foundation stages. The end time world is a world whereby people are desperate for quick fixes because of never ending problems that people are daily facing such as mounting financial pressures, illnesses and family breakdowns. Quick fixes attitude towards faith means many Christians today suffer everyday disappointments because they lack the patience that is central to divine faith. In darkness mind of faith, many Christians today rely on false breakthrough promises and spend their money on fake anointing products all for nothing. The liars knows the problems faced by majority people in the world today and their game is to target the most vulnerable to take from them for their own greedy ends. At a conference that I recently attended the speaker after capturing the people's mind with the right bible verses, threw in the prosperity bait and many people fell for it. The speaker started from £1,000, gradually reduced it to £50, and as soon as they collected all the money, the speaker left and that was the end. If there is someone on earth that is a firm believer in God's healing power and principle of sowing, I happen to be one.  However, my word to all Christians out there is you should surrender all to God for your healing to take place and when it comes to sowing my suggestion is that you only sow for God sake and not out of greed or desire for worldly things. The devils know that the heart of man is worldly and if you are to remain a step ahead of the end time false prophets and deceivers, you must understand faith from a divine perspective. Faith requires divine action and action must be in mind of promoting God's glory. Expectation from God can be faith in God however; divine faithful action is what brings about manifestation of our real life expectations. If our faith were to be all about our wordily desires then we cannot bring the real changes that God wants us to bring to the life of others hence we cannot please God. My question to you is how would you rate your faith? Would you say it is more to do with what you want from God or what you want to do for God's sake because you believe God has already done it all for you. If you have a mind of serving God because of your faith in him, do not wait until you have a big ministry. Instead, begin your faith service today by encouraging someone you know to remain faithful unto God by helping them to realize what God has already done for us all, which is the sacrificing of his only begotten Son Christ Jesus for the remissions of our sins. If we focus our mind on what God has already done before our time instead of what we want him to do now for us in our limited time existence then we will have no problem to be faithful unto God at all times. My closing payer. I pray that whatsoever you are facing today that it will not lead you to go wary in your faith towards God. I pray that your reliance on God not only entitle you exceedingly great blessing from God but that it makes you a blessing just like Abraham unto all nations. Pastor Olabisi Kufeji Freedom House International