The Way Of Faith

Key Verse:
For he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and Faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. Acts 11:24

The Message:
Christianity as practised by the early disciples was not a religion. In fact they didn't know what to call it. Christ never named it. He simply taught and showed them the Way.
The Jews called them a sect (Acts 24:14) while the disciples themseves simply called it The Way.
It was at Antioch that they were named and first called Christians.

So what is the Way?
The way is the way of Righteousness.
The way is the way of Truth.
The way is the way of Life.

And Only by Faith can we live in the Way.

Faith is the currency of the Spirit.
In fact, Faith is so essential to the Way, so much so that *"Wthout Faith it is impossible to please God."* Hebrews 11:6

Our Lord Jesus Christ walked, worked miracles, conquered, lived, died and resurrected by Faith. He operated in the Fullness of Faith.
And this is all He ever taught His disciples and those who came to Him.
It is by the faith of the people that they received their miracles.
So much so that even gentiles astounded Jesus Christ whenever their faith exceeded those of the Jews, whom He was sent to.

So what is Faith?
Faith has several definitions, but we will highlight just few.
In simple plain language Faith can be explained thus;

Faith is Belief. It is not unbelief.
Faith is Conviction (Trust and Confidence). It is not doubt.
Faith is Courage. It is not fear.
Faith is Optimism. It is not pessimism.
Faith is only truly Faith, when it is in God, the Word of God and in the name of Jesus Christ.

Let us see some of the true definitions of Faith scripturally;

Mark 11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

1 John 5:14-15
Now this is the Confidence we have, that in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

For an indepth definition and explanation, Hebrews 11 shares more details on Faith.

Why do we need Faith?
Because it is one of the virtues of God that the enemy always wants to steal, kill and destroy in us.
Our little or lack of Faith is what has limited us, caged us and dangerously left us for the enemy to manipulate us.
Let us endeavour to always pray for Faith, to preserve our Faith and to Grow in Faith.
The disciples didn't inherit faith even after following Jesus Christ for over 3 years. They prayed for it.
"Increase our Faith." Luke 17:5

How do we build our Faith?
By constantly hearing the Word of God and meditating on it.
By desiring the gift of Faith.
By praying in spirit for edification.
By deliberately letting ourselves confront our fears trusting in the word of God as we have received.
By leaving our comfort zones and doing something unusual to us, especially within the ministry.

Our closing verse is a glimpse of what our faith will achieve.
I earnestly desire to see each and everyone of us in the Body of Christ operating in our calling, in manifesting God's glory, in walking in the fullness of faith.

Closing Verse
Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Acts 6:7-8