The following message was written back a few months ago, yet i came across this again tonight, and sensed that the Lord wanted me to share this with you here tonight. May this message have a fresh impact upon all our lives in our service to the Lord. Many blessings in Christ, L.D. Oxford
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FAITH WORKETH BY LOVE
~L.D. Oxford
Victorious1_2005@earthlink.net
http://www.joshua-ap.net
Tonight, i was reading in the book of Galatians, some of the teachings of the Apostle Paul and i sensed the need to share some of the scriptures here along with some notes.
In Galatians 5, beginning with verse 1, the Apostle begins with the challenging statement, “So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the Law.”
He was speaking to those that were counting on circumcision to make them right with God, instead of relying on what Christ did for them to save them and set them free.
vs. 2, Listen! I Paul tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you..
vs. 3, I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations of the whole Law of Moses..
vs 4, For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the Law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.
But he goes on to say in vs. 5, But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith.
vs.6, For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
This is an important point here. Faith expressing itself in love. When we walk in faith through Christ, then faith expresses itself in Love. Think about it. This is God's Word and not my own. Faith works and expresses itself by Love and by no other means, for God is love .
So we are right with God through believing Christ by faith, we live by the Spirit through faith, and we receive everything promised to us by faith also....and faith expresses itself in love.
It seems evident that so many believers today seem to live by emotions and feelings rather than by faith, and this is where so many fall short ...and this is why there is such a shortage of love in so many of God's people today.
They are reacting to fears rather than responding in faith towards God. Because true faith in God expresses itself in Love. (or faith works by Love and it lays itself down for God and for others)
The opposite of faith is unbelief. The opposite of Love is fear and hate. And if faith works by love then unbelief works by what? Fear. Fear which opens the door to hate or the dislike of others.
Fear of the unknown. Fear of tomorrow. Fear of the future. Fear of ones destiny. Fear of others, Fear of rejection, Insecurities etc. which not only causes one to become a victim, but also causes one to victimize others through their own fears and woundedness.
Along with this comes an increase in hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness which in turn causes so many to carry around emotional baggage for years and years because of the rejection, pain, and for what others have done to them, and blaming others for their predicaments and lots in life.
This is a absence of faith and Love in our lives. Because faith works by love and love lays itself down for God and for others, just as Christ laid down His life for us. God's love is a sacrificial love.
What Christ did for us was an act of selflessness, yet what so many usually do is to react out of fear rather than to respond in faith towards God. The opposite of selflessness is selfishness.
When we respond in faith towards God in our lives, we will find ourselves making great strides forward in our walks with God. When we react to fears instead, we are retreating, taking backward steps and trying to preserve self instead of moving forward in God.
God gives to us choices everyday to either follow faith with Love or to follow unbelief and to react out of our fears. It is our choice to make and God will not make those choices for us. If we follow faith with Love, we will willingly forgive, lay our lives down for God and for others.
If we follow unbelief and react to fears instead, then we will hold on to our issues of unforgiveness, mistrust, the suspicious fearful nature and unrighteous behavior towards others.
Jesus came to set us free and if we choose the life of faith through our believing and following Christ, then that faith will express itself through love. It's time to choose a life of faith today through the grace that God has already provided through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to truly save us, set us free, and to give us new fresh hope for the future, yet there are still choices that we must make every day to walk out that faith in Him. And although we are saved by grace, we are still required to obey God in our everyday walks with Him.
His power and grace has already been provided to do this, and we get to choose how we will respond to Him and to others. Faith working by Love, or unbelief working by fear.
(Scriptures taken from the New Living Translation)
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