The Fruit of The Spirit - Faith.

Welcome back to my blog. Today, we are looking at the seventh characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit which is faith!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” - Galatians 5:22-26.

- We learn more about the fruit of the Spirit in this scripture. We learn that there is not just one characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, but we learn there are quite a few characteristics. It may seem overbearing, but once you are able to master one fruit of the Spirit, the other characteristics will fall into place naturally as The Holy Spirit leads us and works through us. I believe this is why the word ‘fruit’ was used and not ‘fruits’ because once you have one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, you will be able to access and exhibit the other characteristics also because they work together.

- It becomes up to you to continuously nurture the fruit of the Spirit and to try not to do anything opposing God’s word that may cause you to not exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Dying to self daily, seeking God’s face and genuinely striving to have a closer walk with God will help you along the way. With that said we are all human beings and we all have the tendency to slip up at times, but because of God’s grace and mercy we can come to Him with a repentant heart. However, we must be sincere and know that we have the assurance that our Father in heaven will forgive us our trespasses, so long as we forgive those who trespass against us.

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” - Ephesians 5:8-10.

We no longer walk in darkness, we walk in the light because we know that we are children of the most High. There is a high calling on our lives where we can walk with our head held high knowing that we are loved and have been redeemed by our Saviour. Walking in the light means that we no longer cling to who we once were, words we once said or things we once did. We walk differently because we strive to make our Father proud. We care little of what the world says and more about what God says. The love He has for us is one we can search the world for, but we will not be able to find such because God loves us differently!

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I have been working on my latest book and I was just writing about the power of faith. Without faith we cannot achieve much. My Bishops wife says, “faith is a currency that operates in heaven.” Faith and fear cannot work well together, in fact they do not work together at all. One will always overpower the other.

To have faith in God means that you trust Him. You may not know what He is doing, but you trust that He has it all under His perfect control. God cannot fail you when you put your trust in Him, believe in His words and His promises Mama because God shall never let you down.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:1‬.

This passage perfectly summarises the meaning of faith. With faith there is great hope, you pray to your Heavenly Father and trust that what you ask of Him shall be done. We do not just have faith in God because we are desiring things from Him, but we are grateful for all the things He does for us. We love Him for His faithfulness toward us. We continually seek to have and maintain a solid relationship with Him and all of this helps our faith to increase.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” - John‬ ‭3:16-17‬.

Now, let’s look at faith at work in the bible:

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:4‬ .

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:5‬.

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:7‬.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:8-10‬.

“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:11‬.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:17-20‬.

“By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:21‬.

“By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:22‬.

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”

‭‭- Hebrews‬ ‭11:24-30‬.

“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:31‬.

There are so many other examples of faith throughout this passage and in the bible as a whole, but the examples above demonstrate what faith looked like for those individuals and what faith can look like for you. These individuals believed that God would see them through despite the adversity they encountered they trusted that a greater force was at hand. God fulfilled His promises for them.

“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 rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” - Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ .

Is there something you have been praying faithfully about?.

It may not make sense to you, you may not understand God’s ways, but trust that God will do the inconceivable just for you Mama. Your Heavenly Father willl never leave you, fail you or forsake you.

Be of good courage Mamas.

I encourage you all to walk with peace in your hearts, know the truth and share the gospel with others.

Did you find any scriptures on faith that you would like to share?

What are your thoughts on the following? Comment down below and let’s talk!

1. Which verses stuck out to you?

2. Why do you think having faith is so important?

3. How do you exercise your faith?

4. What do you think you can do to help others to have faith?

5. Why is it important to have faith even when you do not understand what God is doing?

With Love,

Roxanne-Sasha x