Faith in God enables and empowers a person to make some bold and daring declarations that others could easily mistake for being arrogant and prideful.
Psalms 62:1-2 reads, “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” David boldly declares that he will never be shaken, and he will never be moved. He repeats his declaration again in verses 6 and 7 saying, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”
In a world that is constantly being shaken, the psalmist makes a declaration of faith that he will never be shaken! How is it possible to live in a world where everything is being shaken and things are constantly being moved without ever being shaken? It is possible if you have the faith of God – or faith in Gods amazing grace.
John says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” I John 5:4-5.
The believer who is never shaken is the one who has learned to live by faith in God’s grace. Faith in God’s grace empowers us in such a way so that we could live a supernatural life in the most natural way.
Living by Faith in God’s Grace
No one understood the subject of grace more than the apostle Paul. The gospel he received from the Lord Jesus and the gospel he preached was the gospel of grace. Throughout the New Testament the apostle Paul establishes the principle that the just shall live by faith in this gospel of God’s amazing grace. When the believers strayed from this principle, like the Galatians did, Paul labored to help them see truth and return from their deception.
Not only are we saved by faith in His grace but we are to live by faith in His grace. This is how the Lord intents for every child of His to live day by day. Not by self effort, not by having confidence in the flesh and not by placing ourselves under man-made rules and regulations, but by faith in God’s grace.
“…Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6
Another way of putting it would be: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My grace, says the Lord of hosts.’
This means that we rely on His grace to do all things for us and through us. Remember, Grace is a person, and His name is Christ and He lives in us.
A Life Without Limits.
God places no limits to what His grace can do in us and through us. Jesus said, “… all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23
The life lived by faith in God’s grace knows no restrictions, no limitations and no lack.
We are the only ones who can limit and frustrate God’s grace working on our behalf. We do so through our unbelief produced by our un-renewed minds. Those who have learned to live by faith in God’s grace can adjust to any and every circumstance of life. They can do all things through Christ who strengthens them. They will never be shaken, regardless of the circumstances they may find themselves in.
Philippians 4:11-13 says, “…. for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
We can confidently say by the scriptures referenced above that, by the grace of God, we are empowered to live a supernatural life in the most natural way.
Knowing Who We Are and What We Have
Knowing who we are in Christ and what we have been given is the key to victorious living.
The apostle Paul said: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” I Corinthians 15:10
I am what I am by the grace of God.
We also need to have a revelation of who we are in Christ. If you want to know who you are and what you are capable of, you need to ask the One who made you. No one knows the product like the manufacturer does.
1 John 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The word of God says you are a child of the Most High God. The word also says you are an over-comer because the greater One lives in you.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1
Not only are you a child of God and an over-comer, but you are also the beloved of God. The world does not know you so stop looking to the world for recognition or affirmation. The problem with believers today is that they are looking far too often to the world for what only God can give them.
Stop looking to the world, child of God, because the world has no idea who you are. Stop looking to the world to explain or define who you are and what you are able to do.
We are to know ourselves as God knows us! 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
The Bible says we are new creations in Christ and as new creations we are righteous! Righteous is an old English word which means we have right standing with God. This right standing with God means that we have a solid foundation from which to live our lives. He is our foundation, and that is why, when we have a revelation of this truth, we can confidently and boldly say: “No matter what happens around me, I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN!”
I hope that you will take the time to ponder on some of these thoughts and allow them to sink deep into your heart and mind. In the next issue, we will go on discovering more about who it is that God has made us to be in Christ.
God bless you,
Andreas.