1. Living by faith does release and maintain theabundant life in our hearts! Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews
10:38 “Shall live” “chayah” means to flourish, to enjoy life, to live in
happiness, to breathe and be alive! Revelation 2:10; Habakkuk 3:17-19 the hymn
of faith!
2. Let’sdefine faith
(1) Faith is defined as belief with strongconviction; firm belief in something for which there may be no tangible proof;
complete trust, confidence, reliance, or devotion.
(2) Biblical faith is trust,assurance and confidence in God and His ability to keep His word
(3) Hebrews 11:1 “substance”means a “standing under”, a title deed to a property that we have ownership to.
(4) There are levels offaith
a. No faith Mark 4:40
b. Little faith Matthew6:30
c. Faith Mark 11:22
d. Great Faith Matthew 8:10
3. Howto walk by faith Genesis 11:1-9
(1) Listento God
(2) TrustGod
(3) ObeyGod
(4) WorshipGod
4. Let’sconsider some of the benefits of living by faith.
(1) Meansof salvation Ephesians 2:8
(2) Meansof healing and deliverance Luke 8:48; Matthew 8:13; Luke 5:20
(3) Theway to move mountains Matthew 17:20
(4) It’sa protection against the fiery darts of the devil Ephesians 6:16
(5) Itestablishes a good testimony in our lives Hebrews 11:2
(6) Weare able to understand spiritual truths and their impact on the physical realm
Hebrews 11:3
(7) Itmakes our gifts to God excellent Hebrews 11:4
(8) Itpleases God Hebrews 11:5-6
(9) Ithelps us to hear God and move out in appropriate action and obedience Hebrews
11:7-8
(10) It is the victory that overcomes the world1 John 5:4
5. Let’sfocus on the issue of fear vs. faith Luke 8:49-50; Luke 8:34-37; Mark 4:35-41
(1) Inthese passages we discover that the opposite of faith is fear, not doubt!
(2) Considerthe Greek verb “seized.” This word is “sunecho” meaning to constrain, hold,
keep in, press from every side, afflicted, suffering. It is an imperfect
passive verb. The imperfect is about a continuing action in the past rather than
the present. This means that something is still eating away at us from the past
even though it’s not presently happening. The passive voice of the verb
indicates that the action is being done by someone else rather than ourselves.
(3) Fearis what robs our faith and diminishes it! Also, that Jesus’ main concern in is
the matter of faith in His disciples, and only in a storm do we discover if we
have faith or fear.
(4) Weare all going to face and go through storms in life. We are either in a storm,
coming out of a storm, or getting ready to enter a new storm! A storm can
destroy or develop you!
a. Sourcesof storms
(a) Ourchoices
(b) Otherpeople’s choices
(c) TheDevil or his demons
(d) TheLord Himself
b. Purposeof storms
(a) Toshow us if we have faith or fear in our lives
(b) Getour attention back towards God
(c) Dealwith a sin in our life
(d) Getus to let go and surrender something we’re holding on to
(e) Buildsome part of our character
(f) Toequip us in our service to God
(5) Wesee clearly in this passage how fear is the opposite of faith so let’s examine
carefully a comparison of the two:
(a) Adwelling place
i. Fear is a dwelling place of the Devil, aplace of empowerment and a base of operations to steal, kill, and destroy our vision,peace, hope, and future! Ephesians 4:27, a “measured outspace.” Consider what Jesus says in Luke 11: 24-26. The demon here considers
where he came out of as his “house” … “my house.” If the Holy Spirit doesn’t
fill the “house” your situation is going to get worse. It is also interesting
to note that the demon actually found “rest” in your life, although it is
causing a horrible life.
ii. Faith is a dwelling place for the HolySpirit, a place of empowerment and a base of operations to bring, release, and
maintain vision, peace, hope, and a future. Ephesians 4:18f
(b) Afoundation
i. Fear is a foundation for the Devil tobuild plans and schemes against us to steal, kill, and destroy us. First of
all, fear allows the devil to strengthen his possession or demonization of our
lives. Secondly, he uses fear to build strongholds to imprison us through bad
systems of thinking. Thirdly, he uses fear to build “Gates of Hell” to keep us
from growing any more in Christ.
ii. Faith is a foundation for the Holy Spiritto work on our behalf to share His plans for us, to give us the mind of Christ:
to first, cast out the devil, second to pull down strongholds, and third, to
break down “Gates of Hell,” and to build a godly, Spirit-filled powerful life,
along with giving us the kingdom! Whatever is not of faith is sin! In Hebrews
it is “by faith” that all the people did what they did. Luke 12:32; Luke
11:24-26; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Matthew 16:16-20
(c) Aweapon
i. Fear is a weapon in the Devil’s arsenal toattack us to steal, kill, and destroy us, to leave us powerless and paralyzed
with anxiety. His fiery darts are able to wound us at every turn.
ii. Faith is a weapon and a part of the Armorof God to quench all the fiery darts of the Devil and to hit him over the head
along with usage of the sword of the Spirit, the word of God and wound him!!!!
In addition releasing great confidence in our hearts to stand strong in every
battle and storm we face Psalm 27:1-3
(d) Ablanket
i. Fear is a blanket to cover us up so wecan’t see in keeping us in the dark. Also, to keep us comfortable in our sin
with no exposure. In addition to keep us in our comfort zone so we won’t take
any risks for the Lord.
ii. Faith is a blanket for the Holy Spirit tocomfort our pain and sorrows and to take care of us. Also, for the Holy Spirit
to comfort us by keeping us secure when we take risks in following His
direction and call. Isaiah 35:4
(e) Adoorway
i. Fear is a doorway for things of evil tohave free access to go in and out of our minds and hearts like falsehoods and
lies, sickness, hate, being disturbed and confused un our thinking.
ii. Faith is a doorway for the truth andthings of God to flow freely in our minds and hearts like power, healing, love,
truth, having a sound mind 2 Timothy 1:7
(6) Thisbrings us to an important matter of asking the question of how to break fear
and build faith in our lives!
(a) Exposureto the truth: Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
(b) Expulsionof the Devil James 4:7 deliverance, kicking the Devil out
(c) Drawclose to God and experience His perfect love James 4:8a; 1 John 4:18 Let your
desire turn to God Psalm 34:4
(d) Dealwith your sin in a serious way James 4: 8b-9
(e) Throughhumility surrender your life to the Lord by getting right with Him and filled
with the Holy Spirit James 4:10
(f) Abidein the Word “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God Romans 10:17
(g) Havea realization of humility and an understanding of what it means to be in
authority and under authority and live it out in life. Matthew 8:5-10. Please
understand the difference between presumption and faith… Faith is always based
on hearing the Word of God.