YOUR FAITH - Part Eight

"Your Faith Will Make You Family"

By Robert Bailes

Have you ever been talking to someone and found out that you were related somehow? You might have very well said at that moment,
"Hey! That makes us family!".

What takes place in the next few minutes following this revelation seems to be nothing less than a supernatural act of God! All of a sudden, as you reflect back on memories from the past about certain family members, you begin to feel a trust in each other in a way that you wouldn't trust just anybody. You may even start to feel as though you have known each other all your lives. There is a sense of camaraderie and strength in knowing that your blood and DNA trace back to a common person who had your family name. Although, some relatives, who we usually won't even mention, can cause us to run and hide when we are reminded of our relation to them! Hmm? They're all a part of our heritage, good and bad, of course.

I was reading a verse one day from the book of 1John and I suddenly felt that sense of strength and camaraderie come over me, as I realized that I have a relative that was on this earth and who overcame every trouble or distraction while living in this world. When I read this passage, it became clear that having this relative gave me a royal heritage and reminded me to live this life that I have, serving his Father in Heaven. But there are allot of others who are also related that carry with them the same royalty as I do. Let's look at this passage together,

1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

You see, experiencing the benefits of being born into God's family gives us the adoption that literally makes us a child of God living in victory that will overcome the world!

We can see in this passage what it is that we receive when we are born into God's family. What it is, is that we will receive something that makes us victorious over the attacks and deceit of the world. What the child of God receives is their FAITH!

Just take a moment and think about how powerful it is to be able to overcome anything this world tosses at us! Then think about how you typically feel when the irritations and trials begin to take place in your life. Do you feel as if you are able to overcome them as we see in this passage or do you feel more like you are overwhelmed by them?

If you feel overwhelmed, could you have forgotten the victory found in becoming a child of God or maybe your faith has been clouded by the shadows of doubt that satan casts over all who gives ear to his lies. See, satan loves to gain control of our lives through our minds. If satan can produce doubt, fear and anger beginning in our minds, he also gains control of how we live our life and this effects all who are around us. Men effect their wives; wives effect their husbands; parents effect their children; children effect their friends and on it goes. This is the setting on fire the act of nature that we read about in James 3:6. Our actions never go out without some kind of effect on the world round us.

We all make that decision each day of our lives. We either live our life overcoming the world or overwhelmed by the world. Which one best describes how you are living your life today? Why is this so? Think about your answer for a few minutes and take it very seriously, my friend. It could literally change your life for the better or worse!

Not only do we become Sons of God when we receive our faith that overcomes this world; we also take on a whole different lifestyle. If we resist the new life that God gives us as His children, we could find ourselves trying to deal with the hardships of life all on our own. Take a look at the kind of change in lifestyle that our God tells us we will experience as one of His children.

1Peter 5:4-6
6 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

This passage refers to our God as the chief Shepard of His sheep, we who are His children will receive this crown that Peter speaks of in verse six that will never corrode. Think about that for a second! A crown of glory that will last forever; a gift from God in whom we put our faith and trust! That's exciting news for all who live by His Word. What do you think this crown of glory is for? It is the glory of God being shared with all who are in His family when we reunite with Him one day in Heaven.

That newly adopted lifestyle that I was referring to is described in the verses five and six. Peter goes on to say that we should submit ourselves in respect to those who are older and more experienced. We should all be subject to each other and our lives should portray an attitude of willingness to lower ourselves in humility. But, why should we have to be so humble?
I used to think about this and wonder why my parents always told me,"It's better to be humble than it is to be proud". They were repeating the words of Peter in this passage, but why? I did not know.

Looking at verse five, we see that God resists the proud. This literally means in the Greek that God "arranges Himself against" that proud person. Then we see that God gives grace to the humble. When I looked at the Greek for the word "grace" used in this passage, I found that in the literal translation, it sounds like the very thing every person hopes and wishes they could attain in their lives. The word grace in this verse is "charis" in the Greek; pronounced khar-ece.
The Greek word charis means graciousness; gratifying; especially the divine influence upon the heart and it's reflection in the life; including gratitude: acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, joy liberality, pleasure, thank.

1Peter 5:5b - ......for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.

So, who receives this favour from God?

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion of "Your Faith Will Make You Family"!