“The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Because our Christian lives are lived in our bodies, we will always be tempted in
our flesh. We can become fearful, anxious, discouraged or depressed, or we can
experience sicknesses, weakness, and eventually death.
Yet our Christian lives are lived “by faith in the Son of God.” Col. 1:27b says,
“…Christ IN you, the hope of glory.” Our Lord Jesus dwells IN us through the
presence of the blessed Holy Spirit. This means that He can make our decisions
for us and help us to have faith, even in trying and difficult circumstances, using
His precious power for us to exercise faith.
The Bible states – “No one who is born of God will continue to sin” (1 John 3:9).
Yet, “if we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us” (1 John 1:8), but it is only the power of the Holy Spirit which makes it
possible for us to persevere when we face temptations during the challenges of
life we face.
ALL of us are tempted differently, and at various levels, but in Christ we become
a new creation, a creation that grows and matures as we practice faith which
our Lord gives to us as we study the Word, and we pray and strive to become
more Christ-like in our attitudes and behaviour.
If we live by faith and allow our Good Shepherd to guide us in all our decisions,
then we can also trust Him for the results and consequences of those decisions.
In the struggles and battles we face, we can say, “I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The Son of God
is with us, and He loves us with an exceedingly great, compassionate and
understanding love. He gives us great faith when we trust Him! His love and
faith in us, builds our own faith. This not only assures and encourages, us, but
strengthens us and enables us to face our tomorrows without fear or anxiety.
Living by faith means we need not despair. Sometimes we might feel defeated,
and we can become downhearted, thinking we have failed, but we need to “…fix
our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from
sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2 +3)
Pastor Colin Smith wrote – “Where there is faith, there will be hope and humility
– humility that knows we have nothing without Christ and hope that, in Him, we
have all things.”
Precious loving Abba Father, the One who arranges our lives and destinies when we place our faith and trust in You – Thank You that “Nothing is impossible with You (Luke 1:37) and that we can “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of God.” Please help us to study Your Word more diligently and thoroughly. Thank You so much that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We ask Thee, as the disciples asked You in Luke 17:5 – “Lord, increase our faith!” We love and adore You our blessed Redeemer, Protector and Lord! Amen
Myrtle Turunen