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Adding to your Faith? (Part one)

Curtis

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Adding to your Faith? (Part one)

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust
2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE; AND TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE;
2PE 1:6 AND TO KNOWLEDGE TEMPERANCE; AND TO TEMPERANCE PATIENCE; AND TO PATIENCE GODLINESS;
2PE 1:7 AND TO GODLINESS BROTHERLY KINDNESS; AND TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS CHARITY.


How does someone “add” to their faith? The word “add” here means, “to supply, to give, and or to furnish”. Jesus referred to “faith” as a servant of the believer.

Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, IF YE HAD FAITH as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and IT SHOULD OBEY YOU.
Luke 17:7 But WHICH OF YOU, HAVING A SERVANT PLOWING OR FEEDING CATTLE, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
Luke 17:8 And WILL NOT RATHER SAY UNTO HIM, MAKE READY WHEREWITH I MAY SUP, AND GIRD THYSELF, AND SERVE ME, TILL I HAVE EATEN AND DRUNKEN; AND AFTERWARD THOU SHALT EAT AND DRINK?

Jesus speaking to his Apostles revealed that faith is just like a “servant” who goes and does what his master wants. Once faith finishes its job it brings the fruit of its labor to its master, and then later that servant (faith) is fed. Feeding faith is sending it back out to do other work for its master. Faith always needs a work to perform!

As Jesus said, "if you had faith as a seed you might say unto this sycamine tree...." Faith without the saying is dead!!! The saying part is the work that faith is to perform. Faith without works is dead. (James 2:26) Faith without works is like a building contractor who has not been given at task to build anything! We add to our faith by supplying to it words that describe the work it is to perform. In other words, we supply (add) to our faith through words!

We know that through faith God “FRAMED” the world by his Word.

Heb 11:3 THROUGH FAITH we understand that THE WORLDS WERE FRAMED BY THE WORD OF GOD so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Words “frame” an image to what a person who has faith wants, and through faith they come to pass. Faith brings what words frame it to be!! The very first thing we should supply to our faith is the “desire to please God' which is the very foundation of Christianity!

2 Peter 1:5 “.......ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE......”

Virtue means, “ righteousness, morality, excellence, valor, desiring to please God, Christain energy”

No man could be moral, righteous, a man of valor or ever have excellence without first wanting to please his creator who is the source from where virtue comes from.

A Christian is righteous, moral, bold as a lion, and pleasing to God only because all of these things come as a result of supplying to our faith God's word (the Gospel) that reveals to us these things, and makes them a reality. Since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, (Romans 10:17) we are put our faith right back into the Word from where faith came from. This would also be known as "sowing to the Spirit" (Gal 6:8) Faith is a spirit, and the spirit of faith comes when it hears the Word of God!! (2 Cor 4:13)

Sowing to the Spirit is also "supplying (adding) to our faith"

Php 2:13 FOR GOD IS WORKING IN YOU, GIVING YOU THE DESIRE AND THE POWER TO DO WHAT PLEASES HIM. (NLT)

The Lord is not going to give us a desire to please him without us first wanting to please him!

Eph 5:8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
Eph 5:10 and TRY TO DISCERN WHAT IS PLEASING TO THE LORD.

Heb 11:6 And WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to PRESENT YOUR BODIES AS A SACRIFICE — ALIVE, HOLY, AND PLEASING TO GOD— which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD — WHAT IS GOOD AND WELL-PLEASING AND PERFECT.

2Co 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Co 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 So whether we are at home or away, we make IT OUR AIM TO PLEASE HIM.
 
Do not be conformed to this present world
"but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Isaiah 35:5

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:9
 
"but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
There is no doubt that the renewing of the physical mind in our head is of vital importance which if we don't do it will at all time strive against the spirit so that we can not do things we want.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The things we want to do is to be changed into the man we already are in Christ. The fleshly mind cannot see spiritual things because it is of the flesh. The spiritual mind of Christ in our heart has no problems seeing the things not seen with our physical eyes, or understand in our carnal mind. Seeing, and understanding of spiritual things is only done with the rebirth human spirit. It is with the "heart" that man believes....(Romans 10:10) It is with mans "heart" that man understands...... (Matt 13:15)
 
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