Faith That Goes the Distance

Faith That Goes the DistancePastor Ken Polk "The just shall live by faith" Romans 1:17God, throughout the scriptures spoke through anointed men to convey the message, that those whom have been justified must live by faith. It is paramount that we become strong in faith, because we are living in days which will test the very fabric of our belief system.In Hebrews 11:6 we find written these words, "But without faith it is impossible to please him." If you conduct an extensive word study on the word "please" you'll discover to please someone you'll have to be in agreement with them. So let's paraphrase that verse. But without faith it is impossible to line your life up in agreement with God. Therefore, in order to tap into the rich resources God has for every believer, your life must be in agreement with His. The success of your Christian walk and relationship with God is predicated by the level of your faith. Moreover, faith is the foundation of your Christian experience.The word "faith" is properly defined by the Greek word pistis. Pistis is defined as firm persuasion, or to persuade, a conviction based upon hearing. It implies knowledge of, assent to, and confidence in divine truths, and revelations of the Word of God. The scripture proclaim "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17. The problem is most people take the word "hearing" literality. However, it's not speaking of hearing with your physical ears, but hearing within your spirit being.The only way the word is going to produce faith in the life of a believer; the word must become a living rehema within the soul of man, thus producing a life changing experience. Simply, the engrafted word becomes alive and real in the heart of the hearer, and he or she will begin to act according to the Word of God applying biblical principles to their daily life. This transformation of life will also change the quality of their life. The level of your faith is contingent upon the amount of the living word engrafted within your inner man.So how does one faith grow? I quoted earlier from Romans 10:17, "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Looking at the seed principle mostly everything is the product of a seed. Man, animals, plants and even fruit has its origin from a seed. Jesus said "the sower sows the word." Mark 4:14. In Luke 8:11 Jesus told us that, "the seed is the Word of God." When a pastor or teacher ministers the word, he or she is sowing seed. The seed of the word is trying to penetrate the soul of man. Once the (word) breaches the soul it will either give birth to a living word (rhema), or it will be aborted.According to Luke 8:12-14 Jesus said, "that being an indifferent hearer, the cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and being not rooted in Christ" would cause the seed of the word to become aborted. However, if the seed of the word is birthed within the soul a living word (rhema) is born. This living word will influence the spirit of man prompting a visible outward illustration of Christ and the faith walk. The just shall live by his faith.The Bible speaks of various levels of faith ranging from a measure to the God kind of faith. The stronger you are in faith will determine how victorious you will be in your spiritual life. Is your faith strong enough to go the distance?