@ Etude - Faith

@ Etude- Faith

Then Abram believed in ( affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to ) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man)

Genesis 15 v 6

Abram, the former name of Abraham, the father of faith as He came to be known in later ages, had an attitude of faith or trust in the Lord. A childless aged couple that Abram and Sara were, with both past the age of child bearing, the Lord promised them that they would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abram believed in the promises of the Lord even though at the time there was no physical evidence of it being fulfilled, the possibility of it coming true was also very remote. Given the reality of the world and our circumstances, it is often a great challenge to believe the Lord and His promises.

Scripture states that we need to believe that not only God exists, that He is faithful and able to do that which He has promised us. We need to affirm continually the specific promises we are praying and hoping that it would come true in our lives. We need to rely on these promises and act as if it is being fulfilled. When we so remain steadfast in our faith in the Lord and His word, it is attributed to us as righteousness. Faith is the source of our salvation, our victory, our blessings. In the absence of faith, even Jesus could not do miracles in some places He went to. Faith implies that we trust the Lord more than we trust anyone else on Earth. It begins a relationship and communication with the Lord based on love. We who are otherwise insignificant become significant in the eyes of the Lord. He begins to count us as one of His children and a part of the kingdom of God. We no longer rely entirely on our owns strengths or abilities but rely on the power and grace of God.

Faith moves mountains by opening up fountains of hope, joy, power inside our hearts. We have not only a direct hotline connection to communicate with the Lord but a channel through which the blessings and power of the Lord flows in and through our lives. We are called to have not a blinding faith but a binding faith, in the sense, we do not say good bye to our reasoning, the need for discipline, diligence and persistence, the scope for the natural and the scientific elements in our lives. Faith is what binds all these aspects of our lives into a meaningful, effective and useful pattern.