DAY 4: WALK BY FAITH

This “Walk With Jesus” can largely be summed up in one sentence, “Grace made it, faith takes it.” Let’s refer back to a scripture we’ve already referenced on Day 1 of our devotional.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Ephesians 2:8 KJV

Notice, this gift of salvation is extended to us by way of GRACE and received THROUGH FAITH.

This is the whole ball game, folks. As new covenant believers, our trust and faith is not supposed to be like it was under the old system that brought forth a demand and pressure on our “holiness performance”. In our new covenant agreement, it says THE WORK IS FINISHED and completed by the blood of Jesus (John 19:30). You are no longer TRYING to be righteous and falling short at every turn, no, you have now been DECLARED righteous, holy, and redeemed by what has been done FOR you (Romans 5:1). Now it’s up to you to take that righteousness provided by GRACE through the measure of FAITH that has already been distributed to every man (Romans 12:3).

Grace is an unmerited favor poured out on us. GOD did that for us. It takes FAITH to believe in what GOD did for us through the sacrifice of Jesus. It takes FAITH to believe that the blood of Jesus was enough and to receive that which grace has made available. Without that faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed in (trusted, relied on) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living, right standing with God).””

Romans 4:3 AMP

Here we see that Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his BELIEF… And scripture says that is the same way we are credited righteousness as well.

“Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—”

Romans 4:16 AMP

You see, your salvation in Christ supersedes your emotions, your feelings, and your 5 physical senses. Get rid of the “well, I just don’t FEEL saved” mentality. Your salvation is not fickle. It’s not turned on one day and off the next. Your salvation isn’t built upon a goosebump and it’s not torn down by the hands of your weakness and frailty. Just like the old song says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name”. You do not have to be intimidated by your own weaknesses and shortcomings when you lean into this new and better covenant of grace that God has made with you through faith in the finished works of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

I’ll say it again, our 5 physical senses are not supposed to be the ruler and governor of our lives. Faith is!! We are called to LIVE by faith and WALK by faith (Hebrews 10:38, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1), not by what we see or feel.

The moment you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you SHALL BE SAVED (Romans 10:9). There’s no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it; your SPIRIT became instantly brand new! It’s like you became a new species that has never existed before! The old sinful nature passed away and all things became new because He who knew no sin judiciously became sin on your behalf so that you might become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). This is why we don’t go by what we see! This is why we keep running with endurance and we don’t give up! There’s more happening than what meets the natural eyes! Even if we’re to look like we’re falling apart on the outside, the Bible says that our inward man is being renewed day by day! The things that we can see are always bound to change. If you can see it, it can change… but the things that we CANNOT SEE are eternal, forever (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)! This is why we walk by faith and not by sight!

This walk of faith will trickle into every single area of your life (as it should). The more convinced and confident you become in the blood of Jesus and what it’s accomplished, the less the cares of this world will have on you. The more convinced you are of the chastisement of our peace being placed upon Jesus (Isaiah 53:5), the less willing you are to give up that peace under any circumstances. Indeed, if it costs your peace, it’ll be too expensive. The act of casting your cares on Jesus is an act of faith. The act of trusting in God over money, is an act of faith. The act of not crumbling under a bad doctor’s report & instead believing what the Word says, is an act of faith. Refusing to move into fear when the rest of the world is freaking out, is an act of faith - and this is how THE JUST are called to live!