Faith Vs FateSample

Faith

Today we want to focus on the other belief system, and most believers live their lives by it - that is faith. The Greek word for faith according to Strong's concordance is "pistis", and it means "Firm persuasion" – a conviction based upon hearing. Strong also notes, "Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis ("faith") for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer, so they can know what He prefers, i.e., the persuasion of His will" – "for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4 NIV).

From the definition above we can see that faith is a gift given to men after they have put their trust in Him, and this faith isn't just given as a one-time gift but rather a continuous, growing, and progressive gift. I want you to pay close attention to this statement in the definition, "A conviction based on hearing." That is the way we get faith, the Bible tells us, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17 NKJV). True faith can only come by continuously hearing the words of Christ, the good news and the promises of God. The enemy of our souls, Satan, would love to engraft the erroneous belief of, "Whatever will be, will be," but God's words are true, powerful, and can chart a very different course for our lives even if we were previously heading for doom.

I am so grateful for the gift of faith because it changed my life, and I am praying it would change yours also. For many years I believed in fate, I believed my life was destined for doom and gloom. I believed I was useless because of the color of my skin and the texture of my hair, because of my lack of money, and educational background. I believed these lies because I had only heard words of rejection. The enemy magnified those words, and I had prepared myself to living a life of failure. Perhaps you are in a place where you are also listening to the lies of the enemy about your destiny. Perhaps the enemy has convinced you because of the alcoholic history, or violent and abusive traits of your father that you will also be like him, or maybe you come from deep poverty and have no education, or your family line is plagued with divorce and heartbreak and you believe you are heading down the same path.

I don't know what your plight might be, but the God who created you does, and if He spoke to you right now He would say, "Son or Daughter, I know your genealogy, history, and present, but I have always had a good plan for you, would you trust me in this moment and forget all the lies you've been told? Today I want to give you a gift called faith, and with it, you can chart a different course for your life. It doesn't have to turn out how it did for the generations past. Come to me, believe me, and I will give you rest."

"There is still One whose faith in you has never wavered. And how wonderful it is that that one should be Jesus Christ! It was a wonderful dream God dreamed; Christ says when He created you; it was a stately being that was in His mind when you were fashioned, and I can make you all He meant that you should be." ~ A. J. Gossip