How to use Faith

 

    Faith is trusting God in real time.  It is an action plan that keeps you in step with Jesus.  You listen to the directions of the Holy Spirit and move in confidence.  You start with building daily habits that grow you closer to God.

    You use your faith by spending time in God's word to know what His standards are.  You find a quiet place to pray over what you are reading and what is happening in your life.  Then you meditate while you wait to listen to how the Holy Spirit responds or look for how God has answered your prayers.  You step out into the world thinking about what you studied and how to use it personally today.  Your faith is built up over time.

    When life gets challenging speak God's truth to yourself, but also out loud.  It is a part of your testimony.  It makes you strong.  Sometimes you are doing it in a prayer.  This is good.  It gives your prayer power.  The more you trust God the more powerful your words and actions will have in the world around you.

    When you read God's Word replace all the pronouns with me and I.  It personalizes the Bible for you to be aware that it was written for you and not just people from long ago.  Use whatever method that works for you to memorize Bible versus and focus on their context so that you do not misuse them later.  

    Speak God's truth and promises out loud so that they are enforced in how you believe in God.  When you pray over scriptures it also helps take away the fear, anxiety, and worry the world gave you with faith.  You are not as stuck as you may think.  You do have options that can make you confident to live in this world with no regrets or shame.

    God is loyal, faithful, creator, and miracle worker.  He can be trusted.  Write down or record His promises as you come across them.  Use His promises as your shield of faith.  The will diffuse whatever lies Satan is throwing at you.  God loves you and is with you.  He will not leave you to fight alone.

Deuteronomy 7:7-11, Psalms 118:5-9, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 41:8-10, Romans 8:26-30, 10:16-18, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Ephesians 6:13-16, & Hebrews 10:23-25

Faith Application

 

    You apply faith onto your armor of God when you believe that what God says and does is true.  It is simple, but it takes practice.  Demons believe, but do not follow Jesus.  You have to believe and follow Jesus to have the protection of faith.  It is not words.  Faith applied to your life is choosing to act on the truth daily.

    God is  truth.  When you walk in faith in His truth you embrace the power that He provides in protection for yourself and the church.  Walking in faith helps you recover from disappointment.  You have the ability to see setbacks as building blocks or protection.  Your perception changes in a way that gives you life instead of draining you. 

    Applying faith every day is using your feelings, but not allowing your feelings to control you.  They are indicators to help you with direction, but they were never meant to be your driving force.  That power belongs to God.  When you allow feelings to lead you will get yourself in kinds of trouble.  If you use your feelings to pray for direction and perspective, then you move forward with a confident strategy.

    You need to know God's voice to be able to walk in faith.  That is why you have to put on the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of peace first.  They prepare you to follow God's directions.  God's Word and character never change; however, the Holy Spirit personalized how you need to use it in your life.  You have to listen to Him to act wisely.  The Holy Spirit will convict, enlighten God's Word, guide, and lead you based on Biblical principles.

    To be a Christian is a privilege.  Anyone can have it, but only a few accept His gift of salvation and walking in faith.  A lifestyle of faith requires change from your old lifestyle.  You have to learn how to forgive, watch your words, choose gratitude over anxiety, be a part of the church, tithe, fast, pray, and submit to authority.  You have to flee from sexual immorality and watch over your relationships with discernment.  You have to believe that God is with you even when you don't feel Him.  Faithful obedience removes your fear, so you can be bold, strong, and courageous.  This is the truth that you live out in self-discipline, joy, and faith.  

Deuteronomy 31:4-6, Malachi 3:8-12, Matthew 4:1-2, Luke 5:1-11, John 10:25-30, 16:5-15, Romans 13:1-5, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, 2 Corinthians 2:5-8, 6:14-18, Ephesians 4:28-29, 6:13-16, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Timothy 1:5-7, Hebrews 10:23-25, & 1 John 2:26-27

Practicing Faith

 

     Practicing your faith is how you prepare for spiritual warfare.  You have to exercise and workout what you believe to be able to stand firm when it matters.  You have to know what the Bible says to be convicted to stand true to it.  You are investing your time and energy into your relationship with God.  This may cost you sleep, free time, or in some other way, but it makes you stronger in the long run.

    Faith is a commitment signed at salvation in the blood of Jesus and you admitting you need him.  You declaring your faith makes a statement of where you stand in the world and who you belong to.  It is the beginning of building your foundation in faith.  It goes deep and is strong.  You can be confident that it will hold up against any enemy if you do it God's way.  If you build it on your own without God it will crumble to dust.

    The shield of faith is heavy, but not nearly as heavy to fight the eternal battle without it.  It's barrier is your trust in God.  The more you pick it up the easier it becomes because your faith is getting stronger.  God will prove Himself consistent.  It is you that has to prove it to yourself to be faithful.  

    Your faith does not control God, but it gives you self-control and clarity in how God is directing you.  Faith simply gives you access to God.  He is the one in control.  You can get with His program or you can walk away and loose grace.  Having faith is about God, not you.  It is you submitting to His authority and trusting that it is right.  You become loyal to your eternal family.

    Your faith allows you to be in God's presence to know Him better.  The better you know Him the more you understand.  Change comes with understanding, but you are the one who changes not God.  Your faith becomes stronger with understanding that turns into wisdom.  It enables you to carry the weight of faith.  

    A key factor to faith is forgiveness.  The weight of faith becomes a lot easier to carry when you are able to forgive.  Bitterness, anger, and hatred are heavy loads that deplete your endurance and ability to love.  They will make it where you are unable to move forward or hold the shield of faith for any battle.  Forgiveness is essential to be able to carry the shield of faith.  Let go of grudges and hurt feelings to be strong.  It doesn't make you a pushover.  It makes you are warrior whom mind will not be muddled by negative feelings.  It helps you from succumbing to fear, doubt, or evil thoughts.

    You only need a little faith.  It goes a long way.  A little faith can move mountains, but you do have to believe.  Faith in God in all things is good faith.  When you are struggling to move forward you only need to lean on God more.  You don't need more faith you need more dependance.  Practicing your faith is practicing in changing your perspective on situations and who God is.  Challenge your focus to understand Jesus better.  This is how anything becomes possible.

Deuteronomy 7:7-11, Psalm 36:5-9, 100, Isaiah 25:1-3, Matthew 6:28-30, 8:26, 16:7-11, Luke 17:5-6, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, Ephesians 2:8-10, 6:13-16, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, & 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Faith Strategy

 

    Faith is your action strategy for spiritual warfare.  It is your shield from Satan's fiery arrows.  When you enter into spiritual warfare it is a risk, but with a wise strategy, sound direction, and clarity it is a lot less risky than doing nothing.  You can be secure in your actions instead of acting impulsively.  

    When Satan is shooting his arrows, they are meant to kill your testimony, drive, or even your life.  If they hit and get past your armor then he causes doubt, insecurity, temptation, guilt, depression, and more things that steal your ability to live abundantly.  Every arrow that hits is a short win for Satan.  He knows your habits, attitude, how you think, fears, and weaknesses.  He will use what he knows to make a strategic plan.  He is not stupid, but he is not too creative either.  

    Satan's main strategy is to keep you busy, distracted, or confused.  All of these will keep you from serving God's plan for your life.  He will cause chaos in your life to try to keep you away from God.  Your Shield of faith is your defense against Satan.  Your strategy is to stay close to God and listen to the Holy Spirit.  You do this by spending time in God's Word and prayer.  

    The shield of faith has benefits which are found in God's Word.  You can find many of them in the hall of faith found in Hebrews 11.  The belt, breastplate, and shoes are on a Christian at all times even if you do not know how to use them well.  Faith on the other hand you can put down.  There are times in your life that your faith is stronger than other times.  It is not a linear timetable.  You have to choose to take up your faith for battle every day.

    Walking in faith is you being prepared for spiritual battle.  You walk with urgency and intention.  You choose to face the demonic attacks instead of trying to hide or ignore.  You push past your insecurities, doubt, and fear to walk with Jesus.  Walking with Jesus will make you bold, confident, and hopeful.  He is not intimidates, so when you are with him it is easier to feel courageous.  

    You may have to walk with Jesus for a while before you feel it, but after a few victories you see how powerful God is and it rubs off on you.  You also need to walk into battle with your fellow believers.  You are stronger together than when each trying to fight an army on your own.  The strategy is simple link shields in Bible study, walk out together, and place scripture on your shield to put out the fires.  Walk in confidence because you have God and other Christians fighting with you.  

    Alone you are easy to pick off.  At the same time if you do not join the fight you make God's army a little weaker.  He made it where we need each other for a reason.  You are stronger together.  You may not like everyone, but you can still be united.  

    Your faith strategy is choosing to believe in God's Word.  Then walk into the world prepared and confident that He is protecting you.  Walk in truth and ignores all of Satan's lies.  Trust in God's power over what may be visible in front of you. Trust in God's plan.

Proverbs 3:5-6, Ecclesiastes 4:4-12, Jeremiah 29:10-14, Mark 11:22-26, Romans 10:16-19, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Ephesians 2:1-10, 6:13-16, Philippians 4:10-14, Hebrews 11:7-31, & 1 John 5:1-5

Shield of Faith

 

    Faith is trusting in God no matter what.  It is the shield that covers your entire body armor of truth, righteousness, and peace.  As Satan's arrows are aimed at you the shield will protect your armor.  The arrows will not penetrate what God is protecting, but that does not mean that you will not feel the impact or the heat from the fire arrows.  Your faith is your shield from evil.  Yahweh Magen is your shield.

    You hold the power of faith when you pray and know God will answer.  When you ask you receive.  You no longer fear the world because you know God is stronger than anything that comes up against you.  It allows you to handle life's stressful situations with grace, patience, and stride.

    Faith is not something you should talk about, but utilize everyday.  It should be your testimony not a sermon.  Faith is your relationship with Jesus in action.  It is simple, but it can't be explained.  You have it or you don't.  The best explanation is you believe in something you didn't see, but know it is real to the point you would be willing to die for your belief.  For Christians it is the death, resurrection, ascension, and upcoming return of Jesus.

    The shield of faith is powerful because you use it every day.  You keep it in top condition as you walk through life with Jesus.  Life is always changing.  Nothing stays the same, but your faith and what it is rooted in.  This gives you the security to go through life surefooted and strong.  You have to workout your faith.  Trusting God is simple, but you have to work through your own issues to put your trust in God.  It sometimes takes trials and tribulations to trust God in every area of your life.

    Faith gives your conviction for what you believe.  How you live it out is evidence to the world of why you believe in Jesus.  The more you walk in faith the more clearly you can hear the Holy Spirit guiding you.  If you are not living out what you claim to believe, then you faith is dead.  It will not protect you and it does not hold any power.  When you live by faith you are living as if God has already given what you asked for (or need) to you even though you haven't received it yet.  God keeps His promises and all you have to do is live like you have them already.

Exodus 11:4-12:13, Joshua 2:8-21, 6:24-25, Proverbs 30:5-6, Daniel 6:6-23, Ephesians 6:13-16, Hebrews 11:1-3, & James 2:19-26

How to use Peace

 

    To be able to use the shoes of peace your first need to put on the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness.  You need the truth that comes from the Good News to have salvation.  Once you have salvation, you can start using the Bible for protection and advancement in spiritual warfare.

    True peace that comes from God does not mean that all your problems go away.  When you become a Christians and start following Jesus typically life can become harder, but you have peace in your heart because you know God is in control.  You have His promises to hold onto and know that He is working for the good in the situation.  He may feel silent, but that means He is doing something that will rattle the enemy and is not ready for them to know what it is yet.

    Peace is a gift from the Holy Spirit that can remove anxiety and discomfort in your heart when you surrender them to Jesus.  It allows you to live in harmony.  When you are anxious turn to prayer and remember God's promises.  Write them out if you need to.  Peace become obtainable when you fix your mind on God instead of living life.  Stay close to Jesus in your walk and you can trust that He will guide your steps to safety.  His very presence should give you peace.  Work with other prayer warriors to pursue peace.

    Take advantage of the Bible.  God is the best instructor.  His ways will not lead you astray.  If you need peace go to Him in prayer and Word for instruction on how to proceed.  The Bible doesn't always spell it out, but it does have clarity.  Sometimes you have to keep going in faith before things become clear.  Trust God's Word to guide you, keep you steadfast, provide assurance, is true, and capable of defending you.  This is how you find peace in the middle of spiritual warfare.  

    When you are in battle never forget who is fighting for you.  Pray without ceasing and trust that He is listening and directing an answer to your prayers.  Prayer can provide strategy on how you need to move forward, but always compare it to God's Word.  When you are vulnerable Satan can always put ideas or thoughts in your mind too.  Always compare your plan to the Bible to confirm that it is Biblical or to change direction.

Isaiah 26:1-6, John 14:27-29, Romans 12:17-18, Ephesians 1:12-14, 6:13-15, Philippians 4:6-7, & Colossians 3:12-15

Putting on Peace

 

    You need the shoes of peace in the armor of God to be able to be involved.  It is called Christian walk for a reason.  You were never called to sit on the sidelines and watch.  You are called to be active in the area God has placed on you.  You need the gospel and an active prayer life to be prepared to be active in your calling.

    The shoes of the gospel enables you to be sure-footed and steadfast in your faith.  That means you are prepared for spiritual warfare.  God is the owner of you armor, so you know it is in the best condition.  If it is not working, then it means you are putting it on correctly or at all.  If you want to be victorious, then you need to follow instructions when putting on the armor and using it.

    In your Christian walk you are not sitting and waiting for an opportunity to proclaim God's Word or fight a battle.  You have to be in God's Word to prepare.  You need the truth to protect your core values, righteousness that comes from salvation, and shoes prepared to run or enforce where you stand.  

    The gospel is the good news.  It needs to be shared so other people have the opportunity to obtain peace.  Your faith is your defense, but it is also your testimony.  It helps you move forward prepared for anything, but at the same time giving God's love to the world.  No enemy can steal that from you.  If you align yourself with God, then strongholds, lies, and sin no longer have power over you unless you give it power.

    Get into the Gospel to strap on your shoes because you don't know what the day has in store for you.  I guarantee if you are prepared, then it will be easier to handle.  Your shoes help you be proactive instead of reactive in life.  They help you move forward and not get stuck in the past (guilt or avoidant).  

    Having access to God's Word is a privilege.  Do not disregard it.  Instead allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into clarity and peace.  Find your strength in God.  Allow Him to build up your character to be intimidating to the enemy.  Be prepared to stand your ground with God.

Isaiah 11:1-5, 52:7-10, 59:9-20, Matthew 20:8-16, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Ephesians 2:17-18, 6:13-15, & Colossians 2:6-7