For we walk by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7
Everything good God has for us is provided in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. Faith doesn’t create anything new. It can’t create healing or deliverance or provision. Faith takes what God has already provided. When we make ourselves the authors and the finishers of our own faith, we aren’t going to like the results. Anytime we make receiving from God about ourselves—when we think we have to do something to earn the favor of God—we become disappointed and disillusioned.
“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk’” (Acts 3:11-12, NKJV)?
These two Spirit-filled men knew that this miracle was not anything they had done. They knew it was the supernatural power of God that flowed through them that had made a change in this man’s life. From lame to healed, this man was now whole.
“Through faith in the name of Jesus,” Peter said, “this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes” (Acts 3:16).
We never receive the promises of God through anyone else’s work or through our own work. We only receive by exercising the measure of faith Christ has given us (Galatians 2:16, Romans 12:3).
Do you have peace one moment and live in fear the next? You can never walk in the peace of God when circumstances or the opinions of others determine your life. These are unfinished and changing and always will be. But the finished work of Jesus on the Cross for you is complete. It is unchanging.
What you believe in your heart determines the course of your life (Proverbs 23:7). When you believe in your heart that Christ’s work on the Cross for you is finished, then you know that there is nothing you have to do to win God’s favor and love. You know you are favored and loved. You live in His peace that passes human reasoning and removes everything you thought necessary to be His. You are unhindered and free to receive His love.
Faith that receives from God is faith that comes from hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). The mind of Christ takes hold, and His Word speaks truth to you (1 Corinthians 2:16). Your beliefs are changed by God’s truth (Romans 12:2). When you seek God with all your heart, you are rewarded (Hebrews 11:6). You know that He is who He says He is in your life.
It is only through faith in the finished work of Christ—in the name that is above all names—that you receive what God has already provided for you in His finished work of grace.
Exercise faith to believe what Christ has given you. Choose to believe that truth and take possession of the new life that is yours in Christ. Walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
© 2023 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2023/05/walk-by-faith.html
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