Once in a while I stop and study nature, watching the birds and frogs and butterflies and all the little creatures; I also watch the flowers and the grass and the stars in the heavens. I consider the human body with its intricate workings, like its ability to give us thoughts, as well as the ability to act on those thoughts. I watch anything and everything I can.
As I study these things, I am struck with the mastery of their existence, and the intricacies of each and every aspect of their being. And, being mindful that God has fashioned and formed them from nothing, I reach a place where I can do nothing but stand in awe of the living God, for He is beyond comprehension. And, when I reach this place, I understand the simplicity of faith, that it is simply a child-like trust in the One in whom we live and move and have our being.
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Everything Christians do is done by faith. We walk by faith, live by faith, endure by faith, pray the prayer of faith, etc. The KJV says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
So, how do we attain this substance and this evidence? Do we claim and strive and rebuke until they are established in our mind? Do we enter into a mind game and refuse to entertain doubt? Absolutely not!
We, instead, trust our Father for He is light, and in Him there is no darkness; and, being light without a speck of darkness, He cannot lie, therefore, He is always faithful. If we find ourselves doubting from time to time, we need only confess those doubts and ask for His help.
Dear friends, our Father’s character is beyond reproach. Therefore the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen are found not in a feeling or a thought, or in any other part of us, but in the integrity of God who is always faithful and cannot lie. Faith rests in the integrity of God. Anything beyond this is of the evil one.
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Many Christians place too much attention on the devil. When he comes near, they take their focus off Jesus and begin talking to Satan, rebuking him, and claiming authority over him, etc. They do the same when he comes near others; they rebuke and demand he leave them alone. But is this biblical? No, it is not.
There is much in the Bible about God rebuking man, but nothing about man rebuking Satan, except when Jesus rebuked Peter by saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He was not calling Peter Satan himself; He was likening Peter to an adversary.
The Bible tells us we are to resist the devil and stand firm in our faith. If we do this, the God of all grace will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us. We need only trust God. He sent His Son not only to forgive our sins, but to deliver us from our sins as well. Do you think that if we resist the devil through faith in the sacrifice His Son our Father will allow the devil to overcome us?
Those who believe in Jesus walk by faith in Jesus. They trust Him for, and in, all things. This includes the forces of darkness and all other forces and foes; they trust Jesus to deliver them, firm in their faith that He is a perfect Savior. They find no need to rebuke the devil, or bind him, or send him away. They simply submit to God, resist the devil, and he flees from them.
This is walking by faith.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
jondavidbanks.com 