1089 Proving God's Will Pt-7

This message continues with the importance of proving God's will rather than just assuming that if it sounds right to us it must be right. It also begins to makes clear how the fruit of the Spirit will change our responses to everyday difficulties and temptations.
God has made it very clear that there are priorities for us if we are going to accomplish what He desires. First is FAITH; this is not only essential for salvation, "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness", but it is also a necessity to accomplish the reason we have been created, "thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created". The question then is how to increase faith.
First is faith by exposure to the word of God, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". Second is experience. In Matthew chapter 16 Jesus said to His disciples, "O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?". As we experience God's deliverance in our lives it increases faith. Third it is a gift from God in the fruit of the Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance".
The problem for us all is that fear and faith work like a teeter-totter. When we are overwhelmed by eminent peril our faith can be reduced to zero. (Continued in the PDF Text)