PAGE 4 MANIFESTING CHRIST - "FOR WE WALK BY FAITH..." April 20, 2006 FAITH IN THE UNSEEN continued Or, as Andrew Murray wrote: FAITH TAKES GOD AT HIS WORD. FAITH IS FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
FAITH IS SURRENDER TO GOD.
FAITH COMES FROM A RELATIONSHIP One of the best and most succinct definitions of faith I have read was by Andrew Murray. He wrote:
Faith is the faculty of the soul that recognizes the unseen, the divine. It receives the impr ession of the divine presence when God draws near. It accepts what the Holy Spirit brings and gives to us. These words connect with me since this is how God has operated with me. I found that
as I spent more time in prayer and abiding in the Lord's Presence and the more I quieted myself there, the more I began to be aware of God's Presence and God's Spirit working in me. And while there were times Jesus or the Spirit of God would speak to me, more often I just knew that whenever Jesus or the Spirit of God was there to communicate to me was being absorbed by my spirit and was there within me even though I could not verbalize it yet. I knew that the Spirit of God was impressing something upon and into my soul which would eventually reveal itself in God's Time. I remember too, there were times I would even see Jesus in a vision and He would be talking to me but I couldn't seem to hear what He was saying. However, I didn't worry about it because I knew that my spirit-man was hearing what He was saying and it would later be worked out through my soul. I knew to just receive what God was giving me even though I intellectually did not understand a thing about what was being impressed or imparted to me. Again, though, most of the time when I pray and abide in the Lord's Presence 1 don't usually see Jesus nor do I receive words but rather I have learned to be content in just resting in His Presence and receiving whatever the Holy Spirit would bring and give me even though I may not fully understand what that is. I point this out because it is too easy and common for people to think that God speaks and works in outward, audible ways all the time when, in truth, the Spirit of God usually works in a much more quiet and subtle way. As a matter of fact, I agree with A. Murray when he said, "we must not expect the ordinary leading of the Spirit in sudden impulses or strong impressions or heavenly voices. " Instead, the Spirit of God seems to operate just the opposite — in the still, small voice within; in a sure and steady leading in the gentleness