1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Spiritual Gifts | Page 8

FAITH
THE divine enablement to act on God’s promises with the confidence in HIS ability to fulfil
HIS purpose.
The theme of faith is the theme that runs all the way through the Bible. The Old Testament
speaks of Abraham who was considered to be the father of faith. When we read Hebrews
11 we see God’s heroes of faith who trusted God through every situation, no matter how
challenging or dangerous. They followed through on everything they believed God wanted
them to do, even if it meant losing their lives. People of faith take God at His word and
believe that God will do what He says He will do.
In Acts 3 we see Peter and John exercising their faith in the healing of a crippled man. This
man had been a beggar for many years at the gates of the city and when he saw Peter and
John coming towards him, he did what he had always done and begged for money. Peter
looking at this man said to him, “Silver and gold have I none, but that which I have I give to
you in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk!” They knew that the greatest need that
this man had was not for money, but was for divine healing and it was through their faith
that this man received a very special touch from God.
In our churches today many of us need to return to the value of faith. I believe it true to say
that if we are not extending our ministries and vision to the extent of it being a faith vision,
then we are not pleasing God. Hebrews 11 v 6 tells us very specifically that if we are not
living by faith, then we are not pleasing God. If we are living within the confines of our own
human resources, as big as they may be, and are not trusting God for something much
bigger than that which we already have, then sadly we have to acknowledge that we do not
please God. It is through faith that we experience the greatness of God and it is, at times
when your back, in a sense, is against the wall and we believe that God will come through
for us, that we feel His blessing and we kn ow that His smile is upon us.

GIVING
THE divine enablement to contribute money and resources to the work of the Lord with
cheerfulness and liberality.
There are, within most churches, those who have been blessed financially; the gift of giving
is reserved, however, for those who know WHY they have been blessed. They understand
that they have blessed in order to be a blessing. We are all commanded in Scripture to give
of that which God has given us. This comes by way of, I believe, the tithe, where we give
back to God that which already belongs to Him. This is the concept of the ten per cent