ARMOR OF LOVE - 6-FAITH

 Let's pray:  Father, God, I pray that your will be done within me, in my spirit, soul and body, so that I may be the child you have purposed me to be and called me to be.  I submit all my understandings of True Authority to You, and trust only in You LORD GOD.  Cleanse me and renew my mind, conform me to the image of Christ, and as Love, help me as I walk in learning and growing, maturing as Your child.  Thank you, in Jesus' Name, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen!

Now let's look closer at FAITH.

Faith is the key to our growth in God in our Armor of Love.  and Hebrews 11:1 states a simple truth about our walk in our new life:

1. Hebrews 11:1  KJV
   1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 
2. Hebrews 11:1 Amplified Version ¹NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
3. Hebrews 11:1 Message Version - Faith in What We Don't See  ¹ The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see.   

As you read the above, clarity should be revealed through the Holy Spirit - to help you come to know the truth of faith, and it's part of our Armor of Truth.  Love is greater than faith - so let's find out more about faith.

Passage Hebrews 12:1-3: KJV

   ¹Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

   ²Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

   ³For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Passage Hebrews 12:1-3: Amplified

¹THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,

    ²Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.^(A)

    ³Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.

   ^{1 -3}Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Now let's check out Hebrews 11 - you have your bible(s) or you can open up another internet page go to http://bibleresources.bible.com/ and open up chapter 11 in the 3 versions I recommended.  Remember to journal and take notes.

As you read and study, as led by the Holy Spirit - you will note that FAITH has been key to connecting to God throughout human life - and that through Jesus there was an adjustment - as in making a way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies - into the chamber of the Lord God, King.  And that brings us to the next step in True Authority - Armor of Love - the empowering Place of Worship.  See you in the next session.

Be in Peace, and blessed in our Lord Jesus Christ.