Keys to Living the Abundant Life

Living In Faith Mode

How do we live in faith mode? This teaching will be a practical exposition of faith and how to apply it to our everyday lives.

Galatians 3:11 says, “The just shall live by faith.” Here the apostle Paul is quoting from the Book of Habakkuk to show that God has always justified men by faith and not the law. The original Greek reads, “The just by faith shall live.” Literally, “Those whose conduct before God is right, by faith shall live.” Therefore, your conduct before God must first be “right” if you are to live by faith. Notice that it says “by faith” and not “in faith.” You are not asked to live “in faith,” but rather, by faith – which implies that you use faith to live by. It is a tool for “right” living before God - and this pleases Him.

Hebrews 11:6 states, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” No amount of good works can compensate for lack of faith. Faith is the only thing that gives God His proper place in your life, because it proves that you have more confidence in Him than in yourself. Faith not only believes that God exists, but it also trusts Him enough to know the He will reward those who diligently seek Him - that is, those who exercise their faith to believe.

How can you live every moment of every day in faith mode? Because, if you can, you can be rest assured that God is pleased with you every moment of every day! And you will be able to enjoy the abundant life that Jesus came to give you (John 10:10) – every moment of every day.

I have found 7 fundamentals that must be present in order for you to “live in faith mode” - 7 steps to living by faith:

(1) HOPE. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for. the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith makes things hoped for as real as if you already had them. Therefore, in this context, faith does not exist without hope. But what is hope? Hope is a confident expectation that something good is about to happen. It has to do with the unseen and the future. Another definition could be, joyful anticipation of good. Consequently, if you are truly living by faith your days will be filled with joyful and confident expectation that something good is about to happen. And as a result of this, what you expect, with confidence, will in fact happen. This is true faith!

For a Christian, the ground upon which hope is based is always Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:27). “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Jesus is the object upon which your hope is fixed (1 Timothy 1:1). Notice, Christ is living in you. Therefore, the foundation upon which you build “hope” for every day is alive in you. There is no excuse for hopelessness!

(2) HAPPINESS. If hope is “happy anticipation of good,” and faith does not exist without hope, then surely hope does not exist without happiness! If you’re living by faith, hope will be present, and this should be evidenced by a happy attitude. Psalm 144:15 says. “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” “Happy are the people whose trust is in the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:7). “Happy are the people saved by the Lord” (Deuteronomy 34:29). What’s more, you should be happy because the Holy Spirit rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:9, “Happy are you, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” You have the Spirit of true happiness resting on you! The Greek word for “rest” describes an intermission or a refreshing.

(3) TRUST. Faith is proof that you have more trust in God than in yourself. A life that is lived by faith trusts enough to know that God will reward those who diligently seek Him. Trust is an essential component of faith. You can't have faith in anything you don’t trust! Trust provides the confidence needed to live by faith - even when situations look fatal. In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Paul says, “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from such a great death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.”

Paul’s outlook was so grim that he had the feelings of a man sentenced to death. Yet God allowed him to get to this place so that he would not trust in himself but in the God who raises the dead. And his confidence was birthed in the knowledge that God had (a) delivered him in the past, (b) was able to deliver him now, and (c) will continue to deliver him in the future. Trust in God is a confidence based on His deliverance operating in the past, present and future.

(4) ASSURANCE. Hebrews 10:22 tells you to, “Draw near to God in full assurance of faith.” You are to approach God in full assurance of faith. Assurance is a character of your faith! Talking of Abraham, the father of faith, Romans 4:20-21 states, “He did not hesitate at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God has promised He was able to perform.” You will never live by faith without the assurance that God is willing and able to perform what He has promised. Without full assurance you will always hesitate at the promises of God and not be able to receive from Him. “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward” (Hebrews 10:35). Don’t throw away your confidence!

(5) PATIENCE. Patience is a close relative of faith. Hebrews 6:12 tells you to, “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The Greek word denotes “patient endurance.” But it also describes a person who has the power to exercise revenge but instead exercises restraint. This quality is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Talking of Abraham in Hebrews 6:15 it says, “After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.” Living your life in ‘faith mode’ often requires patient endurance before you can receive the blessing. Note, patience is a mark of maturity (James 1:4), and an inheritance is only given to those who have come of age. Therefore, through faith and patience you will be able to inherit all the promises of God. Hebrews 10:36, “For you have need of patient endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

(6) OBEDIENCE. Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And yet he went out, not knowing where he was going.” There will be times in your life when you must simply obey God’s voice - even if you do not yet know where you are going! This is how you will be sure that you are really living by faith. Obedience and faith can have a generational effect on you and your family. In Genesis 26:3-5, when talking to Isaac, God said this, “I will be with you and bless you; to you and your descendants I give all these lands and I will perform the oath I swore to Abraham your father - because Abraham obeyed My voice.” Notice, obedience is very powerful because it frees God to perform His word - either for you or the next generation!

(7) LOVE. In Galatians 5:6 it says, “In Christ Jesus nothing avails, except faith working through love.” True faith can only work through love. The channel through which your faith is released is love. If you are to live by faith then you must direct everything you do through this one channel. This is exactly how God Himself has chosen for you to operate. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 says, “Let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love.” Your daily existence should be clothed with faith and love. And this scripture implies that these attributes will protect you, because a “breastplate” is worn for protection against the enemy. The apostle Paul said this, “We give thanks to God always for you, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and your labour of love.” When you combine faith and love in your Christian walk, it is so noteworthy that people will constantly give thanks to God for you. Now there’s an incentive for you!

Chris Demetriou, 31/01/2010