A Progressive Faith

[Daily Devotional]

A Progressive Faith 

     But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Heb. 11:6.  

     The time has come when we are to expect large blessings from the Lord.
We must rise to a higher standard on the subject of faith. We have too
little faith. The Word of God is our endorsement. We must take it, simply
believing every word. With this assurance we may claim large things, and
according to our faith it will be unto us....  

     The work of faith means more than we think. It means genuine reliance
upon the naked word of God. By our actions we are to show that we believe
that God will do just as He has said. The wheels of nature and of providence
are not appointed to roll backward nor to stand still. We must have an
advancing, working faith, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul
from every vestige of selfishness. It is not self, but God, that we must
depend upon. We must not cherish unbelief. We must have that faith that
takes God at His word. . . .  

     True faith consists in doing just what God has enjoined, not
manufacturing things He has not enjoined. Justice, truth, mercy, are the
fruit of faith. We need to walk in the light of God's law; then good works
will be the fruit of our faith, the proceeds of a heart renewed every day.
The tree must be made good before the fruit can be good. We must be wholly
consecrated to God. Our will must be made right before the fruit can be
good. We must have no fitful religion. "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).  

     O what a field is opened before me! Our people must have the deep
working of the Spirit of God every day. They must have a faith that works by
love, a faith that emanates from God. There must not be a thread of
selfishness drawn into the fabric. When our faith works by love, just such a
love as Christ revealed in His life, it will be of a firm texture; it will
be the fruit of a will subdued. But not until self dies can Christ live in
us. Not until self dies can we possess a faith that works by love and
purifies the soul.  

>From That I May Know Him - Page 226