The fruit of love is worked in us through the Spirit 'by hearing with faith.' The Spirit will not bear his fruit in us apart from our faith. Why is this?..The answer seems to be that the Holy Spirit loves to glorify the all-satisfying dependability of Christ and his Word. If the Holy Spirt simply caused acts of love in the human heart without any clear, ongoing causal connection with faith in Christ's promises, then it would not be plain that Christ is honored through love.

The practical effect of this path is that I do not ask you to pray for a special whisper from God to decide if Jesus is real. Rather I ask you to look at the Jesus of the Bible. Look at him. Don't close your eyes and hope for a word of confirmation. Keep your eyes open and fill them with the full portrait of Jesus provided in the Bible. If you come to trust Jesus Christ as the Lord and God, it will be because you see in him a divine glory and excellence that is simply is what it is -- true

While the sinner cannot save himself, he still has something to do to secure salvation. "him that cometh to Me," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. But we must come to him; and when we repent of our sins, we must believe that he accepts and pardons us. Faith is the gift of God, but the power to exercise it is ours. Faith is the hand by which the soul takes hold upon the divine offers of grace and mercy.

Finally I asked my friend Judy, who spent many years as a student of Sufism and who embodies fana —the self-annihilating love of God—as well as anyone I know. When I asked her to define spirituality for me, she thought for a moment and said, 'Spirituality is the active pursuit of the God you didn't make up.' I loved that. I also did not know what it meant.

We wanted More. We wanted a deeper sense of purpose. We wanted a stronger sense of God's presence.

The good works of the unsaved may indeed benefit their fellow-creatures; but until life in Christ has been received, they cannot please God.

The work of healing is not my work, but by faith, healing is done. The work of deliverance, great and mighty deliverance, is not my work but is my faith in Him. It is not the works of righteousness which I have done, but according to His grace. I am a product of His grace.

Most of us don't think about miracles that we could possibly do. We don't have a vocabulary of how God works with the specific things that He does, and we don't know how to align ourselves with what He is doing so that we can be His vehicle on the earth to deliver a miracle.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 PETER 1 : 8 — 9

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" —MATTHEW 14:29

We live by faith, not by sight. 2 CORINTHIANS 5 : 7

Be willing to go out on a limb with Me. If that is where I am leading you, it is the safet place to be... Your desire to live close to Me is at odds with your attempts to minimize risk. You are approaching a crossroads in your journey. In order to follow Me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your tendency to play it safe.