February: Faith as a Gift

Let’s open our hearts to ChristMORE to receive the gift of faith and love from God.

In between my Bible study in the Book of Galatians, I have been reading Emmanuel by Ruth Chou Simons, a book I first began during the Christmas holidays. I had set it asidefor a few weeks in order to begin a new Bible study with my ladies’ prayer circle. After spending a creative day painting on a cool, rainy Saturday, as the afternoon light began to fade, it felt like the perfect moment to pause—settling by the fireplace with a warm cup of tea and a book. I noticed Emmanuel resting atop my stack of books, inviting me to return to where I had left off. Although the Christmas season had passed, I was reminded that the message woven through Simons’s writing is one we can embrace year-round, as she reflects on the true meaning of the birth and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

I opened the book to my bookmark and found myself in a movement entitled faith. I thought, Wow, our God is so amazing. He always knows everything on our hearts and just how to guide us to the answers we are searching for.

Early in the morning, I was preparing my notes about faith in chapters 2-3 in the book of Galatians for the upcoming ladies’ prayer circle. (I love how every time we read God’s word it becomes alive to one’s soul and answers the questions on our hearts!) The preparation made me think of a recent quote I read by Thomas Brooks, preacher and author:

Faith makes invisible things visible, absent things present,
and things that are very far off to be very near the soul.

It is as though faith is walking down an uncharted path to truly put our full heart to trust in God knowing that He will always guide us.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

I began to research more and learned in my studies about God’s word, our faith and belief. During my research, I found myself going through mounds of links and pages of notes, starting almost at the beginning of where the word “Bible” comes from the Latin and Greek words meaning “book,” a fitting name, since the Bible is the book for all people, for all time. It’s a book like no other, in a class by itself. The Bible is also described as “living,” meaning that it has a vital power inherent to itself. The written Word of God accomplishes God’s purposes, as stated in Isaiah 55:11:

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

My new journey through the book of Galatians has felt like an uncharted course, stirring a curiosity about what it truly means to have faith. What is our faith? Do we take it lightly? Do we genuinely understand what it means to live by faith?

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for…( Hebrews 11:1)

As I pondered these thoughts I read more of the movement in Simons’ book where she describes faith as a gift. Our ability to interpret the world around us through sight is a gift we often overlook, the same way we underestimate the gift of faith.

I put down my bible, Emmanuel, my journal and mounds of notes to take a breath and reflect upon the thought that our faith is given to us as a gift from God. It is the faith that God has given to us through Jesus Christ for those who believe.

As it says in Galatians 3:23-25:

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

I continued to read the final pages of the chapter where Simons talks about how we often walk around largely unaware of the things going on around us and how our physical eye sight is different than how our eyes work in the case of spiritual sight or how clearly we see through our eyes of faith. Faith is the organ and perception of what is unseen.

She adds: “We cannot walk in the truth of God’s love and redemption of our souls without exercising the muscle of belief and the organ of faith. ‘By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.’ (Ephesians 2:8) Faith is a gift from the Lord that enables us to believe and trust in Him. When we respond in faith, we acknowledge all that is true of who God is and who He says we are, and ask Him for the grace to walk in that truth.”

Faith is more than a fleeting feeling or an emotion, faith is what truly connects us with what we know and how we believe to shape our walk of obedience with God to grow closer to Him in His word and truth this ChristMORE season.

As I finish my study in the book of Galatians, Chapters 2 and 3, I find myself pondering some heart thoughts about what faith really means to me and what it means to have freedom in faith.

As we read Paul’s words of encouragement to the Galatians—new believers in Jesus Christ—we are invited to more deeply understand what it truly means to be free from the law. Though his letter was written to the Galatians around A.D. 47–48, I believe Paul’s message still speaks powerfully to us today. His encouragement calls us to grow closer to God, to understand His Word more fully, and to walk in true freedom—freedom not only from the law, but also from distractions, doubts, and fears.

This freedom comes through the faith God has given us with new hearts and new lives, “empowered by the faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20, TPT).

Paul pens in Galatians 2:19: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine.”

What does this passage about faith really mean to you and me? To me, Paul is showing us that the law cannot create you as righteous, only God can. And it is through His grace that we are set free with the gift of faith that was poured out over us through Jesus Christ.

So let’s open our hearts to ChristMORE to receive the gift of faith and love from God. As I begin to put my things away, I reflect upon my studies and my daily activities ahead. I am reminded that although people and things may come and go in our lives, God’s love is constant for us if we choose to have faith in Him to believe.

Because of their faith in him, their daily portion will be a Father’s help and deliverance from evil. This is true for all who turn to hide themselves in him! Psalm 37:40