Know What You Have
I have been meditating on faith over the past several months.
Have you had that experience when God drops something in your heart that you think about all the time. Then, whenever you hear a Bible teacher speak, whatever you read, things that people say in passing seem somehow to be related to what you have been meditating on. It’s been that way for me lately.
I have written quite a bit about faith over the last several weeks. Feel free to go back and read what I’ve read. (Go to the “Categories” section down the right-hand side and click on “faith.” That will bring up all the posts that I have on faith.) If you have been reading here, you know now that we have all been given “the measure of faith.” You also know that one of the fruit of the spirit is faith.
So, if this is true, how do we get that faith to work?
Today, I would like to share an awesome little verse tucked away in Philemon that will give you a clue.
…that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Phil 6 (KJV)
What does that tell us about faith?
When you acknowledge “recognize or have full discernment of” every good thing which is in you in Christ, your faith becomes effectual. The word effectual is from the Greek energes (en-er-gace’) and means active or operative. It is translated either effectual or powerful in other verses of the Bible. This is where we get our word “energy.”
In other words, an acknowledging of what Christ acquired for you—and then gave you when you accepted Him—will cause your faith to become effective or active or operative.
Now, some of you have a hard time thinking that there are good things in you. You might ask, “What about that verse that says there’s nothing good in me?” Well, I’m glad you asked. 
Romans 7:18a says:
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing… (KJV)
This verse says that in your flesh dwells no good thing. The flesh is another word for your body and soul. Remember that the part that is regenerated when you accept Christ is your spirit, and that your spirit is made perfect by what Christ did for you on the cross. It is part of the atonement. Your spirit is the part of you where all those “good things” referred to in Philemon are stored. Those good things are sealed there by the Holy Spirit…safe from any type of defilement.
The way you activate your faith is to acknowledge those good things that reside in your spirit; this includes (but is not limited to) the fruit of the spirit, which includes faith.
This “acknowledgment” isn’t a passive head knowledge. It isn’t something that you can think about just once and just forget about. You have to meditate on the fact that you already have all the faith you need on the inside of you; meditate on the implications of that knowledge.
Won’t you take some time in your quiet time to meditate on the good things that are in your spirit?
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