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The Faith Of The Lord Jesus

With God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment. (Luke 1:37 AMP)

It seems that when the Lord Jesus chose His twelve disciples there was, at the back of the choice and back of the purpose of having a company of men always with Him the intention of showing and expressing what the character of the Firstborn is so far as relationship to other members of the Family is concerned. To put that in another way: if we study the characteristics of the Lord Jesus in relation to His own when He was here on the earth, we have a good example of what family characteristics are in the thought of the Father. For instance, take the imperfections, the shortcomings, the weaknesses of the twelve and see what the attitude of the Lord Jesus was toward them. The Holy Spirit takes no pains to cover up those faults and those flaws. There is no attempt made whatever to present those men as an ideal group. Their picture is painted true to life and all the difficult lines are there the bad and the good and nothing unpleasant is hidden from view. None of the lines are taken out of their faces. They are all clearly seen. The Lord Jesus was not dealing with an easy company, but a company which might often have provoked despair. But one thing was characteristic of Him in relation to a difficult handful, and that was His faith for them.

What faith the Lord Jesus had for those men! It was not that He had faith in them, neither was it that He had faith for them because of what He saw in them; but He had infinite faith in the Father for them. His attitude was: "Well, nothing is impossible with God. Here are these men; they are difficult and they could easily be My despair; they never seem to understand what I say! They always seem to get the wrong interpretation; they always seem to miss the point. When I say a thing they get it from an altogether wrong angle; they are utterly materialistic in their outlook, in their expectation and in their desires. They never see far beyond this world and their own personal interests. They seem totally incapable of getting a spiritual conception. And yet the Father can do wonders with a handful of men like that; nothing is impossible."

Walk in love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. § Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” § Love covers all sins.

Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. § Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. § Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. § Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. § If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. § Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Eph. 5:2;  John 13:34;  1 Peter 4:8;  Prov. 10:12;  Mark 11:25;  Luke 6:35; Prov. 24:17;  1 Peter 3:9;  Rom. 12:18;  Eph. 4:32;  1 John 3:18

Let your requests be made known to God.

Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will. § A thorn in the flesh was given to me … Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities.

I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble. § [Hannah] was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish … Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and … will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.” …

We do not know what we should pray for as we ought. § He will choose our inheritance for us.

Phil. 4:6;  Mark 14:36;  2 Cor. 12:7;  2 Cor. 12:8  2 Cor. 12:9;  Ps. 142:2;  1 Sam. 1:10,11;  1 Sam. 1:20;  Rom. 8:26;  Ps. 47:4

Free-born

For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God" (Gal. 2:19, ASV).

No true believer expects the Law to give life, yet many expect it to govern life. Too few realize that their death on the Cross separated them from the entire principle of law, and that their resurrection united them to the Lord Jesus, "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). "All of the Lord's commands to me are according to the new nature I already have. He is my life, and all His words are the expression of that life. Therefore when His words are given to me, they only give me the authority to do what my new nature likes to do. A new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you" (1 John 2:8). -J.N.D. "Does our Father mock us by bidding us do what He knows we are unable to do? No! He gives commands we cannot perform in our strength, that we may know what we ought to request from Him." "Legalism is an effort to shape oneself to given laws or rules. Seeking to urge oneself into conformity to law, the old man is before the eye, and satisfaction is felt according as there is conformity to a given standard. "The moment legality is sanctioned, it must be with reference to that which needs to be made subject. This is not Christian, because as believers we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, against which there is no law."

"Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1).

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Foundational Truths