In the NKJV the word faith is used in the Old Testament 87 times and the New Testament 304 times. The word believe is used in the Old Testament 41 times and the New Testament 229 times. Biblical Christians gave attention to inward thinking! Inward Authority is designed to help others improve faith in God. We can improve our faith!
Faith is defined as strong belief or confidence. I have confidence in my doctor, but I don't always do what my doctor says. Belief in my doctor does not improve my health. Healthy choices can improve my health. I would need to do what the doctor says.
We have power over choice. We can choose to accept God's Good into our being or not. In order to receive the free gift, we must accept it. God will not make us take it. It is an offering. It is a gift. We can walk right by the gift and leave it.
John 15:5-6 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
We can choose to accept Godly instruction and respond with it inwardly and outwardly.
John 15:10-12 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
When Biblical information brings conflict, it can be good to explore it more. Perhaps practice and experience might help. We can use both the heart and the mind. We can ask questions. We can choose to seek, learn, test, and walk more with God's Good. We can choose to grow each day.
Each day we choose either Good or evil. We feed our beliefs with our own thoughts. This impacts our faith.
I learned evil growing up. There was some Good, but that dog was not fed much. Therefore, I became highly skilled with evil and battling evil with evil. So when I was introduced to doing Good I found it to be out of place and quite awkward. It did not seem Good to me because of my own understanding. I was invited to experience new spiritual practices. These were strange new options. In order to understand new options I need to get to know them. I needed to get to know prayer, meditation, humbling of self, rigorous honesty, and compassion. I needed to spend time with them to become familiar with them. God is love and if I am going to have a relationship with God I must be in relationship with God's love. There is a huge difference between God's love and the love that I hear others talk about. God's love does not come by false flattery, being fake, nor a guarded heart. The Bible can teach us about this love, but in order for us to really learn it, we will need to choose to apply what the Bible says. We will need to choose to abide in kindness, truth, compassion, justice, forgiveness, mercy, peace, humility, patience, etc. We will need to choose this daily so we can create a strong relational bond with it. We will need to settle our differences with such character traits and learn how they are Good.
Bible verses about this: Deuteronomy 6:6-9, John 15, Philippians 4:8
Those who have been through the 12 steps can read pages 85 to 88 in the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
Our faith becomes evident through our actions.
Click here for a podcast "My experience with faith"
Click here for a concordance on faith
Remember, concordance studies can illuminate patterns of descriptions about what you would like to understand. Reading many verses about faith can build a biblical understanding of it. We can look for new understanding, information that surprises us, and learn how it is Good.
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NKJV & NIV