Page 24 - The Divine Quest

The Divine Quest Page 21

How does the Father cause this faith to appear in His children? He does a divine
work in their hearts. When Luke penned the book of Acts he gave some insight into
this.

Acts 16:14
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a
worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond
to the things spoken by Paul.

Even as God opened Peter’s heart to discern who Yahshua was, in similar fashion we
read that He opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the gospel that Paul preached. This
faith is a free gift, and it comes through an act of the Spirit. We don’t really know
how the Spirit imparts faith to men and women, but we can clearly see the effects of
it, for where we formerly were in darkness and unbelief, our souls are suddenly filled
with light and faith. Yahshua described the work of the Spirit to Nicodemus in the
following manner:

John 3:8
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know
where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

We cannot see the wind, but we can see the effect of the wind as it blows through the
trees and across the grass, and as it passes by us. We see the wind’s effect, but we
cannot tell where it originated or where it will end up. In the same way the Spirit
comes and produces faith in our hearts, and it is hard to discern how He came, or
how He accomplished His work in us, but we can see the effect upon us as we are
given spiritual sight that we formerly lacked. This spiritual sight is often at odds with
our physical sight. What God reveals to our spirit is often unseen to our natural
senses. This is why Paul wrote:

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope
for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith
perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
(Amplified Bible)

The man or woman who walks in faith must often turn away from the things that
their natural senses report, or they will be led into unbelief. In the examples already
given in this book, we see with great consistency that those who failed in faith were
focused upon the witness of their natural senses. This focus on natural sight led to
unbelief, and the unbelief gave birth to sinful actions. We see this in each case. Look
at the key words in the following passages.