HOLDING ON TO OUR FAITH

O God, give me strength.  How often have you prayed for God's help?  Sometimes pain or loss seems so constant that we wonder when we ever had a chance to breath. We are not the only one in time or on earth that has had to live in search of God and His blessings.

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him"  Job 13:15.
Can you think of anyone more committed to God?  Job had lost his children, all his possessions, his workers, and his health, but he refused to abandon faith in God.  He was determined to hold on because he trusted the Lord to do right.

Unwavering commitment to trust the Lord in all situations is a cornerstone of unshakable faith.  There we can focus our eyes  upon God alone.

We have something Job did not have, we have Scripture, the written Word of God; and that Scripture reveals God's nature and promises.  It is a wise believer who claims those promises when enduring hardship. We know that our God is good, always just, always faithful and always trustworthy.

Let us take our eyes off the day to day activity and concentrate on honoring Him and following in His way, that we may find a consistent peace that carries us through the bounty of His love and the loss of everything we hold dear.

 

OUR FIRM FOUNDATION

Who is your firm foundation?  Mine is definitely my Lord and God!

He has ways of shaking the world when He is at work.  He caused the ground to quake when Jesus died on the cross, in fact it shook so hard the heavy curtain in the temple that separated the people from the Ark of the Covenant was torn in two pieces down the center. Hebrews 12:26 describes a time still future when the earth will undergo a similar display of His power and presence.

He also shakes our personal world when we build our lives, our marriages, our government and our daily little worlds on everything but His firm foundation of principles.  Our building blocks are usually pride, our own wisdom, and conditional love, things that look good to us but cause our foundation to be weak. 
While storms may effect the people around us, we can have peace in knowing that when our lives are built on the foundation of God, our walls, our hearts, our lives will stand strong against the winds of change and challenge.

There is only one firm/secure  foundation, and that is  a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through all the storms of life.

  So stand on His love, on the Rock of the Foundation of Life, God.


 

THE THREE SOURCES OF TESTING

Our testing can come from three different sources.  One source is the tests sent to us by the lord to test our faith so we can grow spiritually; others are the result of Satan's attacks, and still others are due to our own sinful choices.

Considering that according to the Word of God, we will reap what we sow, (Galatians 6:7), and although we know we will hurt from our actions, we need to take that test we are putting yourself through and work through it.  This trail is the hardest for most of us. When we consider why we did it, we need to turn from doing it again and heal yourself by working through the trial.
I would venture a guess that one trial I go through the most is when I do not plan my finances right and spend more than I should. 

I know in my heart that in order to receive the Lord's blessings, I need to realize my mistakes, correct them, have faith and trust in the Lord that He will take my through this trial again.

 I need to walk in obedience to His word.

When we suffer the pain of going our own way, we are more likely not to take that path again.

God's arrows of affliction are sharp and painful so He can get our attention.  He won't let His beloved children get away with sin because He knows it robs us of blessings, opportunities, and even character refinement.

Although your situation may be painful, thank your heavenly Father that He cares enough to send out His loving discipline.  Now, how will you respond to His warning?  When we learn from experience, the scars of sin can lead us to restoration and a renewed intimacy with God.
 

A WALK IN FAITH

Did you know that Faith is an action, there fore it should be Faith in Action.

  One of the most interesting books of the Bible is the Book of Ephesians. 
 There you will  find Paul the Apostle encouraging the people of Ephesus into Faith in Action.

 He begins his letter to the people by greeting them as saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Then imparting grace and peace to them from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Then he speaks of the redemption in Christ, always he honors God and Jesus with praises.

Let us pick up with chapter 1 vs. 3-14:

 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 
 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
 Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 
 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."*

*God; Bible, The King James; Holy Bible, The; Bible, The (2010-12-25). The Holy Bible: Authorized King James Version KJV Holy Bible (ILLUSTRATED) (King James Bible - Churched Authorized Version | Authorised Bible) (Kindle Locations 41547-41553). Christian Miracle Foundation Press. Kindle Edition.

Take the time to reread this scripture and dwell on its meaning and message that  Paul gives us through the Holy Spirit. This in essence is the beginning of faith in Christ and the truth that  God has called us forth to be his children.  It is a good thing to do your study early morning before the work of the day (your quiet time before spouse and children steal your time) and again at bedtime when others are in bed resting already, you will find God renews your strength and spirit as you dine with him.
Tomorrow- yes tomorrow-( it may be a day of rest, but as we rest we are to commune with God)  we will continue in Ephesians, chapter 1 vs15-23.

 

WHEN ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUR TROUBLES?

What a weird question...you say.
Not really.  It makes sense if you think about it. 
 Anytime God allows trials to enter your life, He has a purpose for them.  He wants you to get out every ounce of spiritual growth out of them instead of letting them send you into despair and discouragement.
You need to respond in the right manner.  The trial that seems like is is destroying you will become an instrument of blessing.
Never groan about it, pleading to God to remove it.  Don't get angry about it and try to find a way out of the difficulty, and  never blame someone else for your trouble.  They may have caused the problem or you yourself did, but ultimately God allowed it. No matter where affliction originates, who is involved, or how evil their intentions, by the time it reaches you, it has been dipped in the Father's love and shaped to accomplish His good purpose. The question is, will you cooperate with Him, or will you resist?

The key  is found in verse 4 of today's reading.  God wants to use your trail to develop spiritual maturity, but unless you let id do its work, that opportunity will be lost.

James 1: 2-4 "Count it all joy, my brothers,  when you meet trials  of various kinds, for you know that  the testing of your faith  produces spiritual maturity. And let spiritual maturity have its full effect, that you may be  perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

TRUSTING WITH FAITH

There are so may ways we have faith in God. 
Trusting Him on a daily basis is so hard.  We seem to seek Him out during our difficult trials, but forget to speak to Him and present our daily needs.
One way to increase your faith daily is to recite the Lord's Prayer and make it your own.

Our Father who art in heaven {My God, Abba (Daddy), Provider and sustainer }
Hallowed be Thy name  {Most Holy}
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done {let everything be Yours and done as you desire}
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread {provide all of our needs today Father, fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide and direct our paths}
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us {I repent of my sins and ask you to guide me into righteousness and help me as I forgive those who have hurt or offended me}
Suffer us not to be lead into temptation, deliver me from evil  {help me by guiding me today Lord so that I do not fall into sinful ways, help me to say and do the right things and do what makes you happy}
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. {all praise and honor and glory unto you O God}


Of course you should use your own thoughts  words, and  praises.

He cares about everything we need and want.

 Matthew 6:25-34
²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

I think this covers a lot, but He cares about other things we don't think about.  We are His precious children... and what good Father doesn't take care of his children and provide for them.

A lot of our needs concern us when they shouldn't.  He takes care of everything in His time.  Some times it takes awhile to move the mountains in our lives and His timing is perfect.  Never give up, the answer is just around the next bend in the road.

TRIALS THAT PURIFY OUR FAITH

Hebrews 11:32-40

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of  Gideon,  Barak,  Samson,  Jephthah, of  David and  Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises,   stopped the mouths of lions,  quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness,  became mighty in war,   put foreign armies to flight. 

 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even  chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two,  they were killed with the sword.   They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—  wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these,  though commended through their faith,   did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us,  that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

This may seem a little scary, to think of our faith tested so harshly. But what may seem hard to us may not be hard for another, yet what seems hard to another may not seem so hard to us.  Yet, God's word says: 

1 Corinthians 10:12-14

New King James Version (NKJV)

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.   No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Luke 3:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Although these scriptures tell of trials that will come and our Faithful God who sees us through it all, none of us want to go through such horrific situations, but adversity is God's way of purifying our faith.

We are His creation, He knows what is inside us, so He takes us through situations that will mold and make us into His image and that of His Son, for that is His goal, to perfect us.
His tools lay bare  the roots of sin and selfishness. Will are then made new, shinning and burning in the eyes of all those who behold us.

When anything or anyone becomes more important to us than the Lord,, we have an idol in our lives.  To protect us, God sometimes uses adversity to strip away everything we have relied upon so that we will cling only to Him.

The chisel hurts-- it sometimes feels as if God is taking away everything we hold dear.  Unless you understand His goal and believe He is working for your good, you will think He is cruel.  But if you trust Him and yield to His shaping tool of adversity, your faith will be purified and strengthened through affliction.

What do you feel your trail is at this time? Do you need to just let go and let Him take you through it? 
 Stop, step back and look at your situation from a different angle.  Are you making more of it than there really is.  Are you trusting Him fully?  Has He not taken you where you need to go before?
 Trust Him and let go.  He knows your needs before you do.
(con't tomorrow)

FAITH THAT IS PROVEN

Faith... the cornerstone of our Christian life.  It is the means by which we enter into salvation.
That is only the beginning.  From that day forward, our faith, or the lack thereof, shapes our lives and decides what will happen to us when we come under pressure from the life which we live.
Some Christians never lose their  foundation of faith no matter how hard the storms rage, while others are knocked down by the smallest wisp of air.
To understand this we need to study the source of our faith.

Inherited faith:  Christian home, church raised, the beliefs of those in your early years.
Although this is a great faith foundation, each person has to take responsibility for their own beliefs.

Textbook faith:   The Bible is the true guide for establishing our beliefs.  But it is not the only source of influence.  We also have other books, teachers, preachers, family and friends that feed our convictions. Our beliefs may be sound, but our head faith is just accepting the beliefs until we reach the trials of life.

Proven faith:  When we trust the Lord through the trials of life, the fires, the rivers, the winds and the storms we will have faith that can stand.  It is not based on what others have taught or told us, or what we accepted as truth, but on our own experience of God's faithfulness. 

1 Peter 1:3-9
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!   According to His great mercy,  He has caused us to be born again to a living hope  through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to  an inheritance that is imperishable,  undefiled, and  unfading,  kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded  through faith for a salvation  ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes  though it is tested by  fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him.   Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining  the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

THE MEASURE OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH.

How can we measure our spiritual growth?   People everywhere go to church, bow their heads to pray and hear sermons, but they are not all growing spiritually. How sad.
These are not actions that fulfill our Christian obligation.
Do you experience a thriving relationship with Jesus/God?
Do you see evidence in your own life that you are maturing in you walk with Him?

To grow spiritually, we must first be saved (born again).  This happens the moment God makes us new, cleansing us of unrighteousness and adopting us as His own.  Then we can begin to grow.  We don't want to become stagnant.  Even a seed planted in soil, without the proper nutrients, water and sunshine will die.
So will our soul.

We need to grow by feeding ourselves from the Word (The Bible) and meditating on it; hearing other believers share their experiences in growth (testimonies of how God is changing their lives); and praying and spending time with God in the quiet of our minds.

The results of doing these things leads us to:

1)  sense a deepening hunger for Jesus/God.  As we experience more of Jesus/God who is the bread of life (John 6:35...35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.") we will be feed in a way that will nourish us and our desire for Him will increase.

2) Believers dwelling closely with the Savior will notice that they have an increasing awareness of sin.  Faulty teaching and thinking become more obvious as we accumulate truth within our spirit.

3) Our love should continuously expand in our daily walk.  The Holy Spirit enables us to care for people who previously were either unnoticed or unlovable and hard for us to accept.

4) We find more fulfillment in our relationship with Jesus/God, instead of with things like, shopping, eating, drinking, wasted time using the TV or computer, etc. (you can fill in other things in your life that distract you from the Lord).

5) Offering forgiveness to others becomes easier.

6) Our faith will increase. God loves us, and He gracefully and gently builds our confidence in Him.  As our trust grows, we realize just how faithful He truly is. This continues to snow ball in our lives as our assurance grows even more.

7) We develop an increasing concern for others' spiritual condition. Especially our family and friends and those we meet daily.

8) As our relationship with the Lord deepens, we will increasingly desire to obey Him, out of love for our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. When we sin our hearts will become saddened and repentant.

The closer you get to the Lord, the  more fulfilled and excited you  will become in your life.

So start today, whether it is for the first time, or a renewal of a commitment you made in the past. 

 It is never too late to start... so run the race seeking the prize of the Kingdom of God.
Every one who runs this race is a winner!

THE FAITH TO ENDURE

It can be so hard to endure some days. 
 Our faith falters, we feel abandoned. 
 It seems there is one thing after another that barges into our daily routine and causes us to stumble. 
Sometimes we don't want to get back up.
I have felt like that a lot lately.  Some days I just want to go back to bed and sleep, sleep so hard I never wake up again,and never have to face the pain of striving again.

Do you ever feel that way?

I know most of you do.  So lets take a look at  The Faith to Endure.

Hebrews 11:23-32.
~~By faith  Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
~~By faith Moses, when he was grown up,  refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,  choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
~~By faith he left Egypt,  not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
~~By faith  the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
~~By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith  Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
~~And what more shall I say?
For time would fail me to tell of the many stories of the endurance of people's faith....Yet to each of us, our times of trials seems insurmountable to us.  Struggles and heartache are part of our life experiences. They are what God gives to strengthen us.  Have you walked the valleys of life  that seem hopeless or unending?

Even Jesus cried out from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?  (Matt. 27:46).
Do you ask, " Where are You, God?  Why won't You do something in my life?"

I want you to be encouraged, keep holding on, even in the bleakest hour. 
When your faith is stretched thin, your strength seems nearly gone, and your dreams have shattered like glass, do not give up on the Lord--that would lead only to forfeited blessings, and a strict limit on your usefulness to God. 
 You may just miss the blessing He has in store for you. 

Remember these words:

1 John 4:3-4  ".. . you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit  that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

Giving up on divine help in favor of our own human strength is a rejection of the truth that God is faithful all the time.  Holding on and staying faithful is not always going to lead to immediate triumph, sometimes we have to persist until we reach victory.
The Lord wants us to bear up under the affliction or trial, and remain steadfast in the face of temptations.  Like Moses, we may be called on to endure, "as seeing Him who is unseen." (Hebrews 11:27)

Now all these words I have given you, but how can you do this?

Prayer, communion with God, speak to Him about your concerns, then turn over everything into His hands, and do not take it back from Him.  Rely on Him for the answers, and He will be faithful to you.

GROWING INTO SPIRITUALLY MATURE CHRISTIANS

Let me back track a little about being a Christian.

The basic belief of a Christian is that Jesus is his/her Savior, who died for their sins, and they have acknowledged this through the confession of sins, asking for forgiveness(repentance),  baptism by immersion and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.  Learning the basic things is like a baby eating soft foods.  Once you have learned the basics, you need to seek the meaty foods of wisdom in the word. The things that teach you to grow more each day.

Yesterday I talked about the signs of a spiritually growing Christian.  I know that this growth doesn't happen over night, nor do we reach perfection in this life time; 
But we are to expected to strive towards that perfection every day.
We are told in the book of:  HEBREWS 12 :1-2.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and  sin which clings so closely, and  let us run with endurance the race that is  set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,  who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and  is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

As we grow and mature there are practices that we need to participate in to show our maturity.
 Hebrews 5:14
" But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."
 In other words, Christian growth requires the discipline of godly habits carried out daily.

1)  The most important practice is a personal time of devotion with God. Meditating on the Word (scripture) and speaking with God (prayer) and listening to His voice.
God is the source of all spiritual development.  You need God and His Word to grow.
Transformation begins with time in His Word and prayer.

2) Obedience is the second essential element in growth. When our desire to obey the Lord is more strong in our life than our desire to sin, we will know we are making progress in our spiritual life.

3) Our goal is to become more dependent on God and less on ourselves. When we depend on Him to provide our needs and wants in our lives He honors that with those provisions.
Now this does not mean that He doesn't expect us to work for a living and just sit around waiting for things to come to us. But it means taking advantage of the job He provides, the strength He gives us and those things He places in front of us to help us.
4) Those  who are mature in Christ recognize their own inadequacy and rely on the Holy Spirit within them.  It is His job to transform our character and empower us to accomplish everything the Lord calls us to do.

5) As mature Christians, we should be digging into Scripture and developing righteous habits.  We should use our years to grow stronger in the Lord instead of wasting time with passivity.


Spiritual growth requires a diligent pursuit of God.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH--MY DESIRE

IS IT YOUR DESIRE TO GROW SPIRITUALLY?
  It is mine.
There is only one way to grow spiritually, and that is through prayer, study and putting the principles of God in practice in your life.

I Corinthians 13:11-13 is one place to start to understand spiritual growth.  It says:

^{11 "}When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.* "

We can measure our growth by the following:

OUR DESIRE - hunger for God and His Word increases.  We are eager to be with Him (not just in Spirit, but through study of His Word) and share Him and His Word with others.

UNDERSTANDING - seeing life from God's perspective.  Trials and temptations become opportunity for growth. Service for the Lord becomes an honor, not a burden.

SELFLESSNESS -  being submissive to the Lord, able to wait for the Lord. Higher concern for others, than self.  The greatest evidence of maturity is LOVE.  Having the Lord and other people first in our hearts, is when we are more like Jesus.

FAITH  -  HOPE  -  LOVE  (the greatest)*