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)*  

Hungering for God..

I do not have all the answers, but I would like to help you find them.  Do you seek true spiritual worship?  how can we attain it? Reading? Studing Scripture? Going to church? Listening to other peoples experiences?
Although these things are important, they will not bring us any closer to God and true worship of Him.

It is time we sought out {God/Jesus/Holy Spirit} for the spiritual encounter we desire. A close relationship that will fill us with joy and peace. That is, letting HIM into our lives and allowing HIM to guide and direct us in ALL we do and say. In every aspect of our lives, every minute, every hour and every circumstance.
How shall we find HIM? 
By bringing HIM into our lives as the true provider, protector and shepherd that HE is.
I read a quote that I can not give credit to the writter for, as I know not who it is, but it says it all.

Those who joyfully leave everything in God’s hands, will find Gods hand in everything.  Worry ends where faith begins!!!!

Do you wonder how this can work?

First begin each day and end each day, seeking HIM through contemplation and prayer.  Speak with HIM and let HIM not only fill your heart and mind, but let HIM speak back to you.

He tells us in HIS word how to do that.

Matthew 7:7-8

King James Version (KJV)    Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Do you believe Jesus? He is all that He says and more. Through Him only can we enter the heart of HIM who created all and saves all.

  I will try and continue this soon.  I hope you have found it helpful and you too desire to find HIM and let HIM into your life.

Serve the Lord with Gladness and Thanksgiving.

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15