Our lives are built on faith by the way we all throw the word around. For example, when someone is nervous for a test or big game we tell them, "we have 'faith' in you." But do we really know what faith is? How is it that we define faith then? In Hebrews 11:1 it states, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith is having confidence in what we hope for, but not by our own standards. Faith is the assurance of what we can’t hear, see, taste etc. It is a reality that is beyond our five senses. But, it is not truly us that have faith in someone; rather that we have faith in Jesus Christ to help them win the game or pass the test. Faith is about putting your trust in God and knowing that he will not let you down. God never gives us anything we can’t handle.
Alright, so having faith in God may seem easy. At some point we have all said that we have faith in God. Truthfully, many of us struggle with the reality that is faith. For instance, there are some who struggle with their faith in terms of obedience to God, when someone falls severely ill, or when you are not financially stable. Trust me, you are NOT alone. I too have struggled with the reality of faith. My Grandma was diagnosed about a year ago with bone cancer. She has been struggling terribly with it and the doctors have told her that there is nothing more to do and have given her about three months. Well, I would ask myself why God was doing this. Why was he going to take my grandma away from us? It is hard watching my dad go through the struggles he is dealing with when about to lose a parent. After going to youth group, my pastor had a sermon that truly spoke to me. He said, “Jesus will always be with us no matter what we are dealing with.” And although I was struggling with faith, as many do, he told us six things that can help us grow in our faith.
1. Influential relationships: Surrounding yourself with people who have strong faith in God will help you to stay connected with him while you may be falling from him.
2. Engaging in worship: When worshipping, you truly put yourself in the presence of God, even though we are always in that presence. The words speak through you and it is an easy way to speak to God when you are at a loss of words.
3. Sharing your faith: Telling others about Jesus can only help you grow closer to him. There are times when words you speak to others make you think and realize what you need to do to be closer to him.
4. Ministry involvement: Being involved in the church is one of the easiest ways to surround yourself in his presence. You are constantly surrounded by his word and people who also have strong trust in him.
5. Missions giving: Taking time to give to missions will help you grow. It goes along with sharing your faith. Even though you are not directly sharing God’s word on the missions’ trips you are speaking through them by helping the missionaries get to these places where the need of Jesus is strong.
6. Learning the Bible: The simplest way to grow in faith is to read the Bible. This is God’s word
written directly to us. It tells us the way we should be living and brings us on a deeper level
with God.
So that is all we need to do. We must focus on the journey of faith. These six steps will help you get on the right path and they will only bring you closer to Jesus. It showed me that putting your faith in God is the only thing to do. Even if you are going through tough situations, God has a reason. He will bring you through the hard times because the end result he has planned will be something that is beyond our own imaginations. His glory truly is great! In closing lets pray, “Jesus, I pray that you guide my life. I put all my faith in you God. I give everything up to you for you have great plans for me. I intend to live my life in the ways you tell me. You are my stronghold and salvation. Show me that you will hold me up when all I want to do is fall. In your name I pray, Amen.”
For this week, 1 Peter 1:21, "Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."
Wow, I am really loving this! First of all, when I came to your page I was drawn in right away because of your background and all of the pretty outdoor pictures. And then once I started reading, I loved it even that much more. Great topic, and wonderful insight about your topic. I feel like this is really something I needed tonight. I worked at Camp of the Cross Ministries this past summer and was very close to God, but recently I feel like I am not as close to Him as I was in the summer. When you were talking about pain and suffering, it made me think of this verse... John 16: 33 :"In the world you will have trials and tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." ...I love this verse because whenever things aren't going perfectly, I can simply think of it and know that the tribulations and trials we go through are inevitable, we WILL have them. And then thinking of this verse gives me such peace because God has overcome all of that. So in a weird way, whenever negative things are happening, I can sort of just run this verse through my head, and smile because I know that God is WAY better than all of this. He has overcome the world.
ReplyDeleteLove it, love it, love it. Thanks!
Keep up the amazing work!