How to grow in your faith

¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

^{Romans 10:14-15}

      ^{Frequently, people ask me, "how do I grow in my faith?" If you read through chapter 14 of John you will hear Jesus repeat over and over that to love Him is to obey God. One of the biggest steps of obedience to Him that we are called to do is to make disciples.}

¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

        The times of my life where I have grown the most have been times that I have been following that commandment, and seeking out the lost and making disciples of them. Spiritual growth happens exponentially when you are being intentional about teaching others about who God is and what He has done in your life. The summer after my 8th grade year, my faith started getting really serious to me, and in response I started teaching 4th grade sunday school the following school year. That gave me the opportunity to not only personally grow in my faith, but to share what God has done in me with younger students. The next year I moved up to teaching 5th grade sunday school, and taught 5th grade sunday school for the rest of high school. The more intentional I was about sharing my faith and teaching His word, the more I grew in my faith. 

      There are so many opportunities for each believer in the church and outside of the church. Not everyone is called to do the exact same thing, some of you may be called to minister to others through music in the worship team, some of you may be called to minister to other by teaching a children's sunday school class, while some of you may be called to start up a small group of friends and do a study at your house, then others may be called to just make friends with one person who needs it and to teach them about God. Whatever it may be, if you want to grow in your faith, seek out opportunities to share the gospel wherever you are at, and you will experience closeness to God like never before(:

I am no longer a slave to fear

"He reached down from heaven and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me."

Psalm 18:16-17

        Powerful enemy is a strong word to describe someone or something. When I think of powerful enemies, images of superheroes and supervillans come to mind, images of gods like Thor and Loki, or Doctor Octopus and Spiderman. When I read through this passage in the psalms I envisioned a great army surrounding David, something far beyond anything that just regular people like me would experience, but that couldn't be more far from true. 

         Yesterday I graduated from high school, and with that entails a great amount of decision making and stress that comes with that. Everyone is asking, "What are you doing with your life?" "Where are you going?" To those who don't know, I am planning to attend Moody Bible Institute in the fall, but they don't send out their financial aid letters until June. So right now I have no money and $2,000 is due at orientation in August. So i've been searching and applying for as many scholarships as I can, hoping that some come in this summer. Every day is now becoming a battle, a battle against fear and against worry that threatens to overtake me. I feel like I am walking around blind, not knowing where the next step is, or how to get there. 

        A few wednesdays ago, I led worship with the high school at my church like I do many wednesdays, but this wednesday was different. I entered that church building feeling weighed down with worry over how I would pay for school next year. Before church started, I met with my mentor and we read scriptures and we studied God's word and what it tells me about fear and about God. As worship arrived, those chains of fear were slowly falling off as I meditated on who God is, and what His word says that He is. Then we started off and we sang oceans, and those words, "You've never failed and You won't start now," pierced my heart, I realized that God may be calling me out into the unknown, but He is holding me every step of the way. As we progressed through the set I felt fear completely leaving as I declared God's truth in my life, and declared His word in song. The last song we sang was a new song by Bethel Music called, "No Longer Slaves." The words of the chorus say:

I'm no longer a slave to fear.

I am a child of God.

As I sang those words, I was completely free of the fear that had held me down walking in earlier that day. I am a child of God. If you are child of the King, you can't be held as a slave, you are royalty. Christ sent His son to die on the cross to make us God's children once again, and to break the chains that hold us.

        God has never failed me, and I have to wake up and remind myself each day that He will not fail me now. In Psalm 18 David gives us imagery of deep waters, he was in a place so far down that the only one who could reach him was God. And guess what, God came through. My powerful enemy right now doesn't consist of something that only a superhero would encounter, my powerful enemy right now is fear and doubt. Honestly, I'm afraid of the future. I'm afraid of walking in blind, but I take comfort in the fact that the One who is leading me is not blind, and plans good for my future. 

        I challenge you to think about what your powerful enemy is, what is trying to bring you down, and pull you away from God? Then combat it with scripture and truth. I can now sing that I am no longer a slave to fear, because I am a child of God. He reached down into the deep waters of fear and doubt that I was in, and He pulled me back up into His light and His truth, and all I had to do was take hold of the hand that was waiting patiently for me. His hand is waiting patiently for you too. No matter how far you feel, no matter how deep your waters may be, God can reach you and He already has by sending His son to take the price for your sins. Now let go and let God do the heavy lifting.