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. 

Why do you repent?

"Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"

Romans 2:4

        Have you ever loved someone? A mother, brother, wife, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend? When you love someone you do all in your power to please that person, even if it means doing something you don't really like or sacrificing something that you do really like. You don't do it to earn the love of that person, but because they already love you and you want to show them how much you love them in return. Showing your love to someone isn't something you can do just by saying it every now and then, or maybe talking to them every once and a while, it's a process that goes on 24/7. You show that you love them through your actions, your sacrifices, and you always want to spend more and more time with that person. 

        Christ's sacrifice on the cross makes it possible for us to have a loving relationship with our Father once again. Just like an earthly relationship, to show love to the Father for loving us when we didn't deserve it we repent of our sins. It is so important to understand that no amount of repentance can earn us salvation, or God's love. We repent not to earn His affections, but because we love Him for His kindness and mercy toward us. When you truly understand what He did for you on that cross, and you accept His kindness and grace, it is intended to give you a desire to please Him. Sin doesn't please God, but turning away from it does. 

         If you are struggling to find a desire to please God, study the scriptures, study what He has done, and ask Him to give you a desire to please Him. Scripture is the living and active words of our Creator, and studying His word is the way by which you can personally get to know Him. It is great to hear about Him from a pastor or minister but those are just second-hand accounts. Take time to actually get to know Him through His words, and the more you read of His goodness the harder you will fall for Him and His great kindness toward us. 

Messiah's Purpose

The spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of our God's vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify Him.

Isaiah 61:1-3

      Often times, it becomes easy to forget why Christ came, when it seems that christians these days are stereotyped as hateful, judgmental people. Christ didn't come to give us more rules, or to judge us for the rules we broke; Christ came to set us free from the need to meet an impossible standard of perfection. God is so perfect and holy, and we are imperfect and flawed. We couldn't even stand in His presence because we could never make ourselves holy enough, but we don't have to anymore. Now Christ came so that His blood could cover up our flaws, and we can finally be reunited with our Creator. 

     

     Before I realized who Christ really was, I constantly tried so hard to be righteous and worthy of grace. No matter how hard I tried to always do the right thing, or have perfect attendance at church, or be worthy, I always fell short. I thought hey if I go to church every sunday and do a lot of really good things, then i'm a "good christian." You don't have to labor in vain any longer, Christ completed the task for us. Now you can be still in His presence, and let Him set you free from sin's power in your life. You can stop trying to be good on your own power, and let God's goodness invade your heart and change you from the inside out. 

    He didn't come to judge you, or make you feel inadequate, but to freely make you adequate to stand before God once again. He loves you so much that He sent His son to die for you to set you free. He also came to set those you don't like free. Pray, beg God to open your eyes to view people the way He does. When you are too busy loving God and others, there is no room for slanderous words, or hatred. Today, as you go on through your daily life, let these words permeate your soul and transform your mindset. Always dwell on who Christ is, and what He has done. 

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. He began by saying to them, "Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled."

Luke 4:20-21

Psalm 12:6

"The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver and refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times."

Psalm 12:6

    Have you ever been lied to? Maybe by a parent, or friend? Have you ever believed something, only to find out that person was just deceiving you? I imagine that David felt as if there was nothing truthful or pure left in the world while writing this psalm. He starts it out by crying out to God saying, "Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains." Sometimes we have moment where we don't even know what to believe anymore, everyone seems to be lying or have some sort of hidden agenda with their words. 

    In this Psalm, David is distressed because their seems to be nobody left that is still loyal to God. He feels that everyone and everything around him is deceitful and lying. In fact, he wasn't wrong. We live in a world where every human being is flawed, and every word spoken from humans is biased and filled with opinion. Even the words I write aren't flawless. There is only one source of absolute truth in our world today, and David proclaims it in the 6th verse of this psalm. Only the words of the Lord are pure, faultless, and never failing. He describes it as being purified seven times, referring to the fullest sense, that no person can ever surpass this limit. There is nothing more perfect or flawless than His words. 

   Have you really trusted His words? Have you really spent time in His Word? Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 to "not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." We can only know what is good, pleasing, and perfect by studying His word and what He says. When we pick and choose what is true and what doesn't apply in God's word, we are worshipping an idol, something other than the true God. When we pick and choose who God is, we create our own God, other than Yahweh. Living in a world full of deceit and no absolute truth, we must study His Word so that we can know the difference between what is true and what is not, and what God's will really is, not what the world tells us it is. If you really want to know God, you must spend time in His word, not just listen to who people say He is. 

   How can you possibly claim to know God if you've only heard second-hand accounts of who He is, from people who are imperfect and flawed? You can get more than a second-hand account of who He is, you have access to the words spoken by and inspired by the Creator Himself. Study His word and discover for yourself who He is, because His word is the only source of absolute truth. 

Walking with Faith vs. Walking by Faith

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."

Romans 1: 16-17

      In this passage, Paul proclaims the power of the message he is carrying, that it has the power to save anyone who believes in this. Once someone truly understands what this message is capable of, it becomes natural to not keep it to themselves, so that many may hear and know God for themselves. People are saved by faith, but salvation comes from God's grace despite us being so undeserving, and this is the Gospel. 

      The gospel shows us God's righteousness. The righteousness revealed in the Gospel is through justification, which is what happens when Christ's grace covers us. Justification is when God (our perfect judge) declares us righteous, like we have never sinned nor ever will sin again, because Christ took the punishment of our sins.
      He then tells us that God's righteousness is revealed from "faith to faith." Notice he doesn't say God's righteousness is revealed from "faith to works", as if faith is the source of salvation but works are required to keep it. It is always faith that presses forward which conquers unbelief, which is why he then quotes the prophet Habakkuk in saying "just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."

"So, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight, and we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him."

2 Corinthians 5:6-9

      In these scriptures, Paul describes our journey as believers as a walk, one in which we don't base our choices off what we see, but by what we believe. The way we walk as believers should be totally opposite and radically different from the way a nonbeliever walks. 

     Think of your life as being like a solar system. When you don't know Christ, you are the sun. Everything revolves around you. Your life as the sun of your solar system is filled with many planets that revolve around you: sports, friend groups, clubs, and all else you fill your time with. Then when we start walking "with faith" our faith becomes just another planet in our solar system. We may go to church. pray, memorize scripture, and do all the things a "good christian" does, but when it comes down to it, our relationship with Christ still revolves around us. The time we spend with Him depends on our schedules, what is convenient, and what is comfortable. We study the bible when we have time to, instead of making time to. What are you really willing to do for your relationship with Christ? 

      God doesn't call the church to live with a lil' bit o' faith on the side, He calls us to walk BY faith. This requires taking faith out of its' place as a planet, and putting yourself in its' place. This calls us to make the Son the sun of our life. This sometimes requires making sacrifices, like waking up early, or staying up late. You may ask, how does this look in a believers life? Well, Paul actually told us in verse 9 up there:

"Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him."

2 Corinthians 5:9

       When our lives are revolving around Christ, our desire becomes less each day to please and satisfy ourselves, but to please and glorify God. This goes back to what Paul wrote in Romans when he said, "For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith..." (1:17a). Our faith isn't revealed by us believing in God, then trying our best to be righteous. We are made and revealed righteous by our faith in God. When Christ is the Sun by which our lives revolve around, we are renewed and transformed from the inside out. 

"Therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God"

Romans 12:1-2

This faith that Paul speaks of to us in these passage isn't just believing that He is real, even the demons believe that. Paul calls you to trust in His word, that it is truth. To trust in the Word, that He is good, and He is holy, and He is righteous, but also that He sent His Son to the cross to die for your sins. You can't live by faith unless you have decided to give your life to Him, and let Him be the pilot of your life, not just the co-pilot. If you have never made that decision, I encourage you to pray about it today, and if you have, spend some time assessing God's place in your life. Is He a planet or the Sun? 

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

All things is actually refering to the economic fluctuations of life, as during this passage Paul is talking about how he has found contentment with both nothing and abundance. Paul encourages us with this verse that we can make it through both good times and really hard times, because it is Christ who strengthens us, not earthly wealth and possessions. 

In the verses beforehand, Paul talks about his times of need, and how he has found the secret of being content in even in these times. In these times Paul was weak, he was dependant on others to provide for his needs, but this verse encourages us that it is Christ who strengthens us. So God uses times of physical weakness to make us spiritually stronger, in Christ.

Paul encourages us that the seemingly impossible, are only possible through Christ. Recently, my dad lost his job and could no longer pay child support or alimony. My mom is a single mother raising three kids and she didn't have a job at the time. It would seem impossible for us to make it through the year on that little amount of income, but we made it an entire year on next to no income, without accumulating any debt. God provided what seemed would be impossible. Sometimes that can be a little uncomfortable, but God has never failed, and won't start failing you now. Trust in Him, and He will strengthen you.