Following God and Growing in Faith

Abraham was a respectable man whose faith in God was attributed to him as righteousness. Yet during those years of waiting for his God’s promise to be fulfilled there may (or must) have been times when Abraham wondered whether the promise would ever happen.

Sometimes when we hear of God’s promises to us, we receive the news with great happiness. Many times we cannot even recall when a promise was fulfilled but we know by faith that God does keep His promises to us. We know by faith that we are part of God’s plan and that we belong to Him.

When we believe and trust in Jesus, our faith make us a part of a family, we have received the blessing of adoption and are called Christian. We know that we are sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, according to God’s word.

Jesus said to him,

“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:9

God’s promise to all of us is without conditions. We do not bargain with God. His promises are purely an act of grace; unmerited favor. We cannot demand that God fulfill His promises, we just trust and know. God, out of His eternal love gives us that sense of privilege and makes us feel that wonderful feeling of belonging to His family.

We are not talking about dealing with our problems alone but with the help of God through Jesus Christ. We have all been there and we all have our moments of proven faith. Nevertheless, we need to be reminded from time to time. There are also the prayers and compassion from other Christians, the church or just good minded people.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5: 13-16

The disciple Matthew was a tax collector and a man of power and wealth. When Jesus came along and said to him, “Come follow me.” He arose and left all behind, followed Jesus and became His disciple. Not many of us can do that, and even what we can do, can only come through the help of God. Some times our faith is fortified because all other paths have been tried, like the woman who bled for twelve years and by faith touched the Masters garment.

She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had; yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Mark 5:26-28

Although we live by faith, sometimes we miss opportunities by not seeking God’s help earlier than we do. The tragedy is this applies to all of us at one time or another in our busy lives. Our humanness at times causes us to become more self-reliant and less dependent on Jesus, who is always with us. We sometimes forget who we are and whom we belong to.

No matter how much faith we do have we all have times when we experience pain and suffering of varying degrees. Christ does not give false impressions to would-be Christians. We are not all called upon to do extraordinary things for God. Yet, Jesus does tell us that:

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me… John 12: 25-26

God’s promises never fail and our faith is only strengthened by trials and firm belief in God’s Word.

Ask yourself today just how important are God’s Word and promises to you? Write a prayer today asking Jesus to help you have more faith and ask Him to show you how you can love Him more. Then answer this simple question: Do you believe He will answer your prayer?

Faith and Faithfulness: The Godly Man is an excellent website for faith references.

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♥”Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19: 21
♥”I also cooperate with the limitations of my personality so that I can continue to be the best mom and person I can be.” S. Clarkson
♥Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”Acts 4:12
♥”A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.”♥ - Mignon McLaughlin