In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Last week we began a journey into the world of faith and believing. I didn’t mention this then, but I will now; this journey into the world of faith is not something you will ever complete while living on earth. It will always be a journey of growth because faith is a living thing.

The best way to understand faith and what believing actions should look like is for us to walk back through the nine lessons we have already talked about and apply the concept of faith and believing to each lesson.

We will do this by going back to lesson 1 where we learned that the reason we have been created is because God wants a kingdom full of people; and the purpose of life is all about determining who will be the ones He favors and get to inherit His kingdom. Let me restate the words of Christ that we focused on in lesson 1.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are favored of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”(1)

Here is a promise made by God and so now our faith must have assurance and conviction concerning what He promised. And remember, faith must also believe.

So, what would faith and believing in God’s purpose for us to become favored, look like, in everyday life? First off, faith should cause a person to live with full assurance and conviction that becoming favored by God is truly the reason they are alive. And second, if a person has faith, then there should be an interest in learning as much as they can about the purpose for their life.

But, if a person is not absolutely sure about God’s promise, then they will have some degree of doubt, which will be seen in the degree of interest they have in His promise. If they do not have a great degree of interest in doing this, they must realize their faith has not yet come to the place where God is pleased with it. Certainly, faith has begun, but it is not where it needs to be. It still needs to grow.

All people will experience some degree of doubt on their journey to God so please don’t ignore yours. Doubt is averse to faith, so you need to do something that will help dimmish your doubt and grow your faith.

God explains how to do this when He says:

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(2)

According to God faith, that is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, comes from hearing the word of Christ. Now this word hearing is not just listening to something with your ears; it means you need to understand the details about what you are hearing. And that usually takes time and effort.

And the way the words of Christ make a person’s faith grow is really quite remarkable. These words are the Bible, that God says He breathed into existence much like He did when He gave life to His human creation with just His breath.(3)

Yes, He used humans to write the Bible, but God says the Bible, or words of Christ, are inspired and that means they came from the breath of God.(4) They are not just words from a human brain written down on paper like other books. God says;

“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”(5)

This means the words of the Bible are actually alive, and they actively take part in growing your faith. I can tell you from years of my own personal experience that there is nothing that comes close to how the words and concepts in the Bible instruct you, motivate you, and judge your thoughts and intentions.

How they do this begins with you memorizing the words of Christ so you can meditate or think about them as often as you possibly can. For example, you take what Jesus revealed is the purpose of life and work on memorizing His words for as long as it takes, until you can think about them anytime without having to visually look at the words.

And then, whenever you have a few unobstructed moments, think about what these words say and what they mean. You can do this while you are driving, going for a walk, doing mundane things like chores, or working around the house.

There are plenty of opportunities every day to meditate or think about the living word of Christ. Do this, and what God said about the purpose of your life will take root in your soul, which then allows it to actively work on your thoughts, and intentions to help your faith in the promises of God, grow.

How can you be assured that your faith is growing? You will notice you are beginning to understand what God says and your desire to experience this will also increase. As it does, so will the opportunities to live out the truth of what you have been meditating on.

Memorization and meditation upon the living word of Christ is what causes your faith to grow. God tells us this numerous times in the Bible. And where once you may have been unsure, hesitant, indecisive and maybe even skeptical, the living and active word of God together with the Spirit of God living inside you will increase your assurance and conviction that will then allow you to respond correctly to the God who is and who also is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Faith and the actions of believing concerning the purpose of your life are the starting point to a lifetime journey of faith in the kingdom.

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Faith in the promises of God, become real as you meditate on what the Bible says and then respond to its truth.

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

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