Building in Faith (Audio)

If one wishes to be used by God, they need to be fully available and sacrificial to His will. Pastor Ed tells us, that our God is the almighty, and most powerful. Through Him, all things can be done. If we wish to see His great works done through us, we need to be open to His will. This means saying to God, “I want to live for you in every way”. Allow God to work through you. Tell Him that your life is His, and that you are only here to serve Him. Do this, and you can expect to live an extraordinary life.

We forget the great power of God, and the fact that he wants us to trust our lives with Him. Pastor Ed tells us God made a promise to Abraham, that he would be the father of nations. God wanted this to be done through Abraham and His wife Sarah, and when it was done, it was done as an undeniable miracle. Sarah bore their child at an impossibly old age. We see today still, God's promise to Abraham being fulfilled. Don't take God's promises into your own hands, allow Him to fulfill them as he sees fit.

When becoming a Christian, one is not instantly a great follower of Christ. Instead it requires a lifetime of learning, experiencing, and practicing God's ways. Pastor Ed tells us, that we see this example in Abraham's life. He is to be one of the most faithful men, yet we see in his stories it was not a title earned easily. He consistently was tested, each one seeming more dificult then the last, always having to revive, and replicate his faith. We too must understand that God's trials will be constant here for us.

The sins of our past are very likely to lay roots that will grow into the sins of our future. Pastor Ed warns us, that we must be careful what influences we allow throughout our lives, for they can later turn into the very things that lead us to destruction. Abrahams lack of faith in the desert led him to Egypt. That one time lapse in faith, consistently brought about trials and temptation for the rest of his life. Be aware of the sins of your past, though they are forgiven, be aware how they may come back.

God has promised us, that if we are faithful to Him, we will be blessed. This means that if we believe in Him, and follow in His ways, we can expect blessings. Pastor Ed tells us today, that this promise is real, and that we see throughout the Bible that God never goes back on His promises. This gives great serenity for us believers once we fully accept it. There is truly nothing to fear as a Christian, not even death, for God promises us great blessings, and a joyous eternity through His son Jesus Christ.

The fact is, all of our talents, ambitions, dreams, and goals are were given to us by God. He made each of us uniquely, so that we would have different interests and skills. Pastor Ed reminds us today, that we are to remember this, and take to heart, that all of our achievements are through God. This is important, in that it will prevent us from thinking we are above anyone else, or that we are in any way equal to God. God has graced us with skills and interests, as He graced us with Christ. Use your skills to serve Him.

Walking with Christ will force us to give up things, or sometimes put energy toward things, which we would not have to if living by worldly standards. Pastor Ed tells us, that because of this, there will be times where the enemy will come to us and ask “was it worth it”? With correct perspective, and true understanding of God, the answer is always a resounding yes! Even if following God happens to cost us everything here on earth, what we gain is an eternity in Heaven, which will shadow any and everything here.

When we live in fear, we fall into the worldly pattern of only doing that which serves ourselves best. What can “I” do for “me”. Pastor Ed tells us, that as Christians we must train ourselves to default to God as the solution for all problems, and fears we may have. When we rely on ourselves we will fail, but when we rely on God we can be certain he will not fail us. In your day to day life, strive to function off of the will of God. Let your life's decisions, and reactions reflect God's will for you.

Today’s message reminds us that faith is something that we need to renew on a daily basis. We will always stumble, and we will forget on occasion to trust God. As Pastor Ed puts it, our daily walk is painting a portrait of our lives – so what are we putting on the canvas? It isn’t easy to submit to God’s will every moment, but if we remind ourselves of what we have to gain by following God, it becomes easier and easier to trust Him in the hard times. Faith helps us become a beautiful picture!

Sometimes, when we find ourselves following God’s path, we may hit an obstacle and might take a detour, and start trusting our own way for a little while. However, as Pastor Ed reminds us, this will lead to disaster in the end. We learn from today’s message that only God is big enough for every circumstance we come upon. When we rely on Him, instead of ourselves, or what the world can offer us, we will conquer the obstacle in our path and we can survive the famine that threatens us.