Read 2 Peter 1:1. Acts 11:18. Ephesians 2
A man shared his testimony in a church. Tell me what’s wrong with his testimony, having read 2 Peter 1:1.
“I spent years searching for some meaning. My life, though filled with riches and awards and achievements and the most incredible pleasures you could ever imagine, was incredibly empty. I needed something. I needed fulfilment. So I tried all the different religions but they never worked. Then I searched out Christianity. I answered all the big questions by doing the research. I found out the truth and I filled the void in my life with Christ Jesus....”
When we read the Scriptures carefully we see that faith is a gift graciously given to us by God through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus via the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are literally a blind man that God grants sight to. Though we have a role to play, it is a passive role of reception and immense gratitude, not of achieving and discovering. Faith is a revelation - a disclosing of something that you and I cannot discover or uncover for ourselves. God has graciously given us an amazing gift - faith!
Yet faith in and of itself doesn’t exist. It cannot exist by itself. Our faith has to be in something or someone. When you say you are a man/woman of faith, what do you put your faith in? That’s a pertinent question that will determine the choices you make and the way that you walk through the fires of life. If I put my faith in God’s ability to heal, then when I get terminally sick, I’m more liable to walk away from God because He didn't perform. If I put my faith in my new cleansed state then when I fall into a sin again I’m liable to slip into deep depression and self hatred, maybe even self abuse or harm. If I put my faith in the God who allows me to love myself, then when I see something unlovable in my life, I may accuse God of being unfaithful and deny him. If I put my faith in the God who blesses me with health, wealth and prosperity then at the first sign of financial trouble I might curse God and dishonour Him by lying and cheating. What have you put your faith in? Take time to verbally answer that question so that you can hear what you really believe and trust.
As a believer in Christ Jesus I believe and trust the following:-
Read them aloud and give the AMEN to each one you agree to.
V I believe that I, in and of myself, do not deserve the love and grace of God but rather His wrath and eternal condemnation.
V God out of love for me sent His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins.
V God, because of His grace, accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf.
V The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to pay the debt for all my sins - past, present and future.
V Jesus died on the cross, was laid in the tomb and on the 3rd day was raised to eternal life. He now reigns supreme at the right hand of God.
V Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him, including me.
V God loves me immensely and sees me as one of His precious children.
V Jesus will return one day to take all believers home to eternal paradise called heaven.
Your faith is a gift to you from God. Every time you sin, you are choosing to squander that gift, to kick it around the floor and to mock God. You need to receive the gift of Faith and nurture it, grow it and mature it.
Prayer:-
V Pray that we will see believers growing in the faith and maturing in their understanding of the Lord through His Word and in their walk with Him. Pray that we will all see more of our faith at work, bearing fruit and bringing glory to God.
V Pray that the Mustard Seed Orphanage will have all the resources it needs to step out in faith, to shine the light of Jesus as they practically care for orphans, widows and the disabled.
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