GROW YOUR FAITH – Pastor Chris
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
It’s your responsibility to increase the measure of faith God has given to you, and the way to do that is by learning more of God’s Word: “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The less of God’s Word you receive into your spirit, the less faith you’ll be able to express when you’re faced with the challenges of life. So, every day, grow your faith by feeding voraciously on God’s Word.
Someone once said, “My faith is very little; that’s why I sometimes feel weak spiritually.” Then grow your faith! That’s your job. Don’t stay at the level of little faith. Little faith exhibits fear and doubt (Matthew 8:26). In Matthew 14, Simon Peter was walking on water toward Jesus until he saw the winds and waves and began to sink. The Bible says Jesus immediately “…stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).
Little faith is also carnal or given to carnal reasoning. We see an example of this in Matthew 16:6 when Jesus said to His disciples, “…Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” The Bible says they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread” (Matthew 16:7). They didn’t understand what Jesus was teaching and thought He meant physical loaves of bread. Jesus perceived their carnal reasoning and said to them, “…O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?” (Matthew 16:8).
When the one with little faith feels a discomfort in the stomach, he’s quick to say, “I think it’s because of something I ate or something I drank.” Yet Jesus said, “…and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them…” (Mark 16:18). God wants your faith to be stalwart; not weak, and not little. Therefore, study and practise the Word of God; that’s how to grow your faith to be strong. Be like the ones described in Thessalonica, whose faith grew exceedingly, and also those in the Faith’s hall of fame (Hebrews 11) who used their faith for exploits.
CONFESSION:
The Word is living and active in me, and inspires faith in me to overcome challenges and maintain my victorious life in Christ. I’m born of the Word; therefore, I live by the Word. As I study and meditate on the Word, my faith is strengthened and improved, from glory to glory, and the blessings of acting on the Word are evident in my life, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Matthew 14:26-31 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth [his] hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:
1-Year Bible Reading Plan:
John 13:1-30 & 2 Kings 20-22
2-Year Bible Reading Plan:
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 & Proverbs 23
