Well, I didn't always have the faith I have now. I've been through highs and lows in my life like anyone. I've had my struggles. I've had times when I wanted to give up, even on God. I've had times when I could talk as negatively and depressingly as anyone else on the street. I've had times - gasp! - when I've gotten angry at God (thank God I recovered and repented). I've had times when I felt I'd been hit too hard too many times, and I so wanted to give up. But deep in my heart and my spirit, I would always hear God's whisper, "Don't quit on Me. I will never leave you or forsake you."
I hung on - sometimes by a thread - but I hung on and determined to pursue God no matter what.
While I didn't understand everything, I knew that I NEEDED the Lord, and I knew there was too much that I didn't know, that I NEEDED to learn in order to walk by faith with Him.
It’s taken me a long time of experience with God to develop the faith I have, and I have fought my own battles to keep it strong and hold on through bad times. I see so many people who just seem to get slammed from one agony to the next and, in my heart, I want to help alleviate that pain. Therefore, to officially launch my Bible studies on this
site, I am going to start with a series on Walking by Faith.
The reality is whatever you are trying to improve, change, fix or heal in your life - whether your weight, your health, a physical problem, fear and worry, your mind, or any other area of life - all can be handled with our awesome God. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He promises to enable us to do whatever needs to be done. He cares about everything that concerns us. There is nothing neither too big nor too small. He cares about everything. So I'm going to share with you, and I pray that whatever I write will help whoever needs it.
Recently, as I was reading and meditating in the New Testament, and focusing on various Scriptures, these are the thoughts and words that came to me:
Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22)
Faith in God does not mean we don’t have problems. Jesus said we would have problems in this world (John 16:33) – trials and tribulations He called them. He also told us to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world for us.
Trials and tribulations come because we live in a world that has fallen vastly below God’s original intent for us (the Garden of Eden) and, whether you believe it or not, we are hunted by an enemy. The Bible says the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Yet the Bible also says that God always causes us to triumph through Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14) AND that we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Jesus Who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
Psalm 34:19 says, “Many evils confront the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
This means that no matter what comes against you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you will always overcome. You will always win. In truth, because of Jesus, you have already won. The only way you can NOT win is if you give up before you see the victory.
You say, “But aren’t these promises for the righteous? I’m not righteous. Not enough. Not good enough. Not holy enough.”
Simple. If you believe in Jesus, you are already counted as righteous. If you are reading this, and you don't know Jesus, it is very easy... ask Him into your life to be your Savior and Lord.
Romans 10:9-10 says, "if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms his salvation."
Acts 16:31 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping and you will be saved."
If you are not sure that you believe there is a God, ask the Lord Jesus to reveal Himself to you. He wants you to know Him because He wants to fill your life with His love and His grace. He's not mad at you. He's not even having a bad day. He wants to restore your life.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through your faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself."
1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us, "You are in Christ Jesus, who BECAME FOR US wisdom from God—and RIGHTEOUNESS and sanctification and redemption."
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "Christ, Who knew no sin, was made to be sin FOR US so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God."
Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
In God’s eyes, you are righteous - righteous enough to have faith and believe in God, to call upon Him, and expect Him to answer.
Keep your eyes on God.
Faith does not deny the problems in front of you. It does not pretend that the problems don’t exist.
Faith says that NO MATTER WHAT COMES God is good. He is faithful. He can be trusted. He is worthy of my praise and worthy of my trust.
NO MATTER WHAT COMES, I will more than survive what is happening in my life right now because God Almighty is my Deliverer! I will THRIVE. I will OVERCOME. I will SURPASS. I will RISE AGAIN, even BETTER THAN BEFORE.
Faith does not say I never have problems. Rather, when trials and tribulations come, faith goes to God and His Word, it finds out what God says about such a matter, and then faith attacks the problems with, “It is written:…”
Faith trusts. Faith says, “Lord, You are faithful, and I trust in You."
No matter what.