Measure of faith

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" Romans 12:3. 

Each of us has got a measure of faith. You may think you don't have any, or lost it, but that is not true. It is in your heart and you have to activate it and use it. As you do it, God will purify it, perfect it, and increase it. In order for faith to be active and grow, you need to have the right focus. Remember when Peter walked on water? Well, he did, but only for a while. When he looked at Jesus, his faith was active and he walked on the water. When he looked away, he doubted and started thinking. However, Jesus is merciful and saved Peter.

Peter's example is actual for us too. We need to keep looking in the right direction for our faith to work. The word of God is the right focus. The testimony of our five senses, particularly when they contradict the word of God is not the right focus. Circumstances, five senses, problems, the world will misdirect our focus and cause us to doubt. Let's stay focused on what the word of God tells us, not how we feel, or what thoughts come to our minds, what the world tells us, or what our five senses tell us. Our true identity is in Christ and He should be in our focus daily. This is how we keep our faith active.

Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:38-39. 

Through new birth we were placed in Christ Jesus. Christians sometimes get scared of being taken out of Him, or losing salvation. It's so good to know that God does not keep us in doubt. He gives us assurance of everything. The evil one always causes us to doubt. He causes us to doubt everything what God told us. God removes our doubts. He said that nothing can separate you neither from His love, nor from His salvation. Paul said that he is convinced of that. So, should we. Christ loves you with eternal love. Believe it and accept it. And thank God for His eternal love. 

Ask and God will answer

Psalm 21:4: “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, forever and ever.”

The main three reasons why we do not get answers from God are: we do not ask, we do not believe that we will get or we ask for bad things. Most people simply never pray, but they would blame God for not answering. That is illogical. Another group of people prays, but they are of little faith and are often overpowered by doubts, which weaken the power of faith and make their prayer inefficient. I believe we all find ourselves in this group from time to time. The last case is also happens very often. We do not think that we are asking for bad things. They might not be bad in themselves, but can turn out for bad since most of us are not ready to receive them. 

Now, you can be sure that forgiveness of sins, healing and restoration of relationships will always be good things and God never lingers to answer those. Only believe and you will receive.

Unbelief blocks God’s promises

Hebrews 3:19: “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”

The verse talks about the nation of Israel. It was Moses’ generation that failed to enter the promise land. We can be slightly surprised, because the Bible clearly says that God expressed his will regarding the Promised Land unquestionably. God wanted them to get there and conquer the land. He made a lot of miracles both when the Israelites were in Egypt and on their way to the Promised Land. Those had to prove the people of God regarding Lord’s perfect will. God made everything that they would enter the land. And yet, they did not. 

Why? Where is the problem? Did God change his mind about the subject? Maybe it was not his will after all. No, God does not change his mind as we do. It is us who might think one thing today and absolutely different tomorrow. We make a decision today and revoke it by making a completely different choice tomorrow. And we often think that God is like us. No, He is not. If He was like us we would not be able to trust him. There has to be something stable for us to stand on. His word is stable ground for us to stand on and His promises are ‘yes and amen’. 

So, where is the problem? Why did the Israelites not enter the Promised Land? Because of unbelief! Although God did a lot of tremendous miracles in front of their eyes they would not believe him and at the slightest test would start complaining, crying and murmuring. They actually believed that God meant them to experience bad things and even perish in the wilderness. How wrong they were! How wrong we often are about our God and his intentions towards us! He always means good. His will is always good towards us. 

It is us who fail to trust him. That’s where all the problems lie. Everything that we get from God we get by means of his grace and by faith. Any promise God gives us He also expects us to believe that promise to come true and act in faith so that the promise would come true. James 1: 6-8: “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

So, if you expect to get anything from the Lord you have to believe Him. Doubts block promises of God. God is willing, ready and can do anything, but will you trust him till you see the promise come reality. Be thankful for the promises that God gives you. Keep the attitude of gratitude till the invisible becomes visible. Trust God that He wishes you well and that He will do everything on his part to make that true. You do everything that is required on your part. And that is believing!