A 4-step
strategy for strengthening our faith in God
Index
1. Protect
your faith
2. Feed
your faith
3. Exercise
your faith
4. Share
your faith
Put
your
faith to work
Jesus warned His disciples that before His return many would turn away from the
faith. Only those who persevered until the end would be saved. So what can we do
to make sure our faith remains strong and healthy until the return of Christ?
Let me suggest a 4-step strategy for strengthening our faith in God.
Matthew 24:1-14 - And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down." And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in thewhole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." (NAS) Index...
1. Protect your faith
The Bible
exhorts us to stand guard over our faith:
II Timothy 1:13-14 - Hold
fast and follow the pattern of wholesome and sound teaching which you have heard
from me, in (all) the faith and love which are (for us) in Christ Jesus. Guard
and keep (with the greatest care) the precious and excellently adapted (truth)
which has been entrusted (to you), by the (help of the) Holy Spirit Who makes
His home in us. (AMP)
We can protect our faith by becoming familiar with why we
believe what we believe:
II Timothy 3:14-17 - You,
however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of,
knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known
the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work. (NAS)
By steering clear of false teachers:
I Timothy 6:20 - O Timothy,
guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the
opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge" - which some have
professed and thus gone astray from the faith. (NAS)
By praying in the Spirit:
Jude 20 - But you, beloved,
building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep
yourselves in the love of God waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ to eternal life. (NAS)
By putting on the whole armor of God:
Ephesians 6:10-13 - Finally,
be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor
of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces
of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God,
that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to
stand firm. (NAS)
Of all the possessions we are to protect the most important is our confidence in Christ. Index...
2. Feed your faith
If faith is going to grow, it needs to be nurtured. By studying the Bible and engaging in rich fellowship with other believers, we will consistently remind ourselves of how big and dependable God is. This continual reminder constitutes the stead diet faith requires. Index...
3. Exercise your faith
To develop strength we must exercise. Here are
some spiritual exercises I recommend:
Pray big prayers. Some people pray only
safe prayers - prayers they are pretty sure will be answered whether God gets
involved or not. This kind of praying doesn't stretch our faith sufficiently.
Praying that exercises faith is praying which involves impossibilities.
Praise God in the face of intimidating
circumstances. Offer praise to God in the midst of those especially trying
times which inevitably come.
James 1:2-3 - Consider it all
joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of
your faith produces endurance. (NAS)
Doing so strengthens faith.
Each time we watch God pull off His promise to
work all things together for good, our faith will begin to grow.
Put God to the tithing test. Anytime we
witness the faithfulness of God our faith increases. God actually invites us to
put His faithfulness to the test with tithing.
Malachi 3:10 - "Bring the
whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test
Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows
of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."
We can prove God's promise to bless those who
give Him a tenth of all they earn. Our faith in God can be built up by the
experience. God intends that our faith grow through this developmental
discipline.
If your not giving back to God the 10 percent
He says belongs to Him, you have inadvertently skipped a crucial faith building
experience in your development as a disciple.
Commit to some ministry involvement.
Some people tiptoe into ministry involvement. Others wade in. Still others jump
in head first. If you want to strengthen your faith, you must aggressively
pursue a personal ministry. Keep moving forward in service until you're quickly
over your head.
We all need to be in a place where we must
trust God on a near daily basis to establish and confirm our work on His behalf.
This type of ministry will cause us to exercise our faith, and it will become
stronger.
Each of these exercises will enable us to see God work power-fully in our lives. A conscientious involvement in such a spiritual conditioning program should cause our faith muscles to eventually bulge. Index...
4. Share your faith
If we want our faith to grow and become
strong, we need to give it away regularly.
Philemon 1:6 - "I pray that
you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full
understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (NIV)
Many Christians will acknowledge they've never
felt stronger spiritually than when they've been active in personal evangelism.
Recounting to others how good God has been to us serves to renew and strengthen
our own confidence in Him. The more we share our faith with others, the stronger
it becomes.
If you commit to work this
4-step strategy, your faith in Christ will do more than merely survive until His
return - it will thrive.
Index...