Room to grow.

Last week we looked at running with passion and determination. How we have to lay aside the things that slow us down and keep our eyes on Jesus. This week I am going to share around the most important aspect of our God race. Faith. We were looking at Hebrews 12:1-2 last week. This week, we’ll take a step back and look at Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11:1-3 says, “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for. Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.”

Pausing there for a second, the above is telling us that faith allows us or empowers us to see that the universe was created by the power of God’s words. Extrapolating from that, faith allows us or empowers us to realise just how powerful God’s words are. This means as Christians, our faith should empower us to see just how powerful the words of our Bible are. The same God who spoke and the universe came into being, is the same God who is speaking to us through the pages of our Bible.

If we want to finish our God race, we need to be able to take the words of our Bible seriously, meaning we do what it asks us to do and focus on what it asks us to focus on.

Hebrews 11:4 says, “Faith moved Abel to choose a more acceptable sacrifice to offer God than his brother Cain, and God declared him righteous because of his offering of faith. By his faith, Abel still speaks instruction to us today, even though he is long dead.” Faith affects our choices and how we live our lives. If your faith is not influencing your choices, then perhaps it is not faith. Maybe you think it all sounds like a good idea on a mental level, but it has not reached your heart yet.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God.  For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him.” This is why we are to run our race with passion and determination. God doesn’t want us settling for Him because we think He’ll do for now until something else comes along. God wants us to be fully convinced that He is real and that our faith will be rewarded. Isn’t it amazing how the verse says, “For we come to God in faith knowing…” and not that we come to God in faith “hoping”. We cannot confuse our faith with our hope.

Back to Hebrews 11:1, it says faith is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. You cannot have invisible evidence. Evidence is tangible. Measurable. Seen. Jesus says that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, Matthew 17:20-21. That is measurable. Paul was once preaching and he “saw” that a man who had been listening had faith to be healed, Acts 14:9. Faith can be seen.

The way you live your life is evidence of your faith. Are you running your God race with passion and determination fully convinced that God is real and that your faith will be rewarded? Or you are half in and you hope that if He is real, one day you may make it to heaven? God says in Revelations 3:16, “But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” We don’t want God to be spitting us out. We want to be hot and on fire for God, passionately pursuing Him our whole lives.

There is room to grow in our faith. Our lives need to show what we believe. Faith can be seen, and faith can be measured. If faith can be seen and measured, it means faith has room to grow. If faith can grow it can also shrink. So we need to focus on things that feed our faith not things that chip away at it. Get in the word of God. Stay plugged in to a good bible based local church. Faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing the word of God over and over again, Romans 10:17. That is how we grow our faith.

We also need to be watchful so we do not lose our faith over trivial matters. What I mean is, if someone you know who was on fire for God is no longer walking with God, that should not cause you to stop believing in God. Our faith is not in people. It is in Jesus. We each have our own individual God journey. We will all have to give an account for our lives individually and there will be no one to point the finger at but ourselves. We each get to choose how we want to live our lives. Let us live full of faith and fully convinced that God is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do.  

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.