So many times, I am asked questions from other believers about situations that can only be answered by a simple “trust in God.” Yet, most don’t seem to know how to have enough faith to simply believe his word. A major problem could be that they have not studied enough to truly understand the promises of God. All through scripture, there are promises from God to us, but those are conditional on our obedience.
Romans 10:17 tells us “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This seems simple. If you want your faith to increase, then read the word. Listen to the preacher. Attend Sunday School. Study the word. We are taught all our lives to work hard for the things we want. This also applies to getting to know God. You must seek him with all your heart. God instructs us to diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
II Timothy 2:15 says “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
It is not suggested that we study or read. It is a command. If you want to increase your faith, read! If you want to be able to understand (rightly divide), then you must study. Paul was writing this to Timothy, as a young minister, but it applies to all who claim his name. No devotion or quick chapter can grant you what true study will do. You must read the word. Read commentaries. Look up the words you don’t understand in the original language. Find out what they really mean. You may say, “I don’t have those resources,” but aww you do! If you are reading this you are on a device that can access the internet. There are many bits of help if you seek them out. One of the greatest helps I found is e-sword. It’s a free download of the Bible with tons of resource material, and it’s all free!
Next, we must obey what we find through study, preaching, and teaching. It is our own fault if we do not take heed to what God has provided. In America, we have so many opportunities to gain knowledge to grow closer to God. However, we have become lazy and self-reliant and lulled into a stupor. We have put God in a box. We take him out when we need him when we attend church, and as soon as our needs are met, or the box for service is checked off, we put him back. Many take the attitude that they have been saved and that is all that matters. That my friend is a lie from the devil himself, and a complete lesson on its own.
You must come to the place that you are determined to obey no matter what the cost. Make studying God’s word the priority of the day. When you do, you will find that your faith in God is increasing consistently. The more you read the more you know him. The more you know him the more you love him. The more you love him the more you will believe him and act accordingly.
As I get to know him I find he is completely trustworthy. I see where he has worked all around me and my faith increases. I come to a point where I believe if he said it then it is true. As long as I obey, I can get through anything, because of what he has said. Titus 1:2 gives us his character we can trust. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”
Hebrews 13:5 has a couple of conditions, but it ends with a great promise: “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
I John 1:9 “That if we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive us our sins.” Notice, we obey, he responds.
John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
John 14:2 -3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
In this verse, Jesus is putting conditions on himself for our benefit. Jesus himself reaffirms his own character in these verses. Again, He cannot lie, and therefore if he says it, it is true!
When we believe something, the next aspect of showing that belief is to act upon it. In other words, like the Nike commercial says, “JUST DO IT.” James tells us we are to be a doer of the word.
James 1:23-25 “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: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
All throughout the Bible God is speaking to us. A letter to let us know how he feels about us and how we should feel about him. Just in the few verses seen here we find:
- He cannot lie.
- He will not leave us.
- He will forgive us.
- He will give us a comforter.
- He is preparing a place for us.
- He will come to get us to live with him!
If God tells us something and we doubt his word, it is the same as calling him a liar. So, take him at his word. It is powerful. It is truth. It is God speaking to you! If you go through life this way simply believing what he says, your faith will increase. Your stress will go down, and your prayers will be answered. WOW, there are innumerable results from just taking God at his word!
Will you study diligently?
Will you obey what you read?
Will you heed the words of your preacher and teachers that he has given you?
