.  Living Hope Fellowship Church....Sermons by the Pastor

YOUR FAITH MUST GROW

By Pastor Kevin Badgley  (06/14/06)

            Hebrews 10:38-39 says, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

            Hebrews 11:1-2 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good report.” 

            Faith is a spiritual substance.  You can’t try something that doesn’t exist!  Before you were justified by Christ Jesus (saved) you lived by faith in the wrong things - faith in yourself, the world, and other things.

            Romans 12:3 says, “. . . God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  When the Spirit of God deals with your heart, that measure of faith moves out of the world into Christ, and you are born again. The ability for us to live on higher ground is dependent on the growth of our faith.

            Faith is tangible in the spirit.  Faith can be felt, it can be won or lost, and it can grow or die.  Your attitude, your outlook, and where you allow yourself to go is determined by your faith.  God says His soul shall have no pleasure in the one who draws back from living by faith!  God loves faith (see Hebrews 11:6); it pleases Him, but many have traded faith for their own reasoning, a word of the enemy, other people, or just by giving up. 

            Faith is an instrument of God’s grace to perform God’s will in a fallen world.  How do we get faith?  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  When we make exceptions to God’s Word, through seduction of the enemy, reasoning of men, or carnal mindedness, we trample our faith in God, and we blame Him.

            If your bank account fails or your health wavers, will you take desperate measures or get angry with God?  The devil is banking on us rejecting what faith we have, but God wants us to believe Him for ALL that He has. 

            This country was founded on faith in God.  That is why God’s blessing is upon us.  However, most Americans feel that if God does not come through today, we have our reserves.  We must repent and put our faith in Christ Jesus alone!  Is there anything we don’t have to believe God for?  NO. 

            Have faith in God’s presence.  Then the Spirit of God who honors faith will blow His Spirit on it.  It will catch fire and become alive!  Don’t limit God.  The children of Israel saw God’s great miracles time after time, yet they limited the Holy One of Israel.  God wants us to take the limits off, so He tries us!

            If you say, “God, I believe you for everything,” God will take everything away so you will believe Him for everything.  Do you understand the process?

            Some people have more faith in themselves than they have in God.  If God says something, and it does not come to pass immediately, they start helping him rather than waiting on God.  Nobody ever died waiting on God.  When our faith is tried and we waver, we resort to ourselves and anybody else after that who is smarter, greater, quicker, stronger, or richer!  God has not let you down - you have trusted to yourself and made your own arrangements.  Yet, God promises in Philippians 4:19  to supply all our needs!

© Living Hope Fellowship, Inc.
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