Day 1 – FAITH

Scriptures:

Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)

⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

11 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

⁶ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

As you may have seen/heard in my testimony, I absolutely did not know or realize what I was doing when I was making the decision to accept Jesus into my life. But I believe God still honoured the decision. You too may have stumbled into your salvation, or even feel that you were manipulated into making the decision by someone and maybe you don’t fully understand what you may have gotten yourself into. The how is not so important. The question is, do you believe that Jesus died for you? Is your heart open to Him?

It is often difficult to quantify faith. You may struggle with actually believing that you believe. I mean, there probably wasn’t an earthquake or something when you made the prayer, so how are you to be sure that you actually believe and are “saved”? That is what we call having faith! Faith is your evidence. Don’t feel bad for having this battle initially. Our enemy wants you to believe that your salvation is invalid and that it is not real. I encourage you, that this is not true!

The Good News is that Jesus gives you your initial measure of faith and it grows as you hear/read His Word (see Romans 12:3). It is your responsibility to ensure you grow your faith. Your faith will be tested, but such testing will produce endurance (see James 1:3). Why is endurance important? The simple answer is; because salvation is a journey, one with challenges and if you want to reach the finish line (just like in a race), you must have endurance!

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Practical tips to hold onto your faith:

1. Do not depend on your feelings as a measure of how much faith you have
2. Read and study the Bible as regularly as you can (remember to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, teach you and help you understand)
3. Apply what you have learnt in your Bible study
4. If you feel like you’re struggling to have faith, ask Jesus to help you out (He is the Author and Perfecter of your faith)
5. Repeat 🙂

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come before You, by faith, in the name of Jesus. I thank you for my life in Jesus Christ which enables me to have a relationship with You. I need Your grace, through the Holy Spirit to endure on this journey as my faith grows. Although I may not feel much in my physical body, I know my soul and body are being transformed as my spirit man is strengthened. I know You are pleased with my faith and will reward me accordingly on this journey. I thank You for being a good and faithful Father, I love you, amen.