30 April 2013 by Natasha Kim CM –
In the part 1 of the article Senior Pastor, Tan Sri (Dr.) Prince Guneratnam talked about abiding in God and about the importance of having faith with patience and hope, in order to see the reality of God and His power in your life.
To understand faith you need to refer to Bible verses that talk about faith like in Romans 1:16- 17 that says, “For 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
– He shared, “As a saved individual that is what our calling is, to live by faith. There is no other way to live your Christian life but by faith.”
Hebrews 10:38 – “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”
– “If we fail to live a life that is trusting God and trusting His promises then there is no way you’re going to see the workings or miracles of God in your life” he said. Without it, one won’t be able to experience any changes in life.
When Jesus comes again He will come as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. According to the Bible, Luke 18:8 says – “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” So when He finds you, will He see you living by faith?
2 Peter 1:5- 7 tells us how we can live by faith:-
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.
– He emphasized that we should, “Make every effort to respond to God’s promises! It’s not something to fold your arms and lay back on.” When we live by faith the enemy will try to come and rob you of that faith and discourage you, telling you that “I don’t think it can happen, it doesn’t make sense or it doesn’t look right.” Remember that the enemy comes in all forms and shapes and tries to tear you down and that is why “Faith needs perseverance! It is progressive and there are things that you can add to show that you have faith.” shared Prince.
Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
– Above, are the 7 Efforts to persevere with and add to your faith. “The more effort you make in your growth better things happen. Jesus is enough when you put your faith in him” he said.
1) Moral Excellence are the virtues we must push for Philippians 4:8 says, “8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
2) Romans 6: 12-14 explains self control and says, “12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Put the instruments of your body namely the ears, mind, hands, feet and the rest under self control by the grace of God!
3) “Knowledge is the Word of God which is the lamp to our path” he said. 2 Peter 3:17 – 18 says, “17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” “You will never find anything far better to understand what and who Jesus is than to read the Word of God” he said.
4) It is important to develop a patient endurance (perseverance) for Romans 5:1-5 says, 5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” “Many don’t understand this very much. We glory in tribulations knowing that it is when our faith perseveres” he said.
5) 1Timothy 6:6 says, “6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Being godly can bring us great gain and contentment when you walk simply doing what God wants you to do.
6) Brotherly kindness simply means affection. “We’re not rude. There’s courtesy, kindness and affection. That’s the mark of one who is serving” he said.
7) A beautiful description of Love in the Bible is contained in 1 Corinthians 13: 4- 8 that says, “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Simply put, adding to your faith causes you to see the reality and the power of Jesus Christ in your life! “Do these things and you will never fall away and God will give you a very warm welcome and a grand entrance into His kingdom” he said.
2 Peter 1:8 -“8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.”
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References for pictures:
http://www.pathcalledrighteousness.com/god/faith/the-power-to-move-a-mountain/
http://victoryoutreachwhittier.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/increase-our-faith/
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