Thoughts for Life: How to Grow in Faith

Merlin Crothers: Peter, and most of the Jews of his day, knew about the horrors of the Roman crucifixions. They had probably witnessed a few of them.

When Peter stood in the courtyard, after Jesus had been arrested..,
he had good reason to be afraid. He, too, could have been arrested and made to suffer and die beside Jesus.

Peter became so afraid that he did the unthinkable.

He cursed and swore that he had never even known Jesus. Jesus had told His disciples to never be afraid but Peter had not yet learned how to use his faith in God.

Our desire for self-survival is strong, and our desire to escape pain is so powerful that it can overrule our longing to be faithful to Christ. He taught all His followers to not be afraid, but the temptation to fear can often by overwhelming.

To resist, and keep on resisting, God has given us the same powerful antidote to defeat fear that Jesus had. We can believe and keep on believing that God is always working for our good (see Romans 8:28).

Our faith that God's promise is true can become increasingly stronger, but it requires our continuing efforts to believe. Satan is always trying to find ways to defeat our trust in God's promises.

It is so easy to practice fear and unbelief concerning those we love. We earnestly do not want them to suffer sickness, imprisonment, unemployment, marriage troubles or unjust treatment.

If they are suffering in some way, we can easily be drawn into being afraid that God will not use their suffering for their good. But our fear is a tool that Satan can use to defeat our efforts to trust God's love for those we love.

We can best help others by learning not to be afraid of what is or what might happen to them. Yes, our anxieties or fears may be normal, but normal does not defeat Satan. Faith is a mighty weapon God has given His people and He asks us to use it.

No matter how weak our faith is, it will grow as we use it! If we use it for small problems, it gets strengthened for more difficult tribulations.

Peter learned from his mistakes. He became so strong in faith that when his shadow touched people they were healed. What potential God has made available to each one of us! He wants us to use the opportunities that we have to believe that He is working for our good—in spite of every appearance.

Each act of faith will help our faith to grow, and keep growing. Like Peter learned to do, we must practice trusting and praising God no matter what He allows to happen. As we learn to do this, He reveals Himself to us and to others through us.

Jesus knew that terrible things would happen to many of those who would come to believe in Him. But He also knew that His Father had promised to work EVERYTHING for their good.

So, He gave us God's message and asked us to practice believing, growing in faith and learning that His Father never, ever, fails to keep His promises.

Our faith will cause our confidence and our joy to keep growing and growing. (Reprint in PRAISE NEWS from February, 2005).

Let's pray-

Father, help us understand that You're with us, no matter what, and that the Spirit of Jesus will give us the strength and determination, as well as the boldness needed to stand against any confrontation we may face.

May our faith grow, and keep on growing, as we learn to trust You completely.

I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse-

(Ps. 89:1 KJV) "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations."

(Ps. 88:1, 2 CEV) "You keep me safe, LORD God. So when I pray at night, please listen carefully to each of my concerns."

Special guest post quote-

Do The Right Thing

By Jill Savage on Jun 06, 2016 05:31 am

"Mark says: As we were thinking about today’s Marriage
Monday, I thought about something that happened last week. My construction crew and I had been working on the roof of a customer’s home, repairing, replacing, and staining cedar siding for much of the week.

I came home Thursday night exhausted from both the job and the heat. I turned into our driveway with one goal in mind: find the remote! As I drove down our somewhat long country driveway, I noticed Jill was weeding our yard and our daughter Erica was working in the garden. In that moment I knew I had a decision to make..."

Our thought today-

Every generation has to press in for the Kingdom. It's easy
to back off and stop pressing in to the mission of the Church. God will take us to the next level if we'll trust Him. He delights in taking the very least of us to accomplish something great.

Our question today-

Are you going to just watch what Jesus does, or get involved?

Upcoming posts-

Have You Ever Wondered?

19th- Sunday evening's post by Jean Oathout

#49 God Delights In Your Holy Boldness

21st- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#50 The Role of Importunity

23rd- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

One Invitation at a Time

25th- Saturday's post by Debbie McEwen

Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse