Practical steps to Increased Faith

This morning is pouring down rain and I am loving it immensely.  Drinking a fresh cup of coffee, sitting as close to outdoors as I can without getting totally drenched.  Well, let me be honest, I am sitting in my RV with the windows open and watching and smelling the rain.  That's about as close as I am getting.  But a very compelling thought occurred to me as I was going through one of the most important morning exercises.  I call it pondering and it usually occurs after morning prayers and meditation.  It's when I let my mind relax and open myself for whatever the Holy Spirit introduces to me at that moment.  Today, I felt compelled to discuss the more distinct elements of using Faith and how important it is to have ourselves in position to activate our faith.

I have found that the best way to exercise your faith is to first know who you are.  What is the call that God wants you to respond to on earth.   What impact are you to make during your short time on earth and in what environment should it occur.  I contend that many people who begin the Faith journey do it as a result of a testimony that they heard about someone getting a new car, house, job or something else material.  And that's all well and good.  However, our Faith has a far more supreme roll on earth.  We are to build the kingdom of God.  Houses, cars and jobs are a very small part of that agenda and they are only to be used as a means to and end.  The bigger purpose is building the kingdom of God.

Now, you may ask, what is the Kingdom of God.  Without getting into a theological mind numbing explanation I will simply say serving you brother or your sisters needs and letting the light of Jesus shine through you.  So, Brother, you may ask, can you break it down a little more than that?  Sure I can.  It means having a safe place for children to be nurtured and cared for after school, it means, creating safe neighborhoods, protecting God's environment, providing provisions for the poor and hungry, advocating for laws that provide for social justice, engaging people in life long learning, spending time with young men who want to find themselves but don't know how.  Teaching parenting skills to single parent moms.  Showing people how to access free government programs that will help them get their needs met.  etc. etc.. etc..

In short, the kingdom of God is meeting needs and spreading the love of Christ throughout the world and facilitating the spreading of the gospel so that people can become Christians and then begin their own journey in Kingdom Building.

But one thing is very important in making this a reality and it relates to this following scripture.

1 John 3:21
 ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

First, we can receive from God anything we ask, if we believe in the name of Jesus Christ, keep his commandments and do what pleases him.  Does that mean we will need to be perfect to get our Faith working, Absolutely not, just read the bible and you will  find fault in every person who exercised faith.  But, you endeavor to do good and each day you have a heart to improve and make a difference in someones else life and show good toward humanity.  If you follow after Jesus then your desires are focused on his kingdom.  Not cars, houses, money etc etc.. but people.  Those other things will come as a Result of focusing on the needs of other first (The Kingdom). 

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

My prayer for you today is that you obtain all that you need to live a prosperous and satisfying life in Christ.
Enjoy the journey and live stress free

Peace!