Faith Journey Episode 111
Each of us comes from a different place in our walk with God, but our faith journey typically has some of the same factors. In this episode, we discuss ways to grow in faith.
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Do you have a favorite book? A favorite chair? A favorite television program? What about a favorite song? If you think about it, I’m sure you could answer every single question, but if I asked you the same thing five years ago, the answers might be different. Our solutions change as we change. And, so it is with our faith. Our faith can grow, especially at the beginning when we are excited to learn everything we can, we can’t wait to read the Bible and soak up the Word of God, we love to pray, and we find many of our prayers are answered. It is a time when everything seems glorious, and it is often called the honeymoon period, because similar to a young marriage, everything is bright, new, wonderful, and we are in love! We are in love with Jesus.
Has your relationship with the Lord gotten comfortable? Is it like a favorite recliner or chair? It molds and fits you, but it isn’t the same as when it was new? If we do not work on our relationship even with the Lord, it can stagnate and even in some cases, slide and go backward. We hear of people who lose their faith or their way, and some we might know that we’re on fire for the Lord. Maybe they were preachers or wrote books or even were pretty famous. What happened to them? What made them go from hot to cold?
Yes, life happens, but I believe the same way we nurture a relationship with people we love, we must nurture our relationship with the Lord. So, here are some questions I want you to ask yourself.
- Do you become excited when considering reading the Bible, or is it something you do to check off the daily list?
- Same question about prayer… excited or just a check in a box?
- Same question about quiet time before the Lord.
- Same question about attending church.
- Same question about your relationship with God.
How do you grow in the Lord without it looking like a to-do list that is done each day out of obligation? Ahh… here it is the real question. The real question is do you know Jesus? Do you know Him? Who is He? Who does He say that He is? If we know Jesus as He knows himself to be (as my pastor says) and love Jesus as He knows Himself to be, then we can’t help but grow in the Lord.
The reality is that life happens, and we get busy, sidetracked, and find that we are spinning our wheels when it comes to faith. Sure, maybe you are well-meaning — I know I am, but I have to admit that I do have a little bit of that “check-off-the-box” mentality. I’m super happy if I make it to Mass each day if I pray on the way and stay in church a little while after to pray some more if I think about God in the car on the way home or play some praise and worship music. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. God knows our hearts!
Today I was joyous. I mean giddy, exicted happy…joyous! And I asked God why. “Why Lord am I feeling so happy?” and I felt the answer was …”No reason, because I love you.”
Friends, we don’t do any of these things for God – we do them for ourselves to grow in our love for the Lord. If you are taking a step, even if it is a tiny step in the direction toward God, that is great! It is wonderful! It is the ideal for you today. Remember, guilt is not from the Lord. It is from the enemy that wants to keep us down.
Does this mean you don’t have to learn, spend time with God, read the Bible, listen to spiritual and uplifting music that praises God? No – of course, you can, but you don’t have to! Your faith journey is unique to you! Your faith journey is your relationship with God. Your faith journey is learning and growing and spending time with the Almighty, the King of Heaven and Earth, the King of Kings the Lord of Lords! Who doesn’t want to know more about Him? Who doesn’t want to shout “Jesus Reigns” from the car as we drive by unsuspecting motorists? Yeah, okay – that may be a bit weird, but you get my point.
If you search for the word “faith journey” in any Bible app nothing is going to come up. It is not in Scripture. But, if you search for faith -it shows up 378 times and, the verse that speaks to me is Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:1-8 … Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…(use your Bibles to read more, or go here).
Friends, our journey toward God can be steady and slow, as long as we are moving forward. It is in those times when we pause or outright stop that the enemy can and does attack us. It is in those times that we feel despair and cry out to God, “Do you even hear me?” … yet, I assure you He does. He is here with arms open willing us to walk toward him.
Let’s Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for the gift of faith for it truly is a gift. Please allow us to have the faith of Noah, who built an ark because you commanded it, and the faith of Moses who lead the chosen people out of Egypt, and the faith of all the holy men and women who have gone on before us. Dear Father, give us the faith of the thief on the cross who knew He was a sinner and unworthy of the kingdom, but asked anyway. Please help us in our faith journey to walk ever closer to you, be beside me, Lord for those times I falter and fall. Be beside me, Lord, for those times that I do not know what to say to those who hurt me. Be beside me, Lord and, help me to put one foot in front of the other and continue walking, praying, studying, and listening … please, Lord, hear the prayer I ask for this day… let me grow ever closer to you, and I pray this in Jesus’s Name. Amen.
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