Jul 8, 2020
Why My Faith Is Not Enough
Jesus’ faith versus my faith
Being a full-time working mom, I have always found excuses for skipping personal devotion.
There were always dishes to be done, laundry to be taken care of, kids and husband to be fed. I always justified that all chores have to be done to be the best mother.
I consider my family to be a blessing from God and hence I put more effort into maintaining and providing for it. But I seem to forget that I am not the provider nor the sustainer.
I have been the Martha of the story and not the Mary at Jesus’ feet.
People of faith, in this time of uncertainty, have turned to different mediums especially the internet for motivation, inspiration and solace. Faith-based online groups and courses have seen a surge in signups and enrolments. Many Bible study programs are now working ear to ear to manage this high-demand for the Word Of God.
What are believers looking for?
Are they searching for faith or trying to scrape the rust off their faith?
Our identity in Christ
As followers, we are nothing on our own, everything comes from the one we follow. We have nothing of our own. Everything is the result of the one who created us. We are meant to reveal who He is.
Our faith is nothing on its own and solely rests in our identity in Christ. Completely fundamental as the air we breathe.
If we think that we know and believe in God and that is all the faith we need, then we are in the queue for a shock. When we have this mindset, we are considering ourselves as the provider and sustainer of faith… If that is the case, we need to grab our faith and throw it outside the window.
We can only progress in our faith if we have the faith of Jesus and not our own.
The reality is we are nothing on our own. Our faith on its own means nothing if it does not have Jesus. If we want His blessed assurance, we need to have not ours but Jesus’ faith.
The keyword in Hebrews 11:6 is “seek.” If I am a true believer I will be looking for Him, waiting on Him. I acknowledge His existence, know and love Him as my creator and am thankful for His blessings.
My faith is malnourished and almost dead.
Faith is fed by daily devotion… by reading the Bible daily… by communicating with God more than just once a day. It is about making God the centre of everything that we think or do.
Dead faith
Let’s not be like the Pharisees that Jesus called hypocrites for neglecting the most important matters of the Law. They were good on lots of subjects but ignorant of the most important aspects, faith being one of them.
The apostle James wrote in his epistle about what he called “dead faith.” Dead faith is when one believes in God, but does not obey His commandments or simply chooses to steer away and fall in the traps of this world.
When our belief inspires us to be obedient to God and His ways, we demonstrate our true faith in the one living God. As Christians, we must strive for living faith. Our good works according to His commandments and laws should demonstrate our living faith.
We cannot be on the same level of the demons, who believe in the living God, who believe that Jesus is the son of God who died on the cross for our sins, yet do evil and live evil.
We have to rise above. We have to demonstrate live and not dead faith.
What Is Jesus’ faith?
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV).
This is even more convincing when we read Hebrews 12:2 which says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. It’s like Jesus is the factory of faith, the source of faith. Our faith seizes to exist if it does not flow from Jesus.
Why is it important that we have Jesus’ faith?
We need to re-focus on Jesus and His cross and stop being self-reliant, self- sufficient and depending on our own abilities. Depending on our own skills and talents is not bringing us any closer to God.
In today's age, you can find heaps of tools that enable a more systematic and attractive way for communion with God. Bible journaling apps, prayer record-keeping, timers to remind us to pray and read the Bible, devotional signup alerts… you name it.
Does it have to be automated?
Rather your faith needs to be internally driven to talk to God.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8, NKJV).
Faith is increased by drawing closer to God through prayer and the study of His Word, the Bible. Grace is God’s desire to give all of His gifts and one of them is Faith. It is a gift from God!
Should an app remind us to ask God to give us the gift of faith?
God will increase our faith if we fervently ask Him for it and seek to draw closer to Him in prayer and the reading of His Word.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11: 1–3 , ESV).
