Faith Grows!

Reflection:  Someone has said faith is “like a muscle”, if it is not growing it is getting weaker.  As exercise of our bodies strengthens our muscles, when we exercise faith our faith gets stronger.  Paul says this about faith to the young church at Thessalonica,

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5

Paul says their faith is growing more and more.  And we see the corollary “the love you all have for one another is increasing.”  Faith and love are inexorably linked.  And what is causing this growth?  Persecutions and trials!  The trouble from the outside is causing the church to exercise faith and love, which is growing as the trials increase.  Indeed our faith is tested most when things are going bad, whether that be from something happening internally or externally. 

And that makes sense doesn’t it?  I mean if everything were always going well it might be easy to trust in God.  But when things go south, it is sometimes hard to see what God is up to.  Whether this is an illness, a friendship that has taken a hit, or maybe trouble at work, we all face trials on a daily basis. 

James starts off his letter to the Church by saying this:

 ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

Then he says something similar in verse 12,

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

What is the theme here?  Testing and trials are not optional for the Christian, they are given.  And as we persevere through trials it will ALWAYS grow our faith!  Why?  Because as we see God’s faithfulness even in the bad circumstances in our lives, we will know that He is FAITHFUL, even when we are not! 

When we are going through trials everything in us will want to give up, and yet God has given us His promises that no temptation/trial has overcome us that is not common to all humankind and God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but will provide a way out for you to stand up under the trial!  1 Corinthians 10:13 (a great memory verse!)

So you can see the bible has much to say about trials and temptations, and how they can grow our faith.  Are you going through a trial right now?  Can you stop right now and recognize that God is with you and He will give you the faith and strength to stand up under the fire and stay strong in the faith?  Maybe you are not in a season of testing. If so, who can you encourage today to keep on trusting in the Lord and His promises which are all “yes” in Jesus Christ? 

We know one day when Jesus returns there will be an accounting for what we have done with the tests we have been given.  Our passage from 1 Thessalonians tells us the when Jesus returns in a blazing fire with all his angels, that those who have suffered for His name will be with Him in great and promised glory.   Another promise from our Almighty God that we can be sure will come true! After all He hasn’t failed us yet…once!  Stay strong in the Lord my friend it will be worth it someday! And may our faith and love grow stronger each day!  Amen

Psalm 96:10-13

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
¹² Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
¹³ Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Jeremiah 8:1-9:9

8 “‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. ² They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. ³ Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴ “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?
    When someone turns away, do they not return?
⁵ Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
    they refuse to return.
⁶ I have listened attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
    like a horse charging into battle.
⁷ Even the stork in the sky
    knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
    observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
    the requirements of the Lord.

⁸ “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?
⁹ The wise will be put to shame;
    they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
    what kind of wisdom do they have?
¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men
    and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.
¹¹ They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.
¹² Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,
says the Lord.

¹³ “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
    There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
    will be taken from them.’”

¹⁴ Why are we sitting here?
    Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
    and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and given us poisoned water to drink,
    because we have sinned against him.
¹⁵ We hoped for peace
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.
¹⁶ The snorting of the enemy’s horses
    is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour
    the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

¹⁷ “See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
    vipers that cannot be charmed,
    and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁸ You who are my Comforter in sorrow,
    my heart is faint within me.
¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
    with their worthless foreign idols?”

²⁰ “The harvest is past,
    the summer has ended,
    and we are not saved.”

²¹ Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
    I mourn, and horror grips me.
²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
    Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
    for the wound of my people?

9 ¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
    for the slain of my people.
² Oh, that I had in the desert
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
    a crowd of unfaithful people.

³ “They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
    that they triumph in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴ “Beware of your friends;
    do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,
    and every friend a slanderer.
⁵ Friend deceives friend,
    and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶ You live in the midst of deception;
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine and test them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
⁸ Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
    but in their hearts they set traps for them.
⁹ Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
    on such a nation as this?”

2 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. ¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I will not fail you or forsake you. Joshua 1:5

In Jesus Christ every one of God's promises is a "Yes." 2 Corinthians 1:20

Eternal God, we trust in you and know you will not forsake of us. We are united through you and through your spirit. May we all praise and glorify your name, united in you and in your church. Amen.