FAITH COUNTS:

"If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." (Proverbs 24:10).

Is it possible for a Christian to be attacked by the evil one? Yes, but it makes no difference. The attack or onslaught of the enemy against you will not amount to anything, because you are more than a conqueror: "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). The Bible however talks about "the evil day" (Ephesians 6:13) or "day of adversity," as read in our opening verse. It is not a day to dread, but the day when your faith is tested.

Your faith must remain unwavering and resilient in the face of adversity; that’s what matters—not whether or not Satan and his cohorts are against you. Isaiah 54:15 (MSG) says, "If anyone attacks you, don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them, And if any should attack, nothing will come of it." Here the Lord describes the futility of the enemy’s onslaught against you; nothing will come of it! No attack, ploy, maneuvers or machinations of Satan can work against you when you stand your grounds in faith: "…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

The word "STRENGTH" used in the opening scripture refers to your faith. When your faith is little or weak, it means your strength is small, and will not be able to withstand in the day of adversity. The cure for this is to feed more on God’s Word and put the Word to work in your life; that’s how to build your faith strong.

God doesn’t think Satan or his cohorts are factors; the factor is your faith. Ephesians 6:16 says "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." That sickness has attacked you is not a problem; the question is "Where is your faith?" It’s not about how bad the situation is. With faith in your spirit, every adversity will be a walkover. Your faith is the victory; so get into the Word and meditate on it consistently, and faith will be stirred in your spirit to walk through every adversity or opposition.

Further Study: 

Romans 10:17

Mark 11:23

Andy Agim

Christ Realities

REAL FAITH NEVER FAILS:

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13).

One thing you must settle in your mind as a believer is that faith always works. Our opening scripture outlines faith, hope and love as three creative and abiding principles of the human spirit. That means they are not unstable; they’re well founded and will always produce result; they never fail. Our study today, however, centers on the first of the three—faith! Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 "…If you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

The Master never lied or exaggerated in His expressions. He spoke absolute truth. Therefore, if He said this, it must be true. Some Christians, however, would say they believe the words of Jesus above and yet cite instances where their faith didn’t work. The truth is, they really had no faith. It reminds of a similar experience the Lord Jesus had with His disciples, after the disciples had tried fruitlessly to cast out devils from a little boy. The father of the boy then besought Jesus saying, "Master, if you can do anything, please have compassion on us and help us" (Mark 9:22). Summarily, Jesus cast the devil out of the little boy, and he was healed.

Afterwards, the disciples came to Him privately and asked, "Master why couldn’t we cast the devil out?" (Matthew 17:19). He answered them pointblank: "Because of your unbelief"; meaning, lack of faith. The disciples must have thought they had faith and believed they could cast the devil out, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried. But Jesus made them realize that the reason they couldn’t cast the devil out was their unbelief.

If you are one of those who still wonder why your faith isn’t working, you might just be paddling the same boat of unbelief as the disciples when they tried fruitlessly to cast the devil out of that little boy. Real faith in God and His Word always works! So get back to the Word, build your faith strong and put it to work today.

Further Study: 

Mark 11:22-23

Andy Agim

Christ Realities

STAND FAST IN FAITH:

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." (1 Corinthians 16:13).

Some people are ineffective in their Christian-walk because they’re burdened by the cares and desires of this life, and these choke God’s Word in their hearts and dissipate their faith (Mark 4:18-19). One of the many things you must be resolute about this year is to stand firm in the faith by setting your heart on the Lord; give Him your undivided attention. Proverbs 23:26 says, "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." In Proverbs 4:20, the Lord said, "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings."

Why is this important? Why does the Lord require you to give Him your heart, and incline your ears unto His sayings? It’s because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). For your faith to grow and prevail, you have to attend to God’s Word and incline your ears to His sayings. That means you focus and give all attention to the Word in your life. The necessary result of this is that your thoughts, words and actions will be in sync with the Word, making you unshakable.

Many vacillate and are unstable in their lives because they give room to too many distractions instead of attending to the Word. Never allow anything sway your confidence away from God’s Word. Jesus said in (Luke 21:34), "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." It is your responsibility to take charge of your heart and stop yourself from veering off course.

The coming of the Lord is near and it’s important for us to be grounded in the Word and keep our eyes on the goal, standing firm in the faith. This isn’t the time to vacillate or cower, but a time to focus on doing the Master’s will and fulfill His call on your life: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Further Study

Colossians 2:6-7; 

Hebrews 10:38-39

Andy Agim

Christ Realities

CONTINUE IN FAITH:

"Oh! foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3)

As you study the entire book of Galatians, you would understand why Apostle Paul made the statement in our opening verse, chiding the Galatians' Christians; they had strayed from the message of the Gospel, the Word of faith, which they had received. Some false teachers came teaching them that they had to obey the Law to be justified, as a result their faith began to waver. Decrying their deviation from the message of faith, Paul asked them, "...having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" 

He wanted them to remember how the received the Holy Spirit, it wasn't through obedience to the Law, but by faith. The salvation they had received didn't happen by keeping the Law; "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Your righteousness and right standing with God aren't the results of your good works, they are by faith of Christ, the result of what He did.

Galatians 2:16 says, "Knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." The righteousness, which is by faith, doesn't rely on the works of the Law, but on the faith in God that justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5).

By faith, you received eternal life and the Holy Spirit to live in you. By faith, the righteousness of God was imparted to your spirit. Therefore, continue in faith, grounded and settled,and refuse to be moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard (Colossians 1:23)

Further Study:

Philippians 3:3

John 6:63

Andy Agim

Christ Realities

FAITH IN YOU:

"For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." 
(1 John 5:4)

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it." Imagine that a Christian parent or a minister of the Gospel, your son or daughter is not living according to the training which you gave him or her in the Word of God. There may be someone who would be quick to judge and say, "the parents of Mr. A or B are Christians yet he behaves like a sinner." If this happened to you as a parent don't be moved by what others are saying.

Challenges come to every body; so by the time you start encountering your own challenges, it will be good if you do not vacillate and stay put on what God is saying, and put your faith to work. Soon enough that child will take the position at which God has destined him or her to be. Even the time others might have thought he lost will be regained in plenty folds, because God said, "And I will restore to you the years that the Locust hath eaten, the Canker worm, and the Caterpillar and the Palmer worm..." (Joel 2:25). So in such case try as much not to allow negative sentiments of others dissipate your faith.

God gave us His Word so that no matter what we see or hear, we will not be distracted; rather we stay focused. After all as students, we were not Doctors, Lawyers and Architects whilst in the university. We were in school being trained for what we were going to be. 

In like manner, we are all still being trained by the Spirit of God through the Word to be all He has destined us to be. If you already have children, keep training them in the Word. Even when it looks like they are not imbibing the culture of the Word, keep at it. Just give some time and the result of the training will soon become manifest.

Never give up your faith because of the negative opinion of others; learn to live by the Word of God no matter what you encounter in life, with time your faith will triumph. Glory to God!

For Further Study:
2 Corinthians 2:14
Mark 9:23


Andy Agim
Christ Realities