Challenge of Faith

THE CHALLENGE OF FAITH

Since the establishment of the church, the sons of God have faced the challenge to maintain the faith of Christ. It is a challenge to continue in the life of Jesus when doing so directly opposes all of our worldly desires, aspirations and modes of operation that have been embedded in us for so long.

When we receive salvation, the Father knows that we are given the power to lay down every mindset, whether we were raised in those mindsets or gradually taught them through peers and life’s experiences. He teaches us His Word so that we will understand that such mentalities directly conflict with the Word and principles of God.

When you were growing up, were you taught to “Never lose a fight” or to “Not allow people to take advantage of you”? If you were, these things that were taught to us as children, because yes, I too was taught this, is a complete negation to the Word that God clearly states.

St. Matthew 5:39-40

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

This is just one example of how our worldly mentalities go completely against what God is trying to get us to embrace with all of our hearts. Have you ever considered that because we have accepted pride and arrogance, lust and dishonesty as ways of life for so many years, that we have begun to believe that they are the truth and therefore impossible to remit from our hearts? I submit to you my brother that this is not so. For the purpose of this lesson I am going to define a stronghold as something that we have embraced as truth for our lives.

For those who are saved, strongholds sometimes seem to be more powerful than the Spirit in our lives but remember that is only how they seem to be. Just as we have embraced negative strongholds we can release them and hang onto the Word of God as our means of escape. When we hear the Word from the pulpit or in our conscience, we have two choices: 1. Agree with the Word and lay down everything that does not line up with it in our lives, or 2. Simply disagree by holding onto what we want.

If we embrace God’s way (which is always the best way), humble ourselves and agree with Him, we can be trusted as the ambassadors of Christ. We will be someone’s point of reference to the Father. Not only this, but we will truly find the peace that our own heart seeks. This is abiding in the faith.

Many times we, myself included, have come to God over and over with things that we want, whether it be lust, wantonness, or anything that God just flat out doesn’t like, and expect that God would just accept it, but what we don’t always realize is that we cause so much detriment in our own lives and the lives of others.

Our walk in God is stunted and we can do nothing but do our duties in the church and be naturally submitted. No one is edified and people begin to lose hope in the gospel as they watch us continue to fail in the smallest things like simply not humbling ourselves. What a testimony of a son… But the good thing about it is that God will allow all those situations to drive us to agreement with Him.