Faith Is HARD! (Heb 11:6)

Everything about ‘faith’ goes against our natural lives! Faith is putting a belief into action, here and now. Faith is submitting the facts and figures, to the authority of spiritual values. Faith is not acting on what our eyes can see and people are speaking into our ears, but what our heart knows is true and God is whispering to our soul. To live like this is to go against the flow, to walk up-stream, to defy very real forces of this world – it is hard!
 
Jesus called us to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7) Jesus called us to ‘strive’ in this direction. (Heb 4:11) Paul gives us a picture of what it takes to actually put faith in motion in our earthly lives; he writes:
 
‘I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3:12-14)
 
Jesus called us to prioritize his Kingdom here on earth – going so far as to say that we should worry more about his Kingdom than about our own provision. (Matthew 6:25-34) This takes faith, and this is hard! Jesus called us to pray and live for bringing his Kingdom to earth, and making it invade and be a part of our lives. (Matthew 6:9-13) This takes faith, and this is hard!
 
And then we are told, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’ (Hebrews 11:6)
 
Jesus came to light our hearts with revelation, and then to call us to a life of faith. My friends, if faith is going to be a real part of your life, if Jesus is going to actually move by his Spirit in your life - your work, your heart, your relationships, your eternity – it is going to take investment! It is going to take determination!
 
For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ, now and forevermore, please visit:
 
https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html
 

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