478 - It's More Than Just Stumbling Forward

But It’s More Than Simply Stumbling Forward

In the Christian life, surrounded by our brothers and sisters who, like us, have failed in their walk with Christ, we often define sanctification as simply stumbling forward. We hear sermons, Sunday after Sunday, that tell us to grow closer to Him and bear His fruit (John 15:1-8), but they never seem to tell us how. And we are left feeling like we have to put together a dresser from Ikea without any instructions. But the Christian life, once we know the “how” to do what we must do, is so much more than stumbling forward.

And the key is knowing how to do the things we know we need to do. Or how to obey the commands of Christ that we struggle with. Consider these “how to do them” questions:

• How to live by faith (Gal. 2:20).

• How to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

• How to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Gal. 5:16).

• How to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

• How to lay my life down as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2).

• How to have victory over sin (1 John 5:4).

• How to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17).

• How to rejoice always in every situation (Phil. 4:4).

• How to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33).

• How to experience the peace of God (Phil. 4:7).

• How to hear God’s voice (2 Peter 1:18).

• How to have God’s Word become alive to me (Heb. 4:12).

There are so many how questions in the Christian life. And there is so little teaching on how to answer them.

Only Faith Can Keep Us From Stumbling

The best way for our faith to grow so we will no longer stumble forward in our spiritual life is to believe the promises of God. All of them. Every last one.

And in order to have that kind of faith to trust God at His Word, there are some things we must learn. And they are difficult. For example, we must learn to trust the promises of God. We must learn to lean and rely on Him and not on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). We must learn to let Him work out all the details of our life, no matter what they are. We must learn to say “yes” and not “why?”, “how?”, “what for?”, “how long?”, or “that doesn’t seem fair.”

In essence, by faith we must learn to see by believing. And not seeing in order to believe.

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible (not able) to please (to be well-pleasing, to take pleasure in) Him, (why) for he who comes to God (to approach, to come near) must (is necessary) believe (faith, trust, be firmly persuaded) that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (seek Him out, to search diligently).

Which means, without having faith you cannot, under any circumstances, be pleasing to God. Why? Because those who come near to God, those who approach Him must (there is no other way) be firmly convinced that He exists and that He will prove Himself to be a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him out.

Join us as we take just one simple promise from God, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5) and use it to grow our faith in Him by believing and living victoriously in that belief. After all, it’s so much better than stumbling forward and then trying to convince ourselves this is the abundant life we were promised (John 10:10).

To download the slides to this message, click – HERE