Christian Living

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What’s Sustaining You In Christ


Hebrews 11:1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This scripture defines what faith does more that what it is. Faith supplies substance, assurance, reality, solidity, content or essence as opposed to form, wealth and possession, matter, stuff, significance. Faith also supplies evidence, in the sense of proof that results in conviction, available facts, determining truth or validity, statements, information, admissible evidence, proof, grounds, or data. The things hoped for, future hope, hope of the resurrection, return of Christ glorification of the saints. The things not seen involves present realities that are unseen which involve unseen realities such as forgiveness of sin through Christ Jesus sacrifice and the present intercession of Christ in Heaven. Hope is faith relating to the future; conviction is faith relating to the present.

Faith is a gift of the spirit. To obtain this gift you must kill the flesh. You must kill your understanding, thinking and ways. Faith takes you through all things, dirty and all and faith brings you up out of the dirty dark world. You need Jesus to walk by faith, instead we turn our backs on him because we want to get our flesh pleased. Someone tell us about our sin and we are ready to take them out to, just like they took Jesus out at Calvary.

Too many of us are losing faith. We lose faith because we break our concentration. You can let nothing come between you and God. When you do, it causes you to be in broken relationship with Jesus. You will never see him unless you have been broken in the flesh. Have you seen him? St. John 1:18 says, no man has seen God at any time, the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. God is a spirit and we see him through faith in Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 2:9, but as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the tings which God hath prepared for them that love him. We are not able to measure God’s grace, mercy and his blessings in our lives. The natural eye or mind cannot grasp the essence of what God will do in our lives. We trust him through faith. We lose faith because he does not appear to us as we think he ought to. We look to the wrong things to see him and we believe our joy is how we feel at any given time. Serving God is not in how we feel in our natural bodies, but how we love and trust him whom we have not seen. This is where our joy and glory lies. We are kept through faith unto salvation by the power of God only. It all depends on where your trust is lying.

Where is your trust lying? Job went through a lot, but he had faith in God. Although he could not feel God, he stood on his belief that God would be there no matter what. He did not lose faith. Job 13:15 say, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. When our faith is where it is in Christ, we can go through trials, tests, and tribulations and believe that no matter what, if I die, it will be in Christ, I will not lose sight of him. Our first response should (as a seasoned saint) be that of Christ. Job was willing to fault himself for what he was going through rather than fault God. Faith causes you to never stop loving God, stand fast in the Lord, keep your heart pure and guarded. Psalms 37:3, trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Our hearts is guarded through our total complete committed life in Christ. As our delight is in Christ, we are light in mind, body, spirit, and soul. Our limitations say that we are restricted, have shortcomings, and defected in some area, but our limitations is God’s opportunity to show forth his glory. He gives us a favorable advantage over the circumstance that his gospel may be advanced, but do we see that. We have faith and believe but are we doing it for the right reasons. Is our intent toward God or man? We must be innocent, uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing; sinless, blameless, not experienced or worldly, and not be naïve. Our ignorance to being familiar with who God is decreases our ability to obtain higher levels of grace. We do not allow God the opportunity, occasion, opening, chance, or break to bring us favor in our circumstances because our timing is not his timing. Our ways are not his, nor our thoughts his thoughts. He must place his thoughts in us through faith in his word and he will broaden our horizons to do great things for him. When the opportunity comes for us to do something good, we sin because we do not realize or take advantage of the opportunity. Who can tell if this was our time of success or not? That break may never come around again. Isaiah 50:10 say, who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath not light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

We must learn to lean on God. Proverbs 3:5 say, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Too many of us lean to our own minds in our thinking when we need the mind of Christ, which is his word written. We fail to avail ourselves to the reading of his word where our minds can receive revelation as to who he is and how we should conduct our lives. It is only through Christ that we can obtain favor in him and man. Your faith and trust wrapped up together is the evidence of your faith.

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