Fortified Faith

Fortified Faith!!!

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation. (Romans 5:1-11 RSV)

Subject: Your relationship with God determines your Faith In God.

Proposition "Trust that the scripture I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me is indeed true."

To be fortified means that something has been added to make it better or secure. Cereals are fortified with the essential vitamins so that they are healthier…. Buildings are fortified with bearing walls so that they can withstand various stresses…. We fortify our plants with various plant foods to help them grow…. Fortification allows a particular item to be improved. A faith that is fortified simply means that it has been made better. However many of us as Christians have the blessing of God’s initial gift of faith that He has given, but we have not taken the necessary steps to increase or to fortify our faith.

We become content and complacent in our relationship with God (or lack thereof) so that when trials come we forget where our help really comes from and we get nervous! We stress, we worry…. We weep… we wail… we shut off from the world… we become depressed…. Distraught…. We get angry….and upset…. All because our faith is at that same mustard seed size when God planted it – and since we only call on Him in time of trouble – we never get the chance to fortify our faith – and instead we just tend to shake what little faith we have. But the song writer said that faith allows us to see the invisible… feel the intangible… Faith allows us to conquer anything….

But you must desire a relationship with God to obtain this faith that is fortified with the essential stuff. So my question to you is, “If God can do anything, what’s missing? Why do we worry, why do we fret…why do we argue…why do we complain… why do we lose sleep… why does every ache and pain cause us to moan and groan…. Why does every trial cause us to fall out… why does every day life depress us….. what’s missing…. What’s lacking…. What is the cause for most of our distractions – dysfunction…and defunk attitudes….

A Fortified FAITH is only achieved with an active relationship! God works with our wills He created us to fellowship with Him not to control. That is why it is imperative when we pray the desires of our heart…we have a close enough relationship with God we understand if our desire aligns with His will that our prayer will be answered…. And because our prayer will be answered there is no need for us to be concerned about the outcome…because we are confident not in what we see but in what we hope for……. Many of us know the familiar Hymn – My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness --- but when trials arise we fret – I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name – but in time of trouble our response is What Am I Going to Do……. There is a need for fortification……But when our prayers line up with the will of God – our fortifying begins …. Even Jesus prayed within the will of God === Luke 22:40 in fact the Lords prayer – the model prayer says Thy will be done… so when God says pray the desire of your heart – He is waiting for our faith to become secure enough in him through our relationship with him for our desires to actually be what he wants for us anyway – because he has a plan that has been mapped out for us… struggles already with our name on it… problems already laid out to help strengthen us….. trials already planned to prepare us…. But without a faith that is fortified… these things that come to pass will only cause us to become severely stressed instead of wonderfully blessed…..