Holding on To My Faith – Part 2
Romans 4:20-22
I hate to be the bearer of important news, but I think I should inform you and remind you—you will have to go through some things.
You might be saved/sanctified/spirit-filled/speak in tongues/fire-baptized/anointed and appointed—but you are still going to have to go through something.
• Because no person will go through this life untried/untested.
In John 16:33 Jesus declared “In the world you will have tribulation (setbacks/failures/disappointments); but be of good cheer—I have already overcome the world.”
Because my brother/sisters, some things in life take time.
Everybody shout: TIME
• Some prayers take time
• Restoring relationships take time
• Growing spiritually takes time
• Constructing a marriage takes time
• Raising a child takes time
• Shattering a stronghold and breaking free from an addiction that has you bound takes time
• Finishing school takes time
Healing is not always instantaneous—sometimes it takes time!!!
But let me bring it a little closer to home —
• Getting rid of that mean, spiteful, unforgiving attitude takes time.
• Growing accustomed to change takes time.
• denying yourself takes time.
But Here is the good news— if you are a child of God, God will give you just what you need in order to go through the tough and rough spots without you falling apart.
God will give you the ability to go through your difficult moments without you flipping out — God will give you the ability:
- To confront your critics
- To live through the ridicule
- To survive the negativity
- To battle with backstabbers
- And even side step the silly folk….
God gives us the ability to go THROUGH some things without losing our mind in the things we’re going THROUGH. As a matter of fact, in order for you to get TO IT, you’re going to have to go THROUGH IT! That’s why David could say “I can walk Through the valley of the shadow of death, and fear no evil” Why, because God is with me!
And so God empowers us to STAY up before He SHOWS up so that we don’t MESS up what He is SETTING up — and it all begins when we hold on to our faith!!!
I’m trying to talk to somebody here today who came to worship feeling that if God doesn’t step in and work things out — you are going to lose it because you feel like you can’t go on any further — you’ve had it up to here, you’re at the end of your rope/beyond the point of no return. You don’t know which way is up or which way to go.
But I stopped by to send your soul a text message and say – Don’t give up! Keep holding on to your faith! God is active in your situation—because whatever you’re going through right now, no matter how bad it is — it still didn’t take you out!!! (Somebody should have shouted right there)
TELL SOMEBODY: IT DIDN’T TAKE ME OUT!!!
- I had to deal with demons and handle some haters—but I didn’t fall apart/give up/didn’t let go/didn’t lose it—but I kept my joy/my peace/my sanity/my FAITH — all because God kept me and sustained me in the midst of it all.
Is there anybody in here who can declare ‘Preacher—I’ve been through a lot — but God kept me!
Is there anybody in here who can say “I’ve been through a lot, and I’m still going through right now, BUT GOD IS KEEPING ME!
My brothers and sisters, we have to get to the point in our growth with God where we don’t always need external validation; you don’t need other people to confirm you before you act on God’s promises.
• You see, your faith, empowers you to embrace what God has promised for you — and nothing more.
You cannot be perfected — until you have faith in God. And so The question is not “can God do it”; but can you believe it?
Last week we read where Abraham believed in hope when hope was against him (vs 18). And so, we have to learn how to wait when we don’t want to; how to keep smiling even when you’re crying on the inside; how to keep going when you feel like quitting.
We need to learn:
- How to keep JOY when you’re surrounded by JUNK.
- How to sing when you’re sad.
- How to endure when nothing changes.
- How to have hope when all hope is gone.
The truth is, some of us give up far too soon….
But I believe I’ve got a few saints in the building who have declared down in your heart of hearts that giving up is not an option for you. Mediocrity is not good enough for you, and so even if nobody else is going to trust God, you’ve determined that you will hold on to your faith, no matter what.
But there’s something in this text that helps us with this. Come go with me for a moment as we look at part 2 of this message about “Holding on To My Faith.”
Let’s read verse 20.
BE STRONG IN FAITH
In other words — When tough times come, that’s when I need to strengthen my faith. That’s the time I need to make my faith stronger – and I do it with the Word of God. In spite of what’s going on around me, I know that I still want to go somewhere; I know that I want to do something; I want to be somebody; I want to have something; I want to achieve something great in the name of God and for the kingdom of God.
My brother’s/sisters, there are certain blessings/wonders you can’t see until after you have strengthened your faith. There are certain blessings you can’t receive until you have the faith to receive them. There are certain privileges you can’t enjoy until your faith is made strong.
You must have a real/living/thriving/growing/stable relationship with God. Not a break up to make up relationship (where you’re on this week and off next week; you’re faithful this Sunday and fickle next Sunday; where you’re committed today and unreliable tomorrow —you’ve got to be strong.
And in order to grow us, in order to strengthen us — sometimes we need to be BROKEN.
Does anybody know what it is to be broken?
God permits you and I to be broken so that we surrender to God; so that we would seek God; so that we can discover how inadequate we are and how sufficient He is.
I’ve found that God will permit struggle to show up in your life to remind you — surrender is what He desires.
But can I tell you something else? Despite the storms and the winds that have a tendency and proclivity just to blow in—you have to train yourself to go on anyhow.
- Just because things didn’t work out the way you thought—doesn’t give you the right to quit. You’ve got to go on anyhow.
- Just because you confessed it and claimed it and it hasn’t happened yet—doesn’t mean that you should give up and throw in the towel. You’ve got to go on anyhow.
This is what it means to give God glory. You give God glory when you hold on to your faith even when it things are not working the way you think they should work!
And watch this – The Lord corrected my theology this week. I learned that giving glory to God is not the same as giving God praise. Too often you’ve heard it said (and I’ve said it many times) “when praises go up, blessings come down”. But I discovered first that that saying, of course, is nowhere in the bible. Then secondly, there’s not a single recorded instance in the Bible when anyone praised God with the intention of being blessed because of their praise!
What you will discover is that people in the Bible didn’t praise God to try to get something from him, but rather they praised God for what he had already done for them!
In others words, they didn’t praise God to be blessed; they praised God because he had already blessed them! They didn’t praise to get something from God; they praised because they had (already) gotten something from God! In the Bible, praise was not a tool to get; but rather it was a response of thanksgiving for what God had already given. So we don’t praise God to get blessed; we praise God because we are (already) blessed!
You see we got this praise thing all wrong when we make it a condition for blessings. We fall back into the Law. The Law says “if I do this, then I can expect this”, but Grace says I’ll bless you not because you’ve earned it, but simply because you believe!
But the good news is that there is something we possess that pleases God and causes God to bless us, and that is our faith. When we grow strong in faith, we give glory to God. When we don’t waver in unbelief, we give glory to God. When we are fully convinced that God is able to do what He promised, we give glory to God.
So it’s not your praises going up that somehow obligates God to rain down His blessings, it’s your faith! And don’t get me wrong, I love to praise the Lord, I love to exalt His name.
But Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it’s impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Tell somebody to keep the faith!
Because the enemy will always attack that which is most precious to you. That’s your faith.
And somebody needs to hear me well because you are under attack right now and you know it. The enemy has been trying to take you out/wipe you out/tear you down. Because he knows that if you ever realize what God has promised you…if you ever realize what He has already put inside you/what God has already mapped out in front of you — if you ever see what your faith in God can really do, then he knows that you are going to do damage to the kingdom of darkness.
And it ought to tell you something—with the enemy messing with you like he’s messing with you — because instead of giving up, you’re holding onto to the promises of God, getting stronger and stronger.
•He tried to attack your money — but that didn’t stop you.
• He tried to take you out with sickness — but that didn’t stop you.
• He tried to destroy you by getting to your kids — but that didn’t take you out.
• He tried to destroy you with haters — but you still going strong.
He tried one thing after another — but you are stronger now than when you started.
Psalm 34:19 says “Many are the afflictions of the righteous—but the LORD delivers them from them all”.
• That is how the saints of old were able to make it through—they had faith that God would somehow make a way out of no way………
And look what God did for Abraham. God provided for him in a miraculous/supernatural/undeniable way. All because he believed in the promises of God!
But here’s the shout of the text, verse 22 says that because Abraham was strong in the faith, believing in the promises of God, because He relied on God’s faithfulness to perform them, it was credited to him as righteousness! That means he was approved by God!
That’s shouting words right there because, to be approved by God is all I will ever need. I can’t wait to hear Him say “Well done, thy good and faithful servant…” I don’t know about you, but “My Hope is built, on nothing less, than Jesus Blood, and righteousness!”
I don’t want the approval of man; I want the approval of God!
So I just want to declare to you that everything that the Lord promised — just believe, have faith, because God is able!
Hold on to your faith!!!
• You don’t want the heartache but hold on!!!
• You don’t want the sickness but hold on!!!
• You don’t want the trouble but hold on!!!
It’s all a part of the approval process.
I don’t know about you—but sometimes I have to encourage myself.
Sometimes I have to declare:
– today I’m not going to fear disease
– today I’m not going to fear discomfort
– today I’m not going to fear hater
– today I’m not going to fear hardship
– today I’m not going to fear pain.
Not because I’m big and bad—but because I know the LORD is on my side!
Keep the faith! The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Keep the faith! I’m more than a conqueror!
Keep the faith! No weapon formed against me shall prosper!
Keep the faith! I’m the head and not the tail!
Keep the faith! I shall live and not die!
Keep the faith! I’m blessed when I come, and when I go!
I’m holding on to my faith!
