How To Build Up Your Faith in God

Developing a rock-solid faith could be an uphill task sometimes; but it could also be a simple thing to do if one understands the steps to take. It is the number one ingredient needed to please God as a believer: to please God, you must first believe that he lives and that he is able to reward those who earnestly seek him (including you).

Has God ever done anything unique for you or anything that would have been impossible from the human angle? Then you have a reason to develop your faith further because if what he did would otherwise have been very difficult or impossible then you should trust more in his ability to do the impossible or the extra-ordinary.

Have you ever woken up at midnight and your child takes ill and there is no vehicle to transport your ailing child to the nearest hospital? The acute sickness became so threatening that you concluded your baby would die before dawn? If in that circumstance you prayed and he/she suddenly gets well, your testimony should encourage you to build your faith in God.

If you have been close to a friend who suffered a terminal disease maybe liver cancer, liver cirrhosis, lung cancer, tumour of the brain, etc; and the doctors at a point ruled that he/she would definitely die in few days and you went on your knees to seek God’s face and your friend got healed, that should motivate you to put your trust in God.

Have you ever come face-to-face with death, maybe you got involved in an auto crash and remained unconscious for days or weeks and the prayer of the brethren sustained you? It shows that the mercies of God can actually do beyond what the orthodox medicine could do.

Albert Einstein was once told by his class teacher that nothing good could come out of him (Einstein): that was when he was about 14 years. But at 26 he propounded “the law of relativism”. Do you think his teacher or his parents gave him special tutorials? No, of course! The hand of God was at work in his life. If you could trust God for once, he can change your life story. Believe that the same God who did it for Albert Einstein could do it for you.

Sometimes you approach God for a thing in prayer and give him a sign to be sure he actually answers your prayers. You wait for the sign to come to pass. Surprisingly it comes to pass without anybody else assisting you to get that desired result. It is enough to help you develop your faith in him because he answers prayer.

To build your faith therefore, reappraise your life; look at those things God has done which no man could easily do for you. Acknowledge him as the source of those miracles. Believe he is trustworthy and that he would never disappoint you if you put your trust in him. Build on that trust; have that firm belief that even in the future God is able to handle all difficult situations you may come across in life.

Disciples Of Jesus Christ - What It Takes To Be One

A disciple is one who is willing to follow and learn from Jesus Christ; one who is ready to learn his physical attributes and aspire to be endued with his spiritual qualities as well.
Discipleship is about learning from him and transmitting that which you have learnt from him to those you are going to raise.

Christianity would be incomplete if the early disciples like Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus did not follow Christ religiously and carry out ‘The Great Commission’.

They stayed with and learned from the master: they imbibed his teachings and transmitted all he taught them to the next generations of believers to ensure there was continuity.

In order for one to be a good disciple, one needs to have the following qualities:
1. Willingness to learn: One must be willing to learn from Christ himself or from those who have been disciples themselves. One must be prepared to study the word of God at all times and put on the qualities of the master as written down therein.

2. Obedience: he must be ready to be obedient to the authority of God, Christ and the leaders of the church. Anyone who is not ready to obey established authorities is not ready to be a disciple.

3. Persecution: he should be ready to face persecution as well because the master made it clear that his followers must be ready to face persecution just as he did since a servant cannot be greater than his master.

4. Patience: Such a person must be patient because Christ demonstrated his strength by being patient.

5. Love: One great attribute of Jesus was his love and compassion for humanity and the dying soul. He’s always moved to compassion at the suffering of man and is always ready to do something to alleviate human suffering and pain.

6. Faith: A disciple must have faith in his master; he must believe in the master’s ability to meet his needs, take care of him and protect him. He must believe that no matter the circumstances the master is always there to answer him whenever he called.

7. Zeal: Such a person must also have the zeal and hunger to be like his master. Peter was one such example who kept striving to be like Jesus Christ; he even asked Christ to invite him to walk on the water like himself.

8. Raise others: Christ instructed Peter to take care of the sheep. He also told the disciples to teach all nations in his name. His followers should therefore be willing not only to teach others, but to also to support them in the Lord.

As one who wants to be a disciple of the Lord, are you ready to carry the cross that he carried? Are you ready to learn from him and carry out the great commission? Think about what it takes to be one and make up your mind to follow the master to the end.

How to Teach the Lessons of The Bible More Effectively

To teach the lessons of the bible could be both easy and difficult tasks: to be able to do so effectively, one requires certain tools at one’s disposal. You need tools that are both within yourself and the ones outside you to be able to present biblical truth in such a way as to convince your hearers that you are worthy to a teacher of God’s word.

In the first place, to teach is to show somebody how to do something so that they will be able to it themselves. Whatever you want to bring to the knowledge of your students or hearers must be something that you are able to do yourself.

1. Your personal lifestyle: Teaching the bible is not all about telling somebody what you cannot do yourself; it is not telling somebody to do what you have never practiced. It is telling somebody what you know you have been doing as spelt out in the word of God. You don’t have to be a hypocrite: you will only effectively teach the bible by the kind of lifestyle you lead.

You cannot be an effective teacher if you talk about not stealing and yet you steal. If you must tell your students not to be disobedient, you have to be willing to obey authorities yourself. If you come out to teach based on what you have been able to practice from the word of God, you would an effective teacher of the scripture.

2. Witness of the Holy Spirit: One other way to be able to teach the lessons of the bible more effectively is for you to depend on the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.

Therefore, for you to be able to effectively teach the lessons of the bible, you need first of all to be taught all biblical truths by the Holy Spirit. It is when you have these truths that you will be able to pass them on to your students or listeners.

3. Biblical knowledge: You need also to acquire knowledge of the scriptures. You need to be taught by somebody who has been taught himself. One way to do this is to have a mentor – somebody who is versed in the word of God and can interpret scriptures correctly.

Another way you can also acquire knowledge of the scripture is for you to attend a bible school. You can do this as a full time student, part time student or through a distant learning programme. When you are adequately taught, it becomes easier for you to teach others effectively (2 Tim.2:15). You cannot teach and impart the right knowledge if you are ignorant yourself.

4. Good approach: Your approach to teaching would also determine whether your lessons would be effective or not. You should be ready to be gentle and make the lessons interesting to the person you are teaching. If you are harsh with your students, they will not find the lessons attractive. If the lessons are not attractive, it would be difficult for them to be effective.

Make the teaching an interactive one and you would get the attention of all your students. When you are able to get their attention, it becomes easier to get the lesson across to them.