What Are The Sources Of Faith?

Faith is one of the resources we need for our daily living as children of God; it enables us to please God, obtain salvation, get answers to our prayers, trust God, receive healings, etc. Every believer needs it in order to live a successful Christian life.

Where do we get faith from?
Faith can be gotten from several sources, and some of the sources include:
1.From God: faith can be gotten from God; he gives it to us as a special gift to enable us embrace salvation. We do not earn it ourselves, it is freely given to us not because we merit it but because God loves us and wants us to be saved (Ephesians 2:8)

2.From God and Jesus Christ: We also get faith through God our father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The father and the son work as a team for our maximum benefit. What is delivered unto the son is in turn delivered unto us for our good (Eph.6:23).

3.From The Holy Spirit: Remember Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit that would teach us and be of help to us as well. The Holy Spirit provides us with faith so as to enable us trust God in a supernatural dimension and receive from him that which naturally would be difficult or impossible for us to get. Faith is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.12:9).

4.The Gospel: One of the reasons Jesus Christ raised his disciples is that they might go into the world and teach the people the word of God through which they might build up their faith. We are Christians today because we received the gospel truth of God’s word and took the step of faith to accept Jesus Christ into our lives as our Lord and personal saviour. The book of Romans makes it clear that faith comes through hearing the word of God (The Gospel) and that faith cannot come except we first hear about the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:20; Acts 15:7; Romans 10:14-17).

5.Studying God’s word: The word of God is written down that it might become the source of faith as we study it. God speaks to us through his written word and when we digest the meaning of his word our faith is built up (John 20:31). So many people have received salvation, healing, baptism of the Holy Spirit, etc only by studying and believing the word of God. I still believe that even some who would go back to study his word after reading this article would get same result.

You need to trust in God, believe in the Son just you believe in the Father, seek the Holy Spirit’s assistance, hear the gospel of our Lord and believe it, and study the word of God from time to time. Doing this would help to make you a child of great faith.

Forgiveness: Why Do We Need It?

Forgiveness is a virtue every true believer or follower of Jesus Christ should desire. It is one of God’s attributes that portray us as his true children. If we are God’s children then we must learn to forgive just as Christ forgave those who crucified him.

What then is forgiveness?
It is the act of letting go of offenses. It is an act of treating an offender as though he never offended you. Forgiveness is the act of declaring free one who deserves to die or deserves to be punished.

Why should we forgive?
There are several reasons why we must learn to forgive those who offend us, and set them free from prisons in our hearts.
1.It makes us to be like Christ: Jesus Christ set us an example of what it means to forgive by not holding those who condemned and crucified him guilty. He asked the father to forgive them for they knew not what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Deacon Stephen followed the example laid down by Christ when he asked God not to charge those who stoned him to death (Acts 7:59-60). In the same vein, we who profess Christ today must follow his example by forgiving those who sin against us. That is the only way we can show the world that we are his true children/followers.

2.It releases us from prison: Failure to forgive our neighbours their sins puts us in spiritual prison. The only way can live a life of spiritual freedom is to cultivate the habit of forgiveness. The word of God tells us that the reason the servant of the king was imprisoned was because he failed to forgive his fellow servant (Matt.18:23-35).

3.It makes our prayers unhindered: Jesus made it clear to us that if we asked anything in faith we would receive it. However, if we fail to forgive whosoever has sinned against us, our prayers to God would be hindered. Forgiveness therefore makes it possible for our prayers to get to God smoothly (Mark 11:24-26).

4.We receive forgiveness: Our forgiveness is directly tied to our willingness to forgive others their sins. God will not set us free from our sins unless we set free those who sin against us. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and in the middle of the prayer he declared “And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us...” (Luke 11:4). Forgiveness therefore, is a give and take thing. You must first give in order to receive; and when you give you must receive in return.

5.It gives us joy: Being able to forgive is a very difficult and exceptional thing. So when we are able to do it our hearts are filled with great joy.

6.It improves our physical lives: Refusal to forgive brings a great deal of stress to our system. Certain disease conditions are known to result from psychological or emotional stress. These diseases which are otherwise known as psychosomatic disorders are sometimes a product of stress resulting from our inability to forgive. Examples of such diseases are eczema, asthma, migraine, ulcerative colitis, etc. The only way we can get rid of them is to unburden our hearts of unforgiving spirit.

7.It Promotes love and unity: Love and unity can never exist in an atmosphere where there is hatred and malice. When we learn to forgive we promote love and unity amongst us. And as believers we can always achieve our heart desires when there is forgiveness, love and unity.

Am I Going To Hell Fire?

A young boy of about 12 years old walked down to me one day with tearful eyes and asked me if he was going to hell fire. ‘No’, I answered emphatically. Noticing that he wasn’t satisfied with my answer, I prodded further to know why he had asked the question. Then he finally said “My mummy told me I was going to hell fire”. Gosh! Why would your mummy say such a thing? I queried. “It’s because I have been disobedient and nasty to her,” he said.

I tried to explain to him from the word of God that his mummy was actually right and that he needed to change his attitude towards his parents if he didn’t want to go to hell fire. He promised and went away. Few months later he came to my house beaming with smiles and this time around he announced happily “Sir, I will not go to hell anymore because am now a changed child; I am no longer disobedient and nasty to my parents”. I congratulated him and shook his hand firmly and he left.

What could make one go to hell fire?
The bible lists some of the attitudes that can make one be in danger of going to hell fire to include but not limited to the following:
1. Lying: The bible says in Acts 5:1-10 that reason Ananias and his wife Sapphira died was because they lied before God. God hates lies in whatever form. Lying could be not telling the truth, or telling half truth. God frowns at it: and indulging in it could make one go to hell fire.

2. Stealing: Stealing is taking whatever does not belong to one either by tricks or through violence. When you take what belongs to another person without permission and without the intention to return it you are stealing – stealing could be in form of robbery, burglary, fraud, embezzlement, piracy, plagiarism, etc. In 1Cor.6:10, the bible listed stealing as one of the things that could make one miss the kingdom of God.

3. Fornication: This is the sin of having sex with somebody (man or woman) who is not legally married to you. Fornication is a deadly sin before God and God says the marriage bed must be undefiled otherwise the one who commits fornication or adultery would be judged by God (Heb.13:4).

4. Disobedience: This was the original sin committed by our fore-parents Adam and Eve. It is simply refusing to obey our parents, authorities or God. We must live in obedience lest our stay on earth would be shortened (Eph.6:1-3). Every child who disobeys his parents or even adults who disobey constituted authority risk going to hell fire.

5. Idolatry: This is by far the worst sin anyone would commit before God. The book of Exodus 20:4-5, Eph. 5:5 make us understand we should never worship any other gods or graven images. God is a jealous God and he does not take it kindly when we allow anything to take his position or worship in our lives.

6. Murder: This is the act of taking somebody’s life. This could be another person (homicide, patricide, matricide, genocide, holocaust, etc) or oneself (suicide). No one except God has the right to take life. Look up 1 John 3:12.

7. Drunkenness: This simply means to be intoxicated by excessive alcohol intake. This sin is mentioned in 1Cor.6:10 and Gal.5:21. It makes one lose self-control and become prone to commit unthinkable crimes.

8. Witchcraft: The sin of witchcraft involves the use of magic powers against other people. It is condemned by God and anyone who practices it is in danger of going to hell fire. Gal.5:20

9. Hatred: The sin of hatred is another thing capable of leading one to hell fire. It usually precedes murder. It was responsible for the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. 1John 3:15, 1John 4:20 & Matt.5:21-22.

10. Envy: It is the feeling of wanting what belongs to someone else. This was the same sin that drove Satan away from heaven. It is also condemned in Gal.5:21.

11. Refusing Jesus Christ: This by far is the greatest sin that would take any one to hell fire. The bible says that he that receives not the son of God (Jesus Christ) is condemned already (John 3:18). So if you have no Jesus you are already deciding on your own to go to hell fire. Check up John 6:40, 47.

12. Blasphemy against The Holy Spirit: Jesus made us understand that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable, meaning that it gives one an express ticket to hell fire (Matt.12:31-32)

So avoiding these sins means avoiding hell fire. Every child of God should think of living a life that is pleasing unto God and should not rebel against him in whatever way as God is a righteous God and would never condone sin.