How to increase your faith

If I can just use this illustration it's sort of like going to the gym the only way to build your muscles is to exercise them

To work out lift weights if you're not gonna put anything into it. You can't expect to get anything out of it so if you're gonna build muscle right you need to exercise your muscles, so if you want to grow your faith you need to Exercise your faith you must put something in you must believe you must confess

Faith must be a living faith. You must do what Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments and then when hard times come our faith is tried and When our faith is tested and we come through the trial with our faith intact.

That's how our faith grows The disciples go from being a group of 12 guys who are

Constantly saying and doing the wrong thing and they're learning right they're learning But after the resurrection after they see the risen

Lord more importantly after they are filled with the Holy Spirit Because ultimately you can't have faith without the work of the

Holy Spirit But after they receive the filling of the Spirit and after their faith is tested

The disciples are completely transformed so hopefully we are in the process of being

Transformed but in order to do that our faith must be tested we must be tried and That's how our faith is increased

James chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 says my brother Encountered all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience

We have a man in our church that anytime something bad happens or there's a trial or someone's sick you can count on him to remind everybody that we need to Count it all joy.

Well What's being said? When James says count it all joy, and that's true.

By the way, you do need to count it all joy. But what's he saying? It's not that it's joyful to go through hardships, but you need to count it all joy

Hebrews 12 verse 2 says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy

That was set before him endured the cross Despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God So the joy that was set before him was what?

For the joy that was set before him. He endured the cross. Well, how could that have been joyful?

Well, it says he despised the shame, but he endured the cross Because he knew that was

God's will he was being obedient to the Father He endured the cross and because he did that God the

Father has given him the name which is above Every name so it is with us when we face great trials when our faith is tested when it's exercised

It can be difficult But our faith and the testing of our faith we need to count it all joy because that is what brings the blessing of God When a person goes through trials, it's true.

They either get bitter or they get better There's something that I've noticed throughout the years when somebody maybe they they get baptized they

Make a profession of faith or maybe it's somebody who's been a Christian a while, but they've never really committed themselves fully and Some somebody when they will say, okay,

I'm gonna be I'm gonna make sure Be determined that I'm gonna be in church every

Sunday and I'm gonna do the right thing as soon as a person makes that commitment immediately testings and trials

Show up immediately. It's almost a guarantee Something will happen if you are kind of one of these, you know

One once a month type of church attenders if you say, okay, I'm gonna be there every Sunday You can pretty much guarantee something bad is gonna happen on Sunday morning

That's gonna make you feel like not going or make it difficult for you to go it happens

It's it's one of those trials whether it comes from the devil or God is testing you or I don't know what it is

I don't know what's going on in the spiritual realm exactly, but I know that when people get serious about their faith

That's pretty much a guarantee trials are gonna pop up. So what's happening in that moment?

You know, it's gonna matter. How do you respond? if you endure the trial and You come out the other end

Faithful with your faith intact and it's gonna be even stronger and that's where the real blessings are.

That's where the growth is So when a person goes through trials they either get bitter and they'll fall away and things will get worse and that Happens too or they get better But no pain no gain, right?