What is a faith journey?

When some people hear the word ‘faith’, they automatically think ‘religion’. However, faith is not religion. We can have religion without faith. We can also have faith without religion.

‘Faith is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.’

Hebrews 11:1 (CJB)

“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV)

When we profess to have faith, we believe that something that is not yet visible to our eyes exists and our hope and desire is that it will materialize into the world of matter. Our vision is the proof that what we are imagining exists by the mere fact that we are holding it in our minds. Our thoughts, in essence, are things. Our thought are matter. They are just in another form of reality. Our confidence in indulging our vision with our energy, time and personal talents is what the substance of our faith is made of.

So what is this ‘abundant life’ that the Lord tells us that we will attain through faith and how do we attain this ‘life’?

We see from the above scriptures that abundant life is not an accident. Nor is it necessarily money, homes, cars and unlimited shopping sprees, even though these things are blessings and nice to have! Abundant life is a mentality that recognizes that all we need and all that we require for our God given purposes on Earth have been provided to us by God. Fruitful manifestations of God’s will for us and His power in, through and around us do not happen by accident or by some fateful events orchestrated outside of our own intentions, actions and willing participation.

The manifestations of God’s good and perfect will for us materialize by our purposeful intentions to take hold of all that God has made available to us. Coming to the self-discovery, self-awareness, growth, forgiveness, healing and determination that is required to grow in our trust in God is our ‘faith journey’. When we develop a deep personal relationship with God through time spent with God in prayer, when our journey is guided by the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, our faith journey becomes pleasant, enlightening and filled with possibilities that are outside of our normal frame of thinking and we discover who we really are, as God sees us. We discover who we are in Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a sinless life and died and ascended to the throne of heaven so that if we believe in His atoning sacrifice for us and if we do as He taught us, study the Word of God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can and will have abundant life. Jesus said “ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:1 (NLT)

So why are so many Christians and people who profess to know the truth not living an ‘abundant life’? Many decent, well meaning, hard working people of faith are unhappy, living in fear, disappointment and defeat while professing to have faith. This forum hopes to explore, discuss and expose the many traps that entangle Christians out of the will of God for their lives, which is; abundant life.

Faith is not something that is hidden. The measure of faith that we have is expressed in our lifestyles, our relationships, in the health of our mental, emotional and physical states. Those who are actively engaging their faith are joyful, active, loving, fruitful individuals and communities, jointly and independently participating in the activities of the Kingdom of God. In our present culture, it may be convenient to exercise our faith in isolation, on our phones, in zoom meetings, on live streams and text messages but the community Christ Jesus demonstrated is an active, participating community engaged in building His Kingdom on Earth, saving souls by bringing the Gospel to everyone not just in words, but with the lifestyles that others see us living our daily lives. A true person of faith demonstrates faith without speaking a word. This is the end goal of our faith journey.

The scriptures tell us that faith is one of the gifts of God (1 Corinthians 12:9). We see that faith is something that we have to practice and grow and like any other gift God gives us, we are expected to bear fruit with it. A growing in faith is a process and a practice, like any other discipline. Have a look at this Faith Assessment to gage where you are on your faith journey.

The scriptures tell us to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.’ (Matthew 6:33) What are ‘all these things’ that will be added unto us if we first seek His Kingdom? ‘These things’ come out of the abundant life mentality that our faith produces, which are the fruits of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5:22- ’love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’ When we inhabit these fruits, the things that this world covets come to us naturally, so that we can use them to build the eternal Kingdom of God on Earth.

May God instruct you in all manner of abundance as you join us in the faith journey.

With Love,

ALRI

Faith Questionnaire

The Kingdom of God