Making Your Faith Worthwhile

Our eternal God in His divine power, goodness, love, and faithfulness has made available for us everything that pertains to life and goodliness. As a God of purpose, productivity, and peace, He wants all His children to experience and enjoy good, meaningful, productive, impactful, and peaceful living (Gen. 1:26–28; Isa. 26:3; 2 Peter 1:3). Any nonconformity or deviation from this could call into question God’s unwavering commitment to His Word and precious promises. But the acts and facts of God’s faithfulness are very compelling and without a doubt (Lam. 3:21–23; Isa. 40:8; Ps. 89:1–11; 2 Tim. 2:13). Living in a world characterized by sin, evil, temptations and persecution, fear, unbelief, doubt and worries of life should not be an excuse for a lack of fulfilled and productive living. This is the reason why faith, through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, is in place to defeat sin, counter fleshly lusts, and ensure victorious and peaceful living in a world of temptation, trials, and tribulation (Gal. 2:20; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 John 2:2, 5:4–5). Faith is the one attribute that aligns the human heart with God for meaningful relationship. It is the one thing that can enable us to reach or even exceed the limit of our desires according to His unlimited power and grace at work in our lives (Eph. 3:20; Heb. 11:6).

Furthermore, the notion that a person may not be as talented as others is not a justification for a lack of effectiveness and productivity in the Christian life. Scriptures affirm that everyone, made in God’s image, is endowed with the ability for fruitfulness, and so it is up to individuals to develop and utilize their natural talents and strengths for meaningful, impactful living (Gen. 1:26–28; Matt. 25:14–30; Eph. 4:7–13). Coming from a disadvantaged background is understood, but it should not be the basis for a lack of faith performance. Faith must act on God’s Word, and how the heart receives and reacts to it will influence the degree of effectiveness and productivity in the life of faith. Believers have their inheritance in God, and so it is the responsibility of the recipients of the grace of God to explore, discover, and utilize their rights of divine sonship in every area of this life, while simultaneously holding firmly to God’s assured hope of eternal life (Eph. 1:11; Col. 1:12, 3:24; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:3–4; 2 Peter 1:3).

There is no doubt that human needs are many and diverse and can be very difficult and complex to deal with. But there is nothing that is too difficult for our great and glorious God to deal with or accomplish (Jer. 32:17, 27). God’s amazing works in creation, His providential acts in the history of humanity made in His image, the supernatural birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah who had both passed the natural age of child bearing, as well as the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ are wonderful examples and timeless proof of God’s unlimited ability to do all things (Gen. 1:1–31, 18:14, 21:1–2; Ps. 89:11; Luke 1:26–35; Acts 13:17–37). Let us imagine what we can do if we truly followed God and lived by faith in His Word. The truth is that our faith in God is meant to serve our needs in ways consistent with His truth and glory. What is the essence of being a believer if one’s faith is not producing things that add value to life? Faith would amount to nothing if it’s not being put to effective and productive use in addressing the daily necessities and unpredictable circumstances of life. Faith, according to Romans 10:17, “Comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” How can a believer be effective and fulfilling in his or her knowledge of Christ? How does faith really work to provide solutions to life’s problems? What are the things that excite purposeful, practical, promising, and productive faith in ways that truly honor and glorify God? These questions are addressed in this book based on a contextual analysis of relevant passages from the Holy Scriptures as well as examples from my personal Christian life. In John 5:39, our Lord Jesus Christ exhorted and encouraged us on the need to study the Scriptures diligently. Paul wrote that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17).

I have come to know based on my faith experience, since junior high school, that the things we care and worry a lot about stem from a lack of proper understanding and application of God’s Word. It is by knowing God, who is the foundation and surety for the fulfillment of faith, that a believer can progress and thrive in faith. It is my hope that you will gain a new perspective to saving, working faith as well as find physical and spiritual relevance for the purpose, promise, and power of faith for daily living. You will discover or rediscover how a good knowledge of God’s Word can help to find immediate and lasting solutions to life’s unavoidable and unpredictable problems. You will also discover godly principles, practices, and attributes that make and accentuate faith to perform according to your desires even in the midst of difficult challenges and circumstances of life. I believe that God has placed on my heart the desire to share the message of this book with you and with everyone interested in knowing God intimately. I sincerely pray that the Spirit of God will help illuminate and inspire your heart to the full realization of the hope and blessing of knowing God for purposeful, peaceful, and productive Christian living.