TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
GIVE THANKS FOR HIS FAITH
13th June 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello
KEY SCRIPTURE/MEMORY VERSE: Colossians 1:4(ERV)
We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people.
Yesterday’s lesson draws to light the fact that many believers are either unaware or forget the fact that faith didn’t begin with them.
No. In the first place, the faith you have as a believer is the faith of Christ(Galatians 2:20).
And this reminder is necessary to keep us in check so that we are not trying to live this gospel by our own ability or slip into works.
Instead, we must be grounded in the truth that salvation is entirely a product of His faithfulness, not ours. The believer can only give out what has been worked in by the hearing and receiving of the gospel. So we receive first.
Jesus had faith to the point that there was no amount of faith that could stop Him from going to the cross. He was beaten 39 stripes and was sweating out blood on the way to Golgotha, which is a serious medical condition known as hematohidrosis. With all that happened to Jesus, if He didn’t believe to the end and stopped halfway, you and I will not be talking faith today.
Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him, (the joy being you and I)endured the cross(Hebrews 12:2). Oh Hallelujah!
So Jesus gives you an example of what the nature of faith is. That it will start from the beginning and finish. When He lifts up His hand and says, “It is finished”, He is saying that’s the kind of faith you will have.
So your faith is not the kind that will draw back. You don’t have fireworks of faith where you believed yesterday but don’t believe today.
Do you notice something remarkable in the preceding verse of our text? Paul is giving thanks that they have faith in Christ, but why isn’t He thanking them directly? Why is he thanking God in verse 3?
It’s because the faith is not from them. It’s a supplied faith so the glory has to go back to God not to you.
Look friends, this faith you are given is the type that will last to the end.
Persevering faith.
Paul didn’t thank the Colossian church, he thanked God that they kept on believing.
You need to rejoice and be thankful that you are in the faith now.
So I won’t one day think that any of you will suddenly turn back and renounce faith in Christ. God forbid. We are not of them that draw back(Hebrews 10:39).
I mean, where will the devil pass, what scheme has he got to cause you to turn back when your faith is in the object of Jesus Christ?
Look, being an atheist may seem fashionable or be characterized by intelligence, but this faith of the gospel is really about the simplicity of Christ and it’s simple for a reason. So that all men can come to Christ. If God wanted to express His wisdom or technicality, no one would be saved. But through the seeming foolishness of the cross, the wisdom of God’s power to save is expressed(1 Corinthians 1:21).
Let’s rejoice and give thanks for the completeness of what God has done through Christ.
REFLECTION
I can keep on believing because Jesus is both the example and object of my faith.
DECLARATION
-I believe in the gospel, therefore the seed of the gospel produces fruit in my life.
-I don’t just know the gospel, I live the gospel. I am transformed by the gospel. The gospel is working through me.
-This gospel produces the genuine markers of authentic believers; of Faith, Love and Hope in me.
-My faith is not my faith but the faith of Christ supplied to me. Therefore it perseveres to the end.
-Jesus is both the example and object of my faith.
-Jesus is the reason and source for my faith. Because He endured to the end, I now have faith.
-Because of the faith of Jesus that has been supplied to me, I can keep on believing. Glory to God! Thanks be to God.
Hallelujah!
HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)
Listen to Fruits of the Gospel 2 >> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud
