Build Up Your Faith

Written by Amanda Allums

God gave me a word for the church on February 23, 2023. I didn’t tell Jason what the word was or that it was for the church, but I did tell him that God had given me a word. I wasn’t sure when it would be appropriate to share so I typed it in the notes on my phone and kept it to myself.  On February 26th, Jason asked me on the spot in the late service to give the word to the congregation even though he had no idea what the word was. I wasn’t expecting that and I wasn’t prepared because I didn’t have my phone with me. However, God reminded me of the meat of the word so I was able to share part of it that day. I truly wanted to share the whole word with the church but it just didn’t happen that way so I wanted to take the opportunity in this blog to share the word from God and give some encouragement.

Here is the word that God gave me on February 23, 2023: We (as Christians) must be so strong in our faith and know what we believe and why we believe it, that when we hear heresy and false teachings, we will be able to recognize it for what it is, false. We must not be easily swayed, and there cannot be any room for doubt with what we know in our heart to be true. In fact, we must be so sure in our faith that when we hear things that seem to be similar to what we believe, but there’s a hairline crack in it, we recognize it immediately as false teaching. We must also pray for discernment and for God to show us the spirit and intent behind things we hear so we do not fall prey to false teachings. We need to compare everything to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, because that is the only way and the only truth. Lastly, we cannot live in fear and we must spread the real truth in love. 

I realize those are pretty basic instructions, but take them as a reminder from God to stay in the Word and use spiritual discernment because there are so many false teachers whose teachings sound very similar to what we believe, but they are actually tainting our true Christian beliefs by taking our eyes off of the One True God and putting them on ourselves. 2 Timothy 3:5 says that in the last days there will be people “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” With so much chaos, confusion, and things that masquerade as angels of light in our world, this word from God encourages me to continue praying and seeking absolute truth from God so we are not deceived. 

It is also our duty, as Christians, to be the hands and feet of Jesus and messengers with the good news of Jesus, but we cannot do it effectively if we don’t feed ourselves the meat of the Word and stay prayed up so we can pour out what God puts in. And let us not forget that we will be persecuted (if you haven’t already been), and we will be mocked for our beliefs. It is already happening around the world and in the U.S. We must build up our faith and stand strong to take ground and not lose it! How do we do that? Jude 1:20-21 says, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” 

In conclusion, I encourage you to read the whole chapter of Jude 1 because it is such a parallel to the world today. It encourages me because it reminds me that there is nothing new under the sun and nothing that surprises God. There is nothing that our God can’t handle and He will take care of us! We must see this world, its teachings, and our lives through spiritual eyes and pray for discernment. Allow the Bible to be your filter and your heart to be your guide.