Step 2:
Do I Have
Jesus Faith?

Isn't that what the Great Faith Chapter in Hebrews 11 is all about?

God was accomplishing something in Abraham, and Abraham was accomplishing something in God. Together they changed the course of the Human Race.
God found a vessel in whom he could trust. And Abraham found a God in whom He could trust. Abraham left the idols of his former family, to listen to God's Voice and Follow Him.

How does that relate to John 10:27--"Me sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me"?

Now, because of the trust that was established all the families of the earth have been blessed, even though them may not even know it yet.

But that test of Abraham is not finished yet. Because He and God passed on the same test to all of his children. How successful were they in taking their tests?

Are you a child of Abraham?
You can be?
In Christ, You have been grafted into Abraham's Family.
Did you know that?

Do you know what that means?

Yep. You also have a faith that needs to be tested.

Now the Quest, and the Question Continues, How will the Testing, and Proving of Abraham's Faith in God, relate to you and I? 

We also need to be tested, for God to have faith and trust in us. And for our faith to be personal, intimate, gutzy, viseral, and seasoned. 

If you are walking with God, then you will be tested. 

Will you pass your tests? Or will you choose not to hear God's Voice when he is calling upon you?

 
Can Two cannot grow up together, unless they be agreed.

• Amos 3:3 (KJV) 
  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
  
  

• 2 Corinthians 6:14–16
  “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness
  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God…” — 2 Corinthians 6:14–16 (KJV)

In many ways our calling is the same as Abraham's. We are called to walk in his footsteps of faith, using them as examples for us to follow.

We should not treat Faith, and Belief, and Believing as a dry, theological, ethereal, other worldly scientific words. They should be edgy, guttural, tough, time tested words with scars attached, and with an experiences to back them up.

Faith is not a scientific word. You can't put it under a microscope. You can't weigh it through a mathematical equation. But it is more real than all of the science in the world. It is more weighty than all the math in the world. It is the glue that holds everything in the world together, and it is a gift from God to those who will seek him and his righteousness.

Heavenly Biblical Faith is not based on nothing. It is deeply embedded in evidence. Evidence of the highest order.

For every believer in Christ, their faith is built up through the word of God. They are constantly growing. Constantly learning. Constantly receiving updates. Constantly seeking heavens perspective and receiving it from his word--this keeps them growing in their knowledge of God. And it keeps their relationship intimate and personal.

Every bit of God's evidence has been preserved for millennium. And it is accessible now more than ever before in his word.

Once a man, or a woman, chooses to begin the journey of faith: To seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. Certain steps of faith will be expected, and will be required, in order to progress in the knowledge of God.

But that is true for any relationship. In any personal relationship we have with anyone, there are specific steps we take to grow in faith, and intimacy, and trust, and shared experience. How much more so will this be true when we have apersonal relationship with the most high ruler of the entire universe?

Progressing in the kingdom of God, is not so much different than progressing in school, or in work, or in life.

Living things keep growing. Dead things stop growing. 

Once you stop growing, death is going to be right around the corner. Therefore, your living faith in God will be on a continual trajectory, going forward, going upward, and that faith will change you from grace to grace, from glory to glory. That's how you know you are in God, and he is in you. Because you are abiding in him and in his word, and you're keeping the eternal covenant, with a heart that is growing and living in the kingdom of God. That is how you know you have true biblical, real, faith in him.

1 John 2:3-6 (KJV)
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

If I have spent 20 years in Christian religion, but I haven't grown in faith for 19 of those years, you will have the right to doubt that my faith is built on the Rock of Jesus Christ. 

I might have a faith, but that faith could be based on something entirely different than keeping Jesus Commandments, and living for the glory of the King of Heaven, with a desire to be pleasing to him, and walk him into the fellowship with him. 

My faith could be that I am believing myself to be a good person. Or my faith could be that I am being nice to others. My faith could be that I am not any worse than anyone else. But those kinds of faith are not genuine, biblical Jesus faith.

The beautiful thing about our relationship with God is that he is infinite. There is no time or point when we can say we know everything about God. 10,000 years from now, our relationship with God will still be fresh and surprising. We will forever be discovering new things. That's what makes the journey of faith so exciting and rewarding. But it also makes the journey of faith so challenging.

We are made in the image of God. But our image has been tarnished by sin, by greed, by lust, by pride, and by broken trust. 

Therefore, many steps of faith are often painful, and confusing, because we have two different kinds of people living on the inside of us. 

One wants to know God and wants to reject all the evil, and selfishness, inside of him, and all around him--that's the new spiritual man of faith.

But the other, the old man of sin and flesh, he wants to continue in his evil ways, evil addictions, evil mindset, and evil intentions against others. And of course, it's interesting to note that the word evil, is simply the word live spelled backwards.

Ephesians 4:21-25 (KJV)
[You have]  "been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Therefore, in every step of faith in the new man, we take towards God, will be a step of faith away from the old man. In fact, we are called to Crucify the Old Man. That is one of the requirements of our Calling to Our Heavenly Wedding.

From this day forward, we will either choose to keep the Commandments of Jesus. Or we will choose to break the Commandments of Jesus. 

Those are the only two kinds of people on the Earth today. But only one of those kinds of people is preparing themselves to be accepted into the eternal courtrooms of heaven. 

How do we know it? Because they are diligently seeking to take the prescribed steps of faith, in order to walk with Jesus, right through the gates of Heaven. True believers, the parent themselves to be part the glorious bride, clean, beautiful, clothes, and radiant white fine linen, which is the righteousness of the Saints. She is making herself beautiful in the eyes of her husband, the one and only SON of God.

When you choose to enter into the kingdom of God, by faith, whether you realize it or not, you are expected to grow, to be challenged, to be tested. 

With God's Help you will overcome your tests of faith, that will test your character, trust, and much more.

If you have faith, you will be tested. That's just a given. We can't have one without the other.

See for yourself:  below, we will see the vastness of God in his personal dedication--to grow our personal faith. 

He is committed to  the development of your own personal faith in him, and in his son, and in his kingdom. Sometimes it will feel as though we are being tested beyond our limits. But with every testing there comes a great reward. So if we can manage to stay purposely trusting in God, we will grow, and grow and grow. That's what faith is all about.

Hebrews 12:1-16 (KJV)

 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 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.

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person ..."