Can Faith Take Me From Failure to Victory?

As Christians, we all fail. We all think, say or do things that are out of harmony with God’s will and way, and this can be really frustrating. So, what can change those failures? Will focusing on having more faith make a difference? The answer to this is both yes and no. Having more faith can only make a difference if we understand what faith really is. For many, having Christian faith is professing a belief. It is looking towards Jesus and choosing to be his follower. While this is appropriate and necessary, it's only a beginning. True faith is far deeper. When we look at both the Old and New Testaments together, we see a very different description of faith. This description shows us how we can use true and genuine faith to help take us from failure to victory. So, how does faith work? We often classify our Christian faith into the categories of intellectual appreciation and heart reliance. Let’s be clear - faith does belong in these categories, as it is very much an internal foundation for our discipleship. We live in a time when God does not show His presence as readily as He did in biblical times. This makes it important to really know God and Jesus with our minds as we grasp what salvation and redemption are all about. Just as important, we need to feel the impact of God’s love and Jesus’ leadership in our hearts as well. For many of us, these things signal strong faith that can lead us through difficulties. However, there is much more to faith than this. And...action! Faith’s frequently overlooked ingredient is action. The Old Testament is filled with accounts of individuals who stood head and shoulders above others when it came to faithfully following God’s will. Their examples were so inspiring that the 11th chapter of Hebrews was dedicated to citing many of their “living by faith” examples. Did you know? If you look up the word “faith” in most translations, it only appears twice in the entire Old Testament! This is in comparison to appearing 229 times in the New Testament. The Old Testament covers about 4,000 years of human history and the New Testament covers about 100 years of history. So, how do we learn faith vs. failure lessons from a period of time when faith is hardly mentioned? It all comes down to understanding how faith was expressed in those ancient days. Check out our March 14, 2022 podcast, “Can Faith Take Me From Failure to Victory?” for more. We discover what a life of faith actually meant in Old Testament times. We examine several aspects of how Joshua, the man appointed by God to lead Israel into the land of Canaan, lived his faith. All of this gives us a broader comprehension of the value and application of life faithfully lived in a God-honoring way. Join us as we learn to see how faith can bring us to victory when we fail!