Building Faith

What is faith?
Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

In this post I want to mention a few significant things that have occurred in my life that greatly strengthen my faith in my Creator, a God who cares for me.  There are many deceptions and discouraging things that occur in our life to try and undermine our faith and cause us to fall away from the gospel.  This is why I believe it is critical to remind ourselves and each other of our blessings and God’s hand in our lives.  Also, hearing other's testimonies helps build our faith and enables us to consider, if God did this for them, perhaps He will also do it for me!

1 Thessalonians 3:2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Stomach pain: (Around 1990) I woke up in the middle of the night with my stomach hurting. The pain kept increasing rapidly and became very severe within a few seconds. It became unbearable and I couldn't even talk, I just thought "God help me!" and instantly the pain went away as fast as it had come. I said "thank you" and soon fell back to sleep.

Lost Dogs: (Fall 2001) Shannon and I kept our dogs in the yard by an underground electric fence. We came home one evening to find that the dogs were gone. It appeared that some kid rode his bike through our yard, based on the tracks in the grass, and our dogs went chasing after. We searched the area for a long time and talked to our neighbors to no avail. I was walking down the road and praying to God about the dogs. I finally said something like "God, you care about the sparrow, show me where the dogs are." I looked up and saw two streaks in the sky from where I was, heading off across people’s yards and into the woods. I thought "Ok God, I am going." And headed off in the direction of the trails. I crossed some fences and the woods got thicker yet I kept going in the direction shown. Soon I heard some barking off in the distance. I went a little farther and called for the dogs. They came running, very muddy and full of burrs but glad to see me.

These are only 2 of my personal testimonies that remove any doubt, no matter what others might say to the contrary that there is a God who cares for me.  If you don’t have something in your life that proves it to you, ask God to help you strengthen your faith.  Shannon and I have a spot on a wall in our house where we can post our testimonies and anything we are thankful for.  This serves as a reminder and a testimony of our God and gives us encouragement when we read through the testimonies written there.

Psalm 105:4-5 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth,


Start a journal listing those “God” faith building moments in your life.  Then when life gets tough, look back through your writings to restore and build your faith!  Then you can say like the verse:
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.


Help encourage others by sharing your testimonies of what God has done in your life in the comments below.  Your testimony is crucial in helping others overcome the works of the enemy:
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.