Focus: Keep Believing

Text: Heb.11:13

"These all died in faith."

Faith is not a one time thing. You are not required to believe just once, and then live in doubt thereafter. Faith is a lifestyle and a daily practice. It comes by constant and continuous hearing of the word of God. Jesus Christ says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you…" (Jh.15:7). The abiding is a continuous thing. 

You cannot cut off a branch and expect it to survive. The branch of a tree, once cut off from the tree, will lose its life. It is just a matter of time. If you abide, and keep abiding in Christ… If the words of Christ abide, and keep abiding in you… That is the way it works. Relationship with God requires constancy and continuity. Faith in Christ is not seasonal; it stretches from time to eternity. It is a matter of today, tomorrow, and forever. You believe and keep believing whether the weather is fair or foul, whether times are favorable or not, and whether life's conditions are good or bad. 

The believer in Christ keeps believing whether all is well or not.

In the Gospel of John, we read, "Whoever believes…" (Jh.3:16). It is the present tense continuous - 'Whoever believes, and keeps believing.' Salvation is not based on one time faith. Eternal life is the constant experience of those who believe and keep on believing.

All the people of faith in the Old Testament as mentioned in Hebrews 11 believed in God, and kept believing in God till their lives came to an end. They all died, still believing. They did not, on account of hardship or sad situations of life, curse God or gave up on their faith. They held on to their faith till death. They did not draw back from their faith when life got tough and rough. They did not bow to pressure or surrendered to the trendy. Their faith was lasting, not passing. They persevered in their walk with God, regardless of conflicting circumstances. 

Faith follows God to the end. It has God's end in view and moves towards that end. Peter talks about "receiving the END of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." In the thirteenth verse, he says, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the END for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1Pet.1:9,13). Faith focuses on the eschatological agenda of God. The future holds so much promise to those who believe in Christ and walk in His ways.

Faith's end is divinely assured and insured. Abraham saw the future, embraced and moved towards it. Those who hold on to their faith will not be disappointed in the end. The believer's hope never disappoints. The author of Hebrews says, "But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the END." In verse 14, he says, "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the END" (Heb.3:6,14). In chapter 6:11, he writes, "And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the END" (Heb.6:11). Your faith in Christ is designed to end well. The believer will end up in the eternal city of God. A new heaven and earth will in due course emerge from God to replace this messed up world, and the God you faithfully serve "shall also confirm you unto the END, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Cor.1:8). Faith is moving towards a glorious and blissful end.

Jesus Christ says to the believer, "And he that overcometh, and KEEPETH my works unto the END, to him will I give power over the nations" (Rev.2:26). Child of God, believe, and keep believing. Believe to the end. On the other side of faith, everything is perfect, pure and beautiful, and the believer shall ultimately and eternally rejoice and rest from his labor. Believe, and keep believing!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter