Six Things That Sustain The Believer
The life of every believer is not an easy one. It is indeed a life filled with trials, tribulations, temptations and persecutions. But, it is also a life filled with victory, triumph, love and hope of an everlasting life. God has called us to live a lifestyle that is pleasing in His sight and throughout Christian history, believers both in time past and now would agree that, this journey is not always an easy one. It isn’t peculiar that many times you start to doubt that you’ll be able to make it, as a believer. You’ve probably many times thought to yourself that “I’ll never be able to do this. I’ll never be able to continue this journey or even make it to the end.” But hear us out- the truth is that, we’re sustained through this journey not by ourselves, but by certain indispensable attributes that with or without us. In view of this, we bring you six things that sustain you, as a believer.
1. Grace- Titus 3:5, 1 Samuel 2:9, 1 Corinthians 15:10-11
We’ve not been saved by the works of righteousness but by grace, and whatever saved us must continue to sustain us as well. Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve. We can’t work our way into heaven; for if we even sin but once in our entire life, we are disqualified, and all that we have done is forgotten and nothing we can ever do can erase that sin. But our faith in Jesus Christ and our true repentance covers our sins and reckons us as being truly righteous. We are saved by grace. Do not boast, everything you’ve is by grace. If you’ll become great in this life, it’s going to take you grace, not by hard work. Without grace, the believer cannot do anything. You must always rely on the grace of God and you can do this by always striving to have a mind that believes in this grace; by believing that everything you have is by God’s grace; and always knowing that without God you’re nothing. It is the sufficiency of the grace of God that sustains us as believers.
2. The word of God – 2 Timothy 2:15
The words of God are what sustain us; they are food to our hungry souls and they bring joy to our sorrowing hearts and delight us. Life in all its abundance is an inevitable proof of the sustaining power of the word of God. Bible says in Hebrew 1:3 “The Son, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” The word is so powerful that it can penetrate into both living and non-living imparting life and energy to them. Those who spend meditating on the word know that nothing empowers at the time of need as the word of God does. Such people shine despite the challenges of life. If you do not have the word of God in you, sin will engulf you and instead of your life brightening it’ll rather dim. We’re cleansed by the word, we’re saved by the word and we’re also sustained by it. If you really want to succeed in life, the word of God must be an intrinsic part of your life.
3. Prayer – Acts 16:25-32, Matthew 26:41, Romans 12:12, 2 Chronicles 7:4, Ephesians 6:18, Mark 11:24.
You cannot as a Christian in these tumultuous times if you don’t make prayer a lifestyle. Prayer is key to your sustenance as a believer. It breaks chains and it’s able to restore you to your exact position. Never in your Christian journey get to a point and say you’ve had enough of prayer. When things are working for your good pray and when they’re not working too pray. You must understand that the very day you gave your life to Christ made you a threat to the enemy, and there are decisions being made around you that could affect your Christian walk greatly. So you need to seriously war in the spirit realm against the principalities and powers that are trying to destroy you.
4. Purity and Holiness – Hebrews 12:14
We are called to live pure and holy lives. We are called to be holy as He is holy [1 Peter 1:13-15] and living a life of purity is a step toward holiness and Christ-likeness. God told the Israelites several times throughout the Old Testament to consecrate themselves when they were preparing to see God or be a part of a miracle. Though this can be difficult at times, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with us to help lead us into purity and holiness with the Lord. A pure heart desires more of God, and the closer we get to God the more we resist sin and embrace the righteousness that God has for us. We cannot be sustained if we continually live in sin. Purity and holiness drives us closer to God and makes Him to always step in our situations when the need be.
5. Giving – Proverbs 11:24-25, Genesis 8:22, John 3:16
If you want to be sustained in your Christian journey, learn how to give. Giving opens doors for you as a believer. When we give, we are obeying God and doing what is uncomfortable, which helps us grow and be who God has called us to be. God Himself gave His begotten son to die and save the world because of His love for it so He expects us to do same. Abraham was willing to give his only son after God asked him to, and I believe that experience helped prepare him to be the man of faith that he was. God can do so much more through a wise, giving, mature person than a person who is overly concerned with possessions of this world. Anybody who gives either to support the kingdom of God, the poor and needy or others is special to God.
6. Activeness in church/associations – 1 Corinthians 15;33-34, Hebrews 10:25
You should not forsake the assembly of the brethren if you want to be sustained in your Christian walk. Always being in the presence of other believers strengthens your faith and offers you the opportunity to overcome your challenges when they come. The reason being that more often than these believers might have already been through what you’re going through now and would use their experiences to guide and encourage to not lose faith in the Lord. It is very difficult to be sustained without the church if you’re indeed a believer. So you cannot have the spirit of God in you and still be out of the church. Your activeness in church helps you join a good company. You’re better off in the church than in the world.
In conclusion, there’s no denying the fact that the Christian walk of faith isn’t an easy one so much that, we cannot prevail by our faith. We must learn to surrender ourselves to the working of the spirit of God in us, and allow Him to take absolute control of our lives.
