Is your faith in Christ Jesus strong, a rich resource for you, giving you the kind of convictions that shape your thoughts, words, and actions? Or, is ‘faith’ a Sunday thing, a kind of sentimental experience, or just a tradition handed down from your grandparents? In 2025, the ‘faith’ of millions is at risk, collapsing when tested or questioned.
A genuine relationship with Christ will make us dedicated, committed, and solid Christians. Mere emotionalism or sentimentalism about Jesus will not survive over the long haul of life. A rugged faith rests on Scriptural truth, and is strengthened by regular practices of prayer, worship, meditation, Bible intake, and service. That kind of faith which is woven into everyday life will be a well of renewal when tragedy, death, disappointment, or temptation comes our way.
Paul urged Timothy to let a rugged faith develop. "My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ... endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Timothy 2:1,3, NKJV) Do many American Christians understand that? I think not! The challenge of being Jesus’ disciple is often hidden under soothing words about comfort. I know that God does not asking us to seek out misery, but He does ask us to get into training, to do the hard stuff – that leads to spiritual maturity.
I find myself asking God to take away the tough choices instead of praying for courage to live through hard things with faith and a focus on eternity. You probably do that, too.
Yet when we always try to avoid hard choices and steep pathways our faith will not become resilient and strong. IF we step away from service that demands sacrifice, IF run away from the work of forgiveness, IF we refuse to face the hard facts about our sins and weakness, the roots of faith will not grow deep into the soil of our lives.
Yes, many of us choose wide detours that keep us on smooth highways that keep us from breaking a holy sweat! But, those choices also make our spiritual muscles non-existent. Jesus will lead us through deep valleys as! ll as onto high mountains. He will take us through seasons that cause us to hunger deeply for more of God. He said "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." (Matthew 7:13-14, NLT)
Perhaps you wonder why a person should work so hard to own
what cannot be seen or held in our hands?
The answer is found in our destination.
Heaven is our true home, not this present world. Peter calls us “temporary
residents and foreigners” (1 Peter 2) in this present world, pilgrims who have
their hearts set on the eternal home with the Father. Yes, Christians, we live kingdom lives
now, marked by eternity.
Will we live like Abraham? "By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God. " (Hebrews 11:8-10, The Message)
Beware of a “Christianity” that seeks perpetual prosperity and
unending happiness. Reject the preachers whose sermons are as padded as the
pews in their churches. That kind of faith will break down when real adversity
shows up; and it will.
If your idea of Christian faith is a search through the Bible for a search for
the daily promise, marked by prayers that say nothing other than ‘bless me,
Jesus’ – your roots are shallow, your faith subject to wilting in the heat of
real life.
Jesus told a teaching story about a man planting a field. Some seed fell onto
the hard pathway and never sprouted. Some, He says, fell into rocky soil. “The
seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately
receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last
long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for
believing God’s word.” (Matthew 13)
He spoke of vibrant faith in the closing words of that story,
the kind of faith I desire. “Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and
they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much
as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. … The seed that fell on good soil represents
those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty,
sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Here's a word from the Word. Note especially the outcome of a rugged faith.
"It will bring you much praise and glory on the day when Jesus Christ is
revealed."
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.” (1 Peter 1 NLT)
