Hosanna Restoration Church

We have to know. It is not enough to say that faith is the substance of things hoped for, we must know it. Faith has an eternal shelf life. That means that it never loses the power to do what God says it will do. For instance, we believe that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved; don’t we? That truth is in the library of every single person ready at anytime to be activated. Christ died once for all, so we know this is true. We may check out a lot of books before we take that one off the shelf, but it has always been there.

Now, once we have come to experience Christ through faith, it is important that we keep that faith active and complete. What I mean by this is that sometimes or maybe more often than not, the first thing we do is compartmentalize faith. It gets divided into what works or when what works or what no longer works. I think you get the picture. In other words, it gets split up so much that people forget which volume what part was in.

The longer it sits on the shelf in this condition the less likely we are to actually take the time to put it to work. We get to thinking we know where it is if we ever need it. The problem with that is, even though it does not lose power, we lose confidence in it and it becomes a war just to go into the library and find what we need!

When Jesus posed the question to the religious leaders about where John’s power came from, they knew the answer but chose to play ignorant instead of facing the truth. They really did know, but it was not convenient for them to say it.

If we have come to know Christ, we really do know. The Holy Spirit within us bears witness to the truth. However, if we have our faith up on a shelf somewhere; we are slow to agree. Any hesitation on our part opens the door to doubt and the attacks of the enemy.

This of course causes great strain and stress, but let me encourage you that faith in God will still work. The moment you head to the library to get that faith off the shelf, you have won. It may not feel like it, but you have. You must know this. You must be convinced of this beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The enemy may try to convince you that you do not know. You may even say, “I just don’t know,” but you can be sure that if you will stand in faith believing, you will behold the glory of God. He has put eternal preservatives in faith. Just as surely as faith is always able to save those who call upon God, faith is also able to keep and to deliver whoever calls upon the Lord.

Scripture reminds us to, “Have faith in God.” He never fails. He will never leave or forsake you. Never doubt the shelf life of faith. Better yet, never put it on the shelf. Never let it be separated into volumes. Then you will know the truth. God is truth!