I have been a devout Christian for going on 37 years. I have seen more Christian brothers and sisters make shipwreck of their faith than I can count over these years. These were not nominal Christians. These were Christians that were very much alive in their faith. I don’t want to analyze the sins that brought them down nor do I want to analyze their destiny at this time. I simply want to say that the eyes of the world are on us when we proclaim we are Christians and that we need to protect and sustain our witness. We must adopt an attitude of sustainability. Sustainability is simply the capacity to endure. Jesus tells us the importance of endurance in His end time discourse by declaring, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.”
That endurance and strength can only come from Jesus. We must never forget that not one of us alone is a match for the devil. Only Jesus is! Look what Jude 1:9 says, “But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
One of the main reasons the people I mentioned fell in their faith was because they did not keep Jesus at the forefront of their lives. Having Jesus as The Lord of your life is a 24-hour a day, 365 day a year affair. It’s the only way that we can claim 1 John 4:4 which says, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” We can’t leave Jesus behind at certain times in our life so we can have ‘fun’. If we ever do adopt that kind of mindset, we will eventually find our faith shipwrecked also. What happens in Las Vegas, doesn’t just stay in Las Vegas like the world would want us to believe. Samson serves as a great example of this. Also, take a look at what Jesus says to Peter:
- And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31, 32 NKJV)
Never think you can stand without having sustainability in your faith:
- Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18 NKJV)
- An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. (1 Timothy 3:6 NLT)
Our survival is dependent upon a day-to-day filling of the Holy Spirit. Look what Acts 4:31 says, “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” These were the same disciples that were first filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They recognized that they must be filled anew everyday. Jesus had warned in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
So it really does all comes down to sustainability. We must feed our faith daily. This must trump everything else in our life! I must plug into Jesus every single day, not the other way around with Jesus plugging into me. The power is there, 100% Jesus through the working of the Holy Spirit, but I must be the one to tap into it. If I do not plug my smart phone in everyday to recharge it, it will not get me through the tasks I need it for. The power is there in the outlets. But it does me no good if I do not grab the cord and plug it into the receptacle. The same it is in our faith with Jesus!
If you still would like more verses to reinforce this, observe the following Scriptures that support this from different angles:
- “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’” (Luke 14:26-30 NLT)
- But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62 NLT)
- “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. 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. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. 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!” (Matthew 13:18-23 NLT)
- “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” (Revelation 3:1-6 NLT)
- If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:5-8 NLT)
In conclusion, Jesus truly is the ‘Bread of Life’ and the ‘Living Water’. We need to eat and drink of Him everyday!
Annointing 