Faith is not a virtue that we are born with or that we just inherit one day. It is something that we have to seek out and work at to keep.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we enter God’s world, and the hopes and dreams that it holds are endless. They bring joy and happiness to our soul. Salvation is the beginning of a new life, but it’s not a matter of once saved, always saved. It’s the beginning, and like anything else in life, the “beginning” is the start and it has a following.

God gave us that first seed of faith to get saved – not a lot, just enough to believe and accept His Son, Jesus, as our Saviour. At this point we realize that God is not just a figment of someone’s imagination, but that He IS real, that He IS the creator of the universe and the God OF that universe. We realize that we are now part of this big, new world and it feels great. We belong to God, and Jesus has become our friend.

But now we need to know more about God so that we can have a relationship with Him. So much of the Old Testament seems to set Him out as being a cold, harsh ruler with no heart for the people, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. John 3:16 says that God loves us so much that He sent His OWN Son to take on OUR sins and then as a punishment, He died on the cross for us and took our sins to hell.

There is so much about God that we don’t know, so it becomes very difficult for us to be able to love someone who we don’t know and who we don’t even know anything about. But that seed of faith that He gave us to get saved can grow into a wealth of knowledge about Him, and to the point where we truly love Him with all our heart.

How do we grow that seed of faith?

The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The Bible and all its scriptures were written by men BUT under the anointing and inspiration of God. So every word in this Bible has been given by God to us as our book of instruction – our manual for living. There is no other way to learn about God.

Our testimonies of God’s intervention in our lives are a witness that proves the Word of God. They aren’t new and they aren’t unique to only us. They are testimonies and these testimonies support what God has told us in the Bible, and they inspire those around us and encourage them to get into the Bible and study it so they too, can know God.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” … 2 Timothy 2:15.

Many Christians have written books on faith, and some of these books have been a real blessing, but they do NOT replace the Bible. They should ALL refer back to the Bible, edify the Bible, give glory to God and represent Jesus. They should inspire us and encourage us to get into the Bible and study it ourselves.

When I was battling cancer in 2011 I thought I had the faith to fight it on my own, but when the doctor spoke those terrifying words of death to me, I knew that I needed to dig deep and meditate on His Word and not stop until it became a reality to me.

I did two things: I went to some of my friends who I knew were prayer warriors and I asked them to pray for me, that my faith would be made strong. And then I studied the Bible and prayed and studied and praised the Lord with my whole heart until I began to see the hope and reality of the cross.

And as that reality began to set in, so did the fear from the battle, and so I wrote down the messages that I got from the scriptures I read, and then I read them over and over until they became real and my faith began to grow. I reached the point where I truly trusted God with my life and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was healed. And that’s when God led me to my healing.

Faith doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t come because we quote scriptures. It doesn’t happen because someone has prayed over us and says it will happen. It’s not magic. There is no angel dust.

Faith is believing with all our heart and not allowing doubt to set in. It’s an “either/or” situation; either you believe or you don’t; either you accept God’s Word or you don’t; either you receive the blessings or you don’t.

God’s Word is for everyone, but if we don’t believe it then we miss out. Someone can tell us that they have a million dollars in the bank for us and all we have to do is go and get it, but if we don’t believe it’s true, then we won’t act on it and we will miss out on the million dollars. And it’s the same concept for the Bible.

When we study the Bible, we will learn about God, about Jesus, about His Spirit, and about who we are in Christ. And as we study and pray and praise the Lord, our faith grows and grows. We are able to stand on His Word and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it IS true and we will be able to live the life of victory that He has given us.

Does this mean that life will always be a bed roses after that? No, not at all. We live in this world and we will experience all the elements and things that comes with it, BUT we will know God and He will show us how to overcome them all.

When I was healed from the cancer, I took all those messages and formatted them into a devotional book called, Let Faith Arise!. I wanted to share with others how to get faith, how to develop faith and how to act in faith. This book is NOT about me; it’s about learning how to get faith so that YOU can know God and live the life that He’s given you.

Let Faith Arise! is MY testimony that proves that God’s Word is true. He loves us so much, and He hurts when we hurt and He laughs when we laugh. He is our Father, and when we know Him, we are able to truly say “Praise the Lord” and mean it, and we will see that Jesus is not only our Lord, but He is our friend, as well.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” … Hebrews 11:1.