ARTICLE | Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus will not be put to shame! | JACOB VARGHESE

In Romans 10:11 the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Yes, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will not be put to shame. The passage at its face value, without context, seems to indicate that any person who believes by faith in Jesus Christ is not disappointed. When we believe in Jesus Christ we can experience how amazing, wonderful and glorious He really is. The only disappointment you and I should ever expect is when we stop believing in Jesus. He is just expecting each and every one of us to just believe in Jesus Christ, to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, to just to believe in His word and to believe in His power. Faith is the key to our Christian life. Our faith is a spiritual treasure which is immeasurable. As much as I put my faith in my Lord, that much blessings I will receive from Him. Faith is the key to all our breakthroughs. We all know that Bible says by faith only the wall of Jericho fell. Joshua did as God said and the great Jericho wall fell flat. The wall of Jericho was not brought down just by marching or shouting praises, it was brought down because of the complete faith in the true God. Thus the impossible was made possible. God is saying that if you put your faith in Him, then you will not be put to shame. Faith is the covenant given to us by God, for the manifestation of His power and glory. Only our faith can bring healing, faith can bring deliverance, faith can bring victory and faith can bring wholeness in each and every one of our lives. Our faith is the covenant access to the power of God. Our faith is the covenant access to the breakthroughs and miracles that we are waiting for. Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. That is why we must try to invest in building our faith so that we can take delivery of that redemptive package that God has already released for us. Many times we have a lot of challenges in our faith life. When things are going well, we are happy and singing aloud and shouting praise the Lord. But when things are not going right, our faith is shaken. Many times we are praying for many things and sometimes we couldn’t get answers to our prayers immediately. The delay will cause to shake our faith. But our Lord wants to encourage us to have faith so that we are never put to shame. The Lord wants to strengthen our faith. Devil is ready waiting to put us to shame. But let us come out of that fear. Let us concentrate on the scriptures and put our trust, put our belief in the most holy God so that we will never be ashamed.

Hebrews Chapter 11 talks about the heroes of faith. We call them heroes of faith, because all those people were having a very strong faith. That is why we are calling them heroes of faith even till today. We know how much difficulties those people went through. Some faced trials of cruel mocking, mistreated, scourging and also imprisonment. Some were stoned to death, some were cut in to pieces, they were persecuted, they were tempted and were even killed with sword. Many had to wander in the desert and hide in the caves for their living. They faced a lot of difficulties but God was pleased with them for their faith. The same God is here and He wants to get pleased with our faith in midst of all challenges, in the midst of all difficulties. He is expecting our faith to grow in Him. That is why He is promising us that if we believe in Him, we will not be ashamed. He is a great God and He is always faithful. Our faith should be based up on God and not upon our circumstances. The Christian life cannot be separated from faith. We are saved “by grace…through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). We “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We “live by faith” (Romans
1:17). In Romans 4:20 we see “Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to perform.” Abraham had to wait years and years to see God’s promise being fulfilled in his life. Abraham was having faith but he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. God is expecting us also to be strengthened in our faith simply for His glory.

Lord wants us to have faith in three important aspects. 1. We need to have faith in His word 2. We need to have faith in His power and 3. We need to have faith in His name. Putting faith in His word and believing His word is very important in our life. That is what God is asking from you and me. Let us look to the story of Centurion’s faith. In Luke chapter 7: 6 &7, we see then Jesus went with them and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. What does the centurion say here? Lord, say a word and my servant will be healed. Do you trust that one word from the Lord? Yes, I am just waiting for that one word so that every healing and deliverance will take place in our lives. God wants us to have faith in His word like this centurion had. The centurion that time was not a Jew; he was a gentile but had a strong faith in God. But as born again believers, then how much more is expected from us to have faith in this God who has saved us, who has redeemed us? Centurion knew the power in the word of God. Many a times though we are Christians, we doubt the word of God. Many times we doubt because the circumstances has forced us to doubt the word of God. We just want to believe what is happening in our life and not the promises of God’s word. That is why God is telling us, in the midst of our difficulties to put our trust in the Lord. God doesn’t want us to forget any single word of the Lord’s promise to us. God is asking us, do you have faith in His word, and do you know the power of His word? Can we hold on to God in every ugly circumstances of life? Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion. We see in verse 9 that “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” What about our faith? Do we have such great faith? If not, let us revive our faith, increase our faith. We all know the story of Lazarus rose from the dead. I do not want to go in to the detail. But we see at the words of Jesus, the dead Lazarus came out. Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” In Matthew chapter 8 we see Jesus’ words calming roaring wind and storm. Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The people were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” When our faith is shaken, one word from the Lord can calm our situations of life. We can receive peace and calmness in our life. But Jesus is saying “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Yes, we have been experiencing Jesus in our lives, but still we have little faith. We need to increase our faith. Sent forth God’s word into the life situations we are in.

Lord wants us to put our faith in His power. Luke 8:48 says “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” That is what God is telling each and every one of us today. We all know the story of this woman receiving healing from Jesus. She was suffering from bleeding for twelve years and no one could heal her. Nothing could sort out her issue. But she had this one determination in her heart somehow if she could touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she will be healed. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. Is such a determination is alive in us? When we read Luke 8:43-45, we understand her situation. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. But if we are ready to touch the hem of the garment of Jesus in faith, Jesus is ready to release the power and can see a miracle. Though the crowd was crushing Jesus, in verse 45 we see, Jesus is asking “Who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” And how can you ask such a question “Who touched me?” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” The real question here is do you believe in the power of God, the power of Jesus? Here we see the woman decided to touch the garment of Jesus Christ and she received the healing. But only this woman received the healing, not the entire crowd because she believed in the power of Jesus. She put her faith in His power. We have to put our faith in this power when reach out to touch Jesus. Then the power will be released. If we have faith to touch Him, He is ready to release the power, because this power will help us. How many of us want that power? God is ready to release that power. That is why Ephesians 6:10 says ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”.

Not only that we need to have faith in His word and His power but we also need to have faith in the name of Jesus. Acts 3:16 says “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.” Again this is a familiar story. As Peter and John go to the temple to pray, they come across a beggar who has been lame from birth. Instead of alms, Peter gives him the gift of healing. Often, a person’s faith is the key to their healing. But, sometimes, that faith wasn’t necessary. That is, the name of Christ through the faith of the apostles in him has made this lame man strong. While they made use of his name and said “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk”, instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him. Everyone Who Calls Upon the Name of the Lord Will Be Saved. What an amazing truth! Throughout our life we face many disappointments and discouragements because of situations and people, but Paul said that anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame. This is a message of grace. This is an important truth to meditate on and believe with all our heart. When we place our hope in Jesus we won’t be disappointed, we won’t be ashamed, we won’t be put to shame. So let us put our faith in His word, in His power and in His Name. Be grateful to know that trusting in Christ Jesus provides security in an insecure world and know the hope to which you are called in Him and that truth will resonate in your heart every day for the rest of your life.