KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 1:19 KJV” Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:”

We continue with our study on Paul’s first letter to Pastor Timothy.This time he advises him to hold faith and a good conscience so he does not make a ship wreck of his Christian journey.Lets consider a few definitions so we can understand what he is talking about.Faith has to do with the assurance we have in God such that we count as true whatever He tells us in His word.The Lord simplified it in His statement to Thomas in
Joh 20:29 KJV “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” The Lord explained that to have faith is to believe what God said without seeing it.He said such one is blessed.A good conscience is to be truthful, sincere or fair in your heart towards God about whatever you are dealing with.Holding a good conscience means not being prejudiced about anything or persons.It means not being partial but at all instances your judgements are thoughts that honour the will of God no matter who is involved or how advantageous it may be to you.God our father does not show favouritism. The people God seem to favour are those who have honoured God’s word so they attract the rewards of their actions.1Sa 2:30 KJV “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” To be of good conscience is to be morally upright

Secondly a good conscience as much as it has to do with being sincere, impartial, it also relates to rightly judging matters.The Lord at a point in his ministry ordered Peter to go catch a fish and in the mouth of that fish there was a coin.Peter went and brought the coin with which the Lord paid their tax.Please note that was the only time he got money that way.For the rest of the times the money he used to pay the taxes and bought food were the fruits of his ministry among the people. God gave manna to the Israelites when they were in the wilderness for the forty years, but the moment they got to the promised land where they could farm and grow their own food, manna ceased.For one to be successful in life and ministry we must know when faith must be applied and when the right judgement to act in a way as to play your role as a man.Faith in God has levels and degrees and one needs to grow his faith to whatever level that can really be functional to obtain results.

When does one apply faith or good judgement? Please note that true faith can get whatever it wants, but would you use faith to travel overseas without flying in an aeroplane? Would you use faith to always find money in your pocket and not to earn it from your labour? There comes occasions that simply need a miracle, and your faith must come to play. I was once praying with some brethren at Achimota gardens.The sun suddenly started scorching us so badly, I lifted my hands and asked the clouds to cover the sun for the duration we prayed.The clouds covered the sun for us to have that period of cool weather.If there was a hall nearby, there would not have been any need to exercise faith for the clouds to give us that shade.We just had to move into the hall.There have been testimonies of brethren who realised the fuel in their car fuel tank was finished, yet there was no gas station to refuel.They had to pray and trust God to send them home on an empty tank, and God honoured their faith. What we should be careful about is not to weaken our faith with common sense to the degree that , there is nothing supernatural about us.May we rightly apply faith and a good conscience to safely walk this Christian life.

THOUGHT: FAITH PLUS GOOD JUDGEMENT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL LIFE

FURTHER STUDIES

1Ti 3:15 KJV “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Mar 6:31 KJV” And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”