100:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,340How come your faith survived all the unanswered questions of your life?200:00:08,340 –> 00:00:14,500How come your faith survived all the bitter disappointments that you’ve faced?300:00:14,500 –> 00:00:19,520How come your faith survived all the exhausting struggles that you’ve been400:00:19,520 –> 00:00:22,020through? How come that at the end of all that500:00:22,020 –> 00:00:26,120you still would have to say I love Jesus Christ?600:00:26,120 –> 00:00:29,040The amazing thing is not that your faith700:00:29,120 –> 00:00:33,200is weak for that it exists at all. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor800:00:33,200 –> 00:00:37,119Colin Smith I’m David Pick. Glad you could be with us today and Colin900:00:37,119 –> 00:00:41,279that is quite a statement. The amazing thing is not that your faith1000:00:41,279 –> 00:00:45,200is weak but that it exists at all. It is amazing and1100:00:45,200 –> 00:00:48,959it is wonderful and here’s the deal if my faith was1200:00:48,959 –> 00:00:52,720simply my commitment to Jesus Christ. If that’s all that it was1300:00:52,720 –> 00:00:56,000I would have uncommuted myself a long time ago and I think1400:00:56,000 –> 00:00:59,439many people listening will say you know if it was just me1500:00:59,439 –> 00:01:02,720then the unanswered questions the big disappointments and the exhausting1600:01:02,720 –> 00:01:07,199struggles would have absolutely floored me. So why didn’t they? And the answer is1700:01:07,199 –> 00:01:11,919that when a person is born again there’s a new life in you, the Holy1800:01:11,919 –> 00:01:16,080Spirit lives within you. It’s like you’re born again of a living1900:01:16,080 –> 00:01:19,599seed. That is the enduring Word of God and2000:01:19,599 –> 00:01:22,559what God does can never get snuffed out. It’s like2100:01:22,739 –> 00:01:26,000putting a bulb in the ground and you dump all this stuff on the top of it2200:01:26,000 –> 00:01:30,160but it’s life still presses up through. The amazing thing is that God guards you2300:01:30,160 –> 00:01:33,839and he keeps you, and he preserves his own and I think2400:01:33,839 –> 00:01:36,400that’s marvelous. I think that’s something to celebrate2500:01:36,400 –> 00:01:39,919It is, and that’s what we’ll hear about today, so join us if you can in the book2600:01:39,919 –> 00:01:44,639of Jud as we continue the message, build yourself up, here is Colin2700:01:44,639 –> 00:01:50,959Build yourselves up in your most2800:01:50,959 –> 00:01:56,000holy faith. There may be times when your faith seems2900:01:56,000 –> 00:02:00,879to be at a low ebb, you feel you’re not growing, there may3000:02:00,879 –> 00:02:03,199even be times when you say to yourself you know I3100:02:03,199 –> 00:02:10,160wonder if I’m really a Christian at all and Jud says here’s where you3200:02:10,160 –> 00:02:15,360need to begin. Build yourself up in your most holy3300:02:15,360 –> 00:02:18,240faith, that’s the first thing you need to work on3400:02:18,240 –> 00:02:23,919if you’re to get yourself in spiritual shape. Now the obvious question then is3500:02:23,919 –> 00:02:27,919okay how are we going to do that? Now I want to3600:02:27,919 –> 00:02:31,039suggest four very practical exercises, four3700:02:31,039 –> 00:02:35,199exercises that will help us to build ourselves3800:02:35,199 –> 00:02:42,080up in our most holy faith. First give thanks3900:02:42,080 –> 00:02:48,000for your faith. Now one of Satan’s greatest strategies against a believer4000:02:48,000 –> 00:02:54,160is to seek to discredit your faith. Have you ever had something4100:02:54,160 –> 00:02:57,119running in your mind that says you know for all the years4200:02:57,119 –> 00:03:00,720I’m a Christian my faith seems to be so puny4300:03:00,720 –> 00:03:07,279so weak so small so embarrassingly little in its growth and development?4400:03:07,279 –> 00:03:10,639You see that’s what the enemy loves to shoot4500:03:10,639 –> 00:03:15,279into your mind. And there’s only one way to4600:03:15,279 –> 00:03:21,440counteract that strategy, and that is to recognize that the faith that you have4700:03:21,440 –> 00:03:28,559however small it is is a miracle and a gift from God and therefore4800:03:28,639 –> 00:03:34,320to give thanks for it. Now if your faith is at a low ebb4900:03:34,320 –> 00:03:41,279this morning, this is where you begin. You look up into the face of Almighty5000:03:41,279 –> 00:03:44,880God and you say thank you that5100:03:44,880 –> 00:03:51,839your Holy Spirit is at work in me. And when you begin to give5200:03:51,839 –> 00:03:54,240thanks for what God has done and for what He5300:03:54,479 –> 00:03:58,160is doing in your own life, then you will find5400:03:58,160 –> 00:04:03,199that a cloud lifts and your faith begins to grow.5500:04:03,199 –> 00:04:09,119See, faith is like a bulb that is planted in the ground.5600:04:09,119 –> 00:04:12,800Dig out a hole and then what’s the next thing that happens? A load of5700:04:12,800 –> 00:04:16,720dirt gets dumped on top of this little bulb.5800:04:16,720 –> 00:04:20,640It’s a miracle that it survives, isn’t it?5900:04:20,640 –> 00:04:26,000But you see it has life in it and that life pushes its way through all6000:04:26,000 –> 00:04:29,760of the muck and eventually you see a little shoot6100:04:29,760 –> 00:04:33,679just peeping through the ground. You say that’s amazing.6200:04:33,679 –> 00:04:40,559It’s amazing! There’s life there. Now you think of everything that is6300:04:40,559 –> 00:04:46,880arrayed against your faith. How come your faith survived all the6400:04:47,200 –> 00:04:52,239unanswered questions of your life? How come your faith survived6500:04:52,239 –> 00:04:56,320all the bitter disappointments that you faced?6600:04:56,320 –> 00:04:59,920How come your faith survived all the exhausting struggles that you’ve been6700:04:59,920 –> 00:05:03,119through? How come that at the end of all that you6800:05:03,119 –> 00:05:07,920still would have to say I love Jesus Christ?6900:05:08,000 –> 00:05:11,679The amazing thing is not that your faith is weak but that it exists at all!7000:05:11,679 –> 00:05:14,959Begin here there is only one explanation of your faith.7100:05:14,959 –> 00:05:20,559It is the gift of God. It is the result of the prayers of Jesus that have7200:05:20,559 –> 00:05:23,920sustained it when all kinds of opposition was dumped7300:05:23,920 –> 00:05:27,200upon it. And it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit7400:05:27,200 –> 00:05:33,119that has caused it to keep growing. The faith that you have however weak and7500:05:33,119 –> 00:05:39,200however small it sometimes seems to you is a miracle. It is the work of Almighty7600:05:39,279 –> 00:05:43,440God in your soul. So begin here. Thank God for that7700:05:43,440 –> 00:05:48,640miracle. Recognize what he’s done7800:05:48,640 –> 00:05:56,880and your faith will begin to grow. So there’s the first thing7900:05:57,119 –> 00:06:01,679give thanks for your faith. Secondly affirm8000:06:01,679 –> 00:06:06,720your faith. Now notice that Jude says we’re to build ourselves up in our most8100:06:06,720 –> 00:06:10,399holy faith. He’s talking of course about the faith8200:06:10,399 –> 00:06:15,119referred to in verse 3, this faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.8300:06:15,119 –> 00:06:19,679So it’s both personal in that it’s your faith8400:06:19,679 –> 00:06:23,920but it’s also bigger than you because your faith is to embrace8500:06:23,920 –> 00:06:27,519the faith that was once for all entrusted to8600:06:27,519 –> 00:06:31,760the saints. And one of the ways in which you can build yourself up in your most8700:06:31,760 –> 00:06:36,640holy faith is to affirm what you believe. That is why Christians throughout the8800:06:36,640 –> 00:06:39,600centuries have found it very helpful in worship8900:06:39,600 –> 00:06:43,839to recite creeds as part of their worship to God.9000:06:43,839 –> 00:06:48,160A very useful thing to do and perhaps something that we should do more often.9100:06:48,160 –> 00:06:58,000I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth.9200:06:58,320 –> 00:07:01,600Some of you know the name of C.H. Spurgeon.9300:07:01,600 –> 00:07:06,559Spurgeon had the awesome responsibility of preaching to vast crowds in London9400:07:06,640 –> 00:07:11,279over a hundred years ago. When the time came for Spurgeon to9500:07:11,279 –> 00:07:15,760enter the pulpit there were times when he felt so9600:07:15,760 –> 00:07:21,119overwhelmed, he struggled to get up there and speak.9700:07:21,119 –> 00:07:26,799I have to tell you honestly that I know how he felt.9800:07:26,880 –> 00:07:33,839To speak personally for just a moment, to speak the word of God9900:07:33,839 –> 00:07:38,959in such a way that people would see Jesus10000:07:38,959 –> 00:07:43,040is an awesome responsibility.10100:07:43,359 –> 00:07:49,519To stand up and seek to press home the claims of Jesus Christ10200:07:49,519 –> 00:07:54,880knowing that you are charged to speak of eternal things10300:07:54,880 –> 00:08:00,399sometimes feels utterly overwhelming.10400:08:00,880 –> 00:08:04,239And years ago I found out something that Spurgeon did10500:08:04,239 –> 00:08:09,279to help him and it has helped me ever since I discovered it.10600:08:09,279 –> 00:08:13,200He used to speak from a pulpit that was raised high there was a gallery10700:08:13,200 –> 00:08:16,559in the church where he spoke and as he climbed these10800:08:16,559 –> 00:08:19,83920 steps feeling the weight of his responsibility10900:08:19,839 –> 00:08:28,320he said one thing to himself I believe in the Holy Spirit11000:08:28,320 –> 00:08:32,080You picture him he’s climbing these steps11100:08:32,080 –> 00:08:40,400I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit11200:08:41,359 –> 00:08:45,599If I didn’t believe in the Holy Spirit there’s no way I could even begin to11300:08:45,599 –> 00:08:48,960attempt what I’m called to do11400:08:48,960 –> 00:08:56,000but I do believe in the Holy Spirit therefore I press forward to do what he11500:08:56,000 –> 00:09:02,080has called me to do today Now you may want to say that as you11600:09:02,080 –> 00:09:07,119step into a job interview this week or perhaps as you’re admitted into a11700:09:07,119 –> 00:09:11,039hospital or perhaps as you go into a law court11800:09:11,039 –> 00:09:14,880or some other situation that God puts you in that you find11900:09:14,880 –> 00:09:18,000quite overwhelming and you need to say to yourself this12000:09:18,000 –> 00:09:23,119affirmation of your faith I believe in the Holy Spirit12100:09:23,119 –> 00:09:28,000I believe in God the Father Almighty12200:09:28,239 –> 00:09:32,559maybe Satan comes and he keeps raising in your mind12300:09:32,559 –> 00:09:37,599some sin that you’ve confessed and you’ve brought it to Christ12400:09:37,599 –> 00:09:42,559but he causes you to feel ashamed over and over and over again and you can’t12500:09:42,559 –> 00:09:46,880get free, how are you going to counteract that?12600:09:46,880 –> 00:09:53,280The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from every sin.12700:09:53,280 –> 00:10:00,880Satan, I believe in the blood of Jesus, I believe12800:10:00,880 –> 00:10:07,440in the blood of Jesus. Read the Psalms, you’ll find that12900:10:07,440 –> 00:10:11,200they’re full of affirmations of faith to build13000:10:11,359 –> 00:10:15,679up the soul. Why are all these affirmations of faith13100:10:15,679 –> 00:10:19,840there? Because this is what we most need to13200:10:19,840 –> 00:10:23,359feed our faith upon. The world, the flesh, and the devil are13300:10:23,359 –> 00:10:27,599always assaulting your mind with lies and doubts and13400:10:27,599 –> 00:10:32,159unanswerable questions, so feed your soul on13500:10:32,159 –> 00:10:38,640affirmations of what you believe. Give thanks to the lord, for he13600:10:38,640 –> 00:10:45,679is good, he is good.13700:10:45,760 –> 00:10:50,080Nothing that ever happens to me will be without his work,13800:10:50,080 –> 00:10:55,520to bring my good out. Give thanks to the lord, for his love endures13900:10:55,520 –> 00:10:59,359forever. I may feel so desperate, but I am surrounded14000:10:59,359 –> 00:11:04,239by his love because it endures forever.14100:11:04,880 –> 00:11:08,719Affirming your faith by confessing what god has revealed will be like14200:11:08,719 –> 00:11:13,919fresh air to your soul. It will cause you to grow.14300:11:13,919 –> 00:11:17,280You’re listening to Open the Bible with pastor collin smith we’ve got to pause14400:11:17,280 –> 00:11:20,559our message briefly there but will be back very shortly.14500:11:20,559 –> 00:11:24,000The message is called Build Yourself Up, part of our series14600:11:24,000 –> 00:11:27,359keeping yourself in spiritual shape seven workouts14700:11:27,359 –> 00:11:32,880for a healthy christian life. Many of us love reading but our busy14800:11:32,880 –> 00:11:36,320lives don’t allow much time for that so we often listen to14900:11:36,320 –> 00:11:39,599audiobooks and podcasts maybe when we’re driving15000:11:39,599 –> 00:11:44,559or out for a walk so we have a new podcast starting this month15100:11:44,559 –> 00:11:48,559and it’s called hike through the bible. Yeah and the hike through the bible15200:11:48,559 –> 00:11:52,719podcast will take you on a journey through the entire bible story giving15300:11:52,719 –> 00:11:55,919you the option of listening or watching rather than15400:11:55,919 –> 00:11:59,440reading and in each episode i’ll read a chapter15500:11:59,440 –> 00:12:02,640of my book hike through the bible and then i’ll discuss it with some15600:12:02,640 –> 00:12:08,239friends. I hope you’ll join me in hiking through the bible, you’ll grow15700:12:08,239 –> 00:12:12,080in your faith, you’ll deepen your grasp of scripture15800:12:12,080 –> 00:12:16,559and you’ll come to love jesus more. So that’s the hike through the bible15900:12:16,559 –> 00:12:19,280podcast and it’s not too late to get started16000:12:19,280 –> 00:12:22,239you’ll find the hike through the bible podcast16100:12:22,239 –> 00:12:26,640wherever you get your podcasts and there’s a link on our website at16200:12:26,640 –> 00:12:32,960openthebible.org.uk. You’ll also find more information about the podcast.16300:12:32,960 –> 00:12:37,280Back to the message now here again is Colin. Now here’s the third exercise16400:12:37,280 –> 00:12:40,479first one was giving thanks for your faith,16500:12:40,479 –> 00:12:44,479the second in this first workout was affirming your faith16600:12:44,479 –> 00:12:51,840and here’s the third exercise your faith faith is like a muscle16700:12:51,840 –> 00:12:56,719and the way in which it grows strong is when it is used16800:12:56,719 –> 00:13:00,640and all of you who have ever worked out in a gym know16900:13:00,640 –> 00:13:04,239that if you want to develop a particular muscle17000:13:04,239 –> 00:13:07,599the way that you do it is that you put some weight17100:13:07,599 –> 00:13:11,359upon it and pull or push against that weight17200:13:11,359 –> 00:13:15,840and in this way you will build the strength of that muscle.17300:13:15,840 –> 00:13:19,919Now it’s exactly the same with your faith. How does your faith grow?17400:13:19,919 –> 00:13:26,880Your faith will grow when some weight is put upon it when your faith has to pull17500:13:26,880 –> 00:13:32,960or to push against some great burden and that’s not happening all the time17600:13:32,960 –> 00:13:37,039in life but it does happen particularly when17700:13:37,039 –> 00:13:40,960God allows some trial to come into your life.17800:13:40,960 –> 00:13:45,679Suddenly one Friday you discover you having a job17900:13:45,679 –> 00:13:49,039your girlfriend or your boyfriend packs you in18000:13:49,039 –> 00:13:52,640your business bottom line comes out the wrong colour18100:13:52,640 –> 00:13:55,919what you had always feared actually comes to pass and18200:13:55,919 –> 00:14:00,400suddenly God has thrust you into the gymnasium18300:14:00,400 –> 00:14:07,119This is the moment! God is handing you the weights18400:14:07,119 –> 00:14:12,880This is where faith will grow if it is exercised18500:14:12,880 –> 00:14:17,039Now whenever God allows you to face some burden some trial some18600:14:17,119 –> 00:14:22,320weight in your life he is calling you to exercise faith18700:14:22,320 –> 00:14:28,320and faith grows as it is exercised under pressure18800:14:28,320 –> 00:14:33,359that weight that he’s given you and allowed you to carry18900:14:33,359 –> 00:14:37,840now one reason why many people never really grow in faith19000:14:37,840 –> 00:14:43,679is that when god put you in the gymnasium and showed you the weights19100:14:43,679 –> 00:14:48,559you just sat there in a chair so going into a gymnasium and looking at the19200:14:48,559 –> 00:14:51,039weights will do you no good in terms of your19300:14:51,039 –> 00:14:56,080physical fitness if you do not pick them up and19400:14:56,080 –> 00:15:00,159you can go through a trial without ever really praying19500:15:00,159 –> 00:15:04,000without ever really exercising faith in god you just go through the trial you19600:15:04,000 –> 00:15:08,400come out the other side you survive it but you are no stronger spiritually than19700:15:08,400 –> 00:15:12,880when you went in because you missed the moment to19800:15:13,039 –> 00:15:16,479exercised your faith you missed your moment in the gymnasium19900:15:16,479 –> 00:15:19,919you allowed your session to pass without doing20000:15:19,919 –> 00:15:22,400anything20100:15:23,039 –> 00:15:28,159now if you can identify that pattern in your life and it happens very often20200:15:28,159 –> 00:15:31,840let me give you this assurance god will put you20300:15:31,840 –> 00:15:35,520in the gymnasium again20400:15:35,760 –> 00:15:42,000ask god for eyes to see when it happens might be a relatively small thing this20500:15:42,000 –> 00:15:46,559week but it’s something that goes wrong and you need to exercise faith20600:15:46,559 –> 00:15:52,400ask god for eyes to see and then seize the moment and say20700:15:52,400 –> 00:15:57,840lord this time when this has gone wrong i am going to trust you20800:15:57,840 –> 00:16:03,440strengthen my faith and cause it to grow20900:16:03,440 –> 00:16:06,400so give thanks for your faith affirm your faith21000:16:06,400 –> 00:16:09,679exercise your faith and here’s the last thing21100:16:09,679 –> 00:16:15,440feed your faith on jesus christ remember that christian faith is above21200:16:15,440 –> 00:16:18,799everything else faith in the lord jesus christ21300:16:18,799 –> 00:16:25,119it is fed and it is nourished by him that is why the bible says let us21400:16:25,119 –> 00:16:28,880fix our eyes on jesus because he is the author and the21500:16:28,880 –> 00:16:34,000finisher of our faith in other words my faith won’t grow by21600:16:34,000 –> 00:16:39,440looking at my faith my faith will grow by looking at jesus21700:16:39,440 –> 00:16:44,239you spend an hour contemplating your faith and you’ll simply be discouraged21800:16:44,239 –> 00:16:50,320you find spend an hour contemplating jesus and your faith will grow21900:16:51,440 –> 00:16:57,760now christians in an earlier century used to talk in a phrase that’s22000:16:57,760 –> 00:17:02,320hardly ever used and not even known in many circles today22100:17:02,320 –> 00:17:07,680about getting a view of jesus it’s a rather beautiful phrase22200:17:09,119 –> 00:17:13,439what they meant was simply this they knew that their faith would be fed and nourished by jesus22300:17:14,880 –> 00:17:18,640and so whenever they read the word or whenever they came to worship22400:17:19,520 –> 00:17:26,400they were looking for the holy spirit to give them some fresh glimpse of the reality of the22500:17:26,400 –> 00:17:31,760love of christ and to renew the knowledge of that deep within their own souls22600:17:34,319 –> 00:17:37,839as i was thinking about this memory came back to me strongly22700:17:39,439 –> 00:17:42,479one of the things i loved to do as a kid growing up in edinburgh22800:17:43,199 –> 00:17:49,439was to go and see scotland play rugby at murray field the national stadium22900:17:50,479 –> 00:17:54,160sometimes we got tickets for what was called the school boys enclosure it was23000:17:54,160 –> 00:17:58,160right at the side of the pitch i know it’s a field but i’m going to call it a pitch23100:17:58,719 –> 00:18:05,680it was magnificent to be right there on the sideline next to the great heroes of the nation23200:18:05,680 –> 00:18:09,599you’ll need to translate the sport and you’ll need to translate the names i know all that23300:18:09,599 –> 00:18:16,079but you know what i’m describing if we didn’t get tickets for the school boys enclosure23400:18:16,959 –> 00:18:21,839We had to go onto the main terrace. Now this was before all seaters stadiums,23500:18:22,640 –> 00:18:29,119we just stood packed like sardines on these banked terraces with some crush barriers every so often23600:18:29,119 –> 00:18:34,319And the problem was that when these terraces were packed with 30,000 people23700:18:35,520 –> 00:18:42,560it was relatively difficult for a kid to see what was going on, but we found the solution23800:18:43,760 –> 00:18:45,439empty drinks23900:18:46,239 –> 00:18:50,800cans. They were a bit more substantial then than they are now but i can assure24000:18:50,800 –> 00:19:00,800you from experience that six large empty drinks cans placed on end together on the ground24100:19:00,800 –> 00:19:06,640make an excellent platform that can give you an advantage of between six and nine inches24200:19:06,640 –> 00:19:11,680depending on the brand to see over the head of the tall man in front of you24300:19:11,680 –> 00:19:18,479and to catch a glimpse of the glory that is going on on that field24400:19:18,479 –> 00:19:23,280Now it wasn’t terribly good when the crowd crushed forward24500:19:25,199 –> 00:19:27,599but i want you to take that picture of a little kid24600:19:29,520 –> 00:19:34,479who would only be below the should height at that time of most of the folks in this vast24700:19:34,479 –> 00:19:36,000crowd around him24800:19:36,880 –> 00:19:42,000but he’s finding a way to get up these extra few inches to peep between24900:19:42,000 –> 00:19:47,119some heads on this packed out terrace because he longs to see the glory25000:19:48,640 –> 00:19:50,000of what’s going on in the field25100:19:50,880 –> 00:19:53,040and he didn’t pay his money for that ticket25200:19:53,040 –> 00:19:56,560to stand there looking at the back of the coat of the man in front of him25300:19:58,000 –> 00:20:01,560Now that is how you have to approach the Word of God25400:20:02,000 –> 00:20:07,800That is how you have to come to worship if you want your faith to grow25500:20:07,800 –> 00:20:12,760We are looking for a fresh glimpse of Jesus25600:20:12,760 –> 00:20:14,020He is here25700:20:14,020 –> 00:20:18,239we discern his presence and his beauty with the eye of faith25800:20:18,239 –> 00:20:20,640we look for him in the word25900:20:21,839 –> 00:20:26,160We ask the Holy Spirit to refresh a glimpse of him26000:20:26,160 –> 00:20:29,920and of his love to our hungry and our thirsty souls26100:20:30,900 –> 00:20:34,099That’s how you must come to worship26200:20:34,099 –> 00:20:41,000You see, has your faith been stretching, as it were, for a glimpse of Jesus in this last hour?26300:20:41,000 –> 00:20:43,020Or have you just been sitting here?26400:20:44,560 –> 00:20:48,859See, some of us have become used to worship being rather like an experience26500:20:48,859 –> 00:20:52,400of a small kid surrounded by tall men in woollen coats26600:20:52,400 –> 00:20:56,760who just kind of stands there and can’t actually see a thing of the glory26700:20:56,760 –> 00:21:00,420that other people are cheering about that’s going on in the field?26800:21:04,079 –> 00:21:07,579We have come so used to never seeing anything26900:21:07,939 –> 00:21:11,040that we never expect to see anything27000:21:11,040 –> 00:21:14,040We just read the Bible and come to church and go home27100:21:15,459 –> 00:21:21,180And other people are caught up in the glory of what’s going on27200:21:21,180 –> 00:21:26,160They are catching a glimpse of who Jesus is and their souls are being fed27300:21:26,380 –> 00:21:28,300But you don’t see it!27400:21:30,540 –> 00:21:32,900It’s an old prayer that I’ve found so helpful27500:21:34,979 –> 00:21:39,339Make the book live for me, oh God27600:21:39,339 –> 00:21:42,599Show me thyself, within your word27700:21:43,500 –> 00:21:45,119Show me myself27800:21:46,339 –> 00:21:47,939and show me my Saviour27900:21:49,540 –> 00:21:55,119and make this book live to me, oh God28000:21:56,180 –> 00:21:57,979and if you will come to the word28100:21:59,119 –> 00:22:01,199and if you will come to worship like that28200:22:01,199 –> 00:22:06,119You will find that the Holy Spirit begins to give you glimpses of Jesus28300:22:07,939 –> 00:22:13,140Your soul will be renewed, and your faith will be fed and it will grow28400:22:14,479 –> 00:22:18,880You’ll start moving from reading about him to fellowshiping with him28500:22:20,520 –> 00:22:22,819You’ll find yourself feeding on him28600:22:23,819 –> 00:22:28,880So here’s the first workout for a healthy Christian life28700:22:30,020 –> 00:22:32,579Build yourself up28800:22:33,640 –> 00:22:35,260in your most holy faith28900:22:36,560 –> 00:22:40,180You do that as you give thanks for your faith, as you affirm your faith,29000:22:40,180 –> 00:22:46,319as you exercise your faith, as you feed your faith on Jesus Christ29100:22:48,180 –> 00:22:51,079And as you do these things, your faith will grow29200:22:51,920 –> 00:22:57,380You will be on the path to getting yourself in spiritual shape29300:22:58,280 –> 00:23:01,300You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith29400:23:01,300 –> 00:23:03,540And a message called Build Yourself Up29500:23:03,839 –> 00:23:07,599Part of our series Keeping Yourself in Spiritual Shape29600:23:07,800 –> 00:23:10,599And this first message was entitled Build Yourself Up29700:23:11,300 –> 00:23:15,800If you tuned in late, or if you want to go back and listen to any of the messages again29800:23:15,900 –> 00:23:19,579You can do that by coming online to our website29900:23:21,680 –> 00:23:27,000Open the Bible is able to stay on this station and the Internet and available as a podcast30000:23:27,160 –> 00:23:30,079Because of the generous financial support of our listeners30100:23:30,079 –> 00:23:35,859that’s people like you, and if you already give to support the work. Thank you so much30200:23:36,359 –> 00:23:42,400If supporting open the Bible is something you’d like to start doing this month, we’re delighted to offer a free gift30300:23:42,920 –> 00:23:46,319Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham to tell us about it.30400:23:46,520 –> 00:23:48,520Thanks David. Yes this month30500:23:48,520 –> 00:23:55,680We are really excited to give away Colin’s newest book and the final book in the fly and drive series30600:23:55,920 –> 00:23:57,839Hike through the Bible30700:23:57,839 –> 00:24:01,780It’s a 50 session journey through the whole story of Scripture30800:24:01,839 –> 00:24:07,180Like taking a guided hike with a pastor who helps you see the Bible’s big picture30900:24:07,520 –> 00:24:12,560Each chapter is short clear and includes simple reflection questions31000:24:12,920 –> 00:24:19,800We’d love to send you a copy for free when you set up a new direct debit of five pounds or give a31100:24:19,920 –> 00:24:26,140One-off gift of at least 50 pounds to open the Bible UK and as we head towards Christmas31200:24:26,160 –> 00:24:32,660I think it would make a great treat and would be a really encouraging way to start the new year31300:24:33,319 –> 00:24:35,219rooted in God’s word31400:24:35,219 –> 00:24:41,479But please don’t forget to leave your address when you donate so that we can make sure we’re able to post your gift31500:24:42,560 –> 00:24:48,979Well, we’d love to send you Colin’s new book when you set up a new direct debate of five pounds per month or more31600:24:49,280 –> 00:24:52,680Or a one-off gift of 50 pounds or more this month31700:24:53,140 –> 00:25:00,319Full terms and conditions online at our website open the bible dot org dot UK and you can give online31800:25:00,880 –> 00:25:05,140Don’t forget to leave your name and address so we can send you your gift31900:25:05,880 –> 00:25:12,439For open the Bible and pastor Colin Smith. I’m David pig and I look forward to being with you again next time32000:25:13,459 –> 00:25:15,459You32100:25:17,900 –> 00:25:24,040How would you describe your prayer life is it vibrant irregular or maybe aimless32200:25:25,119 –> 00:25:29,760Discover how to pray in the Holy Spirit. That’s next time on open the Bible