Although I left the life of the church 30 years ago,  my preparation to become a lay preacher within the Methodist Church, my year at Bible school in 1979, the 150 or so services I led and sermons I preached seem to fill a disproportionate part of my memory. My time spent in charismatic (new) churches seemingly having my preaching gift ignored seems not that long ago; and even though I no longer identify as Christian, the wisdom I encountered back then is still with me.

The Bible teaches us to "walk by faith and not by sight" but how many people within the church actually do that? The Bible also says that we should "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on our own understanding" in my experience, sadly there's not many in the life of the church do that either. It almost seems to me that there are very few simple and straightforward requests the Bible makes that members of the church actually follow.

I know I speak in massive generalisations here, and I am sure there are many within the life of the church, that at least give mental ascent to the wisdom to be found in the scriptures; but how many actually follow through and base their lives fully on its instructions? I think, to say ten percent is being generous! In James's we read "Be ye doers of the word not hearers only, deceiving your own selves!" I believe it's still desirable as a non believer to follow the Bible's wisdom!

You don't need to be a Christian to benefit from applying the wisdom to be found in the Christian scriptures! So, here's the challenge to you and to me; are we willing to be an example to the church of what following the teachings to be found in the bible, will do to transform a person's life, if they embrace some of the Bible's instruction? How about "walking by faith and not by sight" what would that look like in an ordinary person's life, if put into practice?

The Bible is pointing out the truth that by far the majority of people in our culture follow the evidence of their eyes. "Seeing is believing" they say, but the bible seems to suggest that the opposite is true; that is to say "When you believe something then you'll see it!" Faith, is the modus operandi for living your best life possible! Faith, the Bible says, is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things NOT seen! It's actually by NOT seeing things, that you can live by faith!

Is there somewhere you'd like to go, but you haven't got a clue how to get there? Is there some skill you'd love to have, that seems beyond you? Is there something you'd like to have that it seems highly likely will never be yours? Faith will come to your rescue! Faith is the magic, that turns everything around, the impossible suddenly seems not only possible, but likely! Faith takes you from A to B without you having to know the ins and outs of how you do it.

A major truth in THE auto-biographies I've read, the writer started off believing that they would become who they became, as if there was an inevitability of that outcome. It is certainty, against the odds, that make it much more likely, that the hero will always win despite all the obstacles they may encounter! "If you think you are beaten you are, if you think you dare not you don't, if you like to win, but you think you can't, it is almost certain you won't!" - Walter D. Wintle

I remember being told in Bible school how God didn't like walled cities, because in effect the people who lived within the city walls no longer needed to trust God for their safety because once the portcullis was down and the night Watchman was posted at the gate, all within the city walls were safe. Tent dwellers needed to trust God for their safety, those living within the city walls were able to lean on mans own understanding of how to keep enemies out and create safety.

So, you wake up tomorrow morning and you decide to be a doer of God's word not just a hearer, to stop deceiving yourself by not following through with the simple instruction to walk by faith and not by sight, and to no longer lean on your own understanding and take the bible at face value, and live your life trusting in the divine; then what happens? Read Hebrews chapter eleven and you'll get a flavour of what to expect in your life from that moment on.

If you feel inspired by my words, if you are someone who would like to discover (yes it's already there) the great faith you have inside your heart, that will transform your life from a fearful existence to become a joyous path filled with miracles please send me a personal message. It's time to stop existing in a twilight world where you see, before you believe, and instead become one who lives by faith! Faith is the remedy to fear, your life will be so much better when you embrace it!

Written by Barnabas England 13th November 2023