Add to Your Faith: Going Beyond Your Given Measure

By David J Martin

God blessed me with a good Sunday school and great youth leaders in our church. They took us places as young adults, and we experienced many events. One thing that I struggled with was my faith. What was faith supposed to do? My spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Eventually, I left for college and discovered I had not developed a faith

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647734534

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Add to Your Faith

Going Beyond Your Given Measure

__________

David J. Martin

Add to Your Faith

Trilogy Christian Publishers A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by David Martin

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the Amplified Bible Classic Edition of the Bible. Public domain. Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-64773-452-7

E-ISBN: 978-1-64773-453-4

Dedication

This is dedicated to my dad, Donald Martin (1933-1998). He would, even on my worst of days or years, welcome me home with stern compassion, but always supplied my food, water, and shelter. For me, he ranks right there with the Heroes of Faith who walked when life wasn’t as simple and comfortable as we have in this day and age. He was raised in a single-parent home, served his country in Korea when called upon, and remained a faithful husband to his wife, father to his children, and grandpa to his grandchildren. And when looking into the face of death while battling cancer, he honored God and chose obedience to Him and never lost his faith.

I also dedicate this book to you, the reader. I prayed for each of you who are reading this before its publishing just as Jesus before He was betrayed and led to the cross, had prayed for Peter.

But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren (Luke 22:32, AMPC).

May what Peter wrote at the end of his life strengthen and establish you.

Preface

How can you add to your faith when the path isn’t always clear and the formation of your heart is weakened by the world which seemingly is imploding on itself? There are many times believers struggle with the application of their faith throughout the day and wonder if what they are praying matters to God. At times many may even question God as to why they are feeling disconnected or alone, without any direction. I have felt that several times; struggling to move forward on this journey with God and trying to do what is right and know what to do in every situation. If you are currently in that state or perhaps battling to make a commitment to God, then know you are not alone. I write with complete honesty; you are not alone. I sincerely pray for all people around the world currently in this place, Christian or not, it is not a bad condition unless you plan on staying there. I like telling our children I love you, but Jesus loves you more. Yes, it is true, God loves you. He loves that you are searching for answers and asking questions. What does a loving God require from you? It is one of the main questions in the Bible that helped me move forward which is found in Micah 6:8, (AMPC): He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God.

Can you do this? Absolutely! This Old Testament Scripture transformed my heart many years ago. It still guides me on empty days to strengthen me and make my faith firm. It made me realize when King David wrote, Kosi revaya (Hebrew) My cup runs over from Psalms 23. There are plenty of opportunities to daily humble myself, to do justly, and show love through kindness and mercy. Can you agree with me? We have many opportunities to live and represent God through this Scripture no matter where we are throughout the day. Our cup should be running over with these opportunities to honor God, even before noon on some days, depending on where you work or go to school. Praise the Lord!

I share this Micah 6:8 Scripture everywhere. I even write it on the receipts when dining out (with a generous tip) as a witness for others to know they matter to God and discover in Scripture that living a Godly life is a process. This verse makes it easy to understand where to get started and succeed by staying focused on what God requires. It quite simply measures your heart, then challenges your heart to honor God in how you treat others. As a former public-school administrator, I would infuse this Scripture every day and make it applicable to my campus. At the end of morning announcements, I would say, Be professional, be on time, and always be courteous. You see, it gave focus to the entire student body including the adults on campus every time the opportunity presents itself. Where can you do this in your daily life?

My wife and I have had great joy in witnessing to thousands of people around the world by living and fulfilling this Scripture before others no matter what their background is or how many struggles they are facing. You can use this powerful verse to heal your mind and get back on track serving the Lord. Micah 6:8 is a rock-solid verse to stand on, to help others heal the inward wounds of loneliness, fill gaps which doubt may have created, and strengthen the foundation of your daily walk and living with inner peace as directed by God. So, from this day forward, you now know what the Lord requires of you; do justly, show kindness and mercy, and walk humbly with God. You too will add to your faith!

Introduction

Where are you from? Where have your travels taken you? I grew up in the small town of Williams Bay in the southeast corner of Wisconsin. My parents’ house was near Lake Geneva and I could walk there within five minutes every day as a kid; go fishing or swimming, whatever I wanted to do with friends. Every opportunity to go explore outside and do anything was made available by my parents. I had good Sunday school teachers and youth leaders in our church. They took us places as young adults, and we experienced many events throughout our travels across the United States.

One thing that I struggled with was my faith. What was faith supposed to do? My spirit was willing, but my flesh was weak. Eventually, I left for college and discovered I had not developed a faith worth standing on in order to fight the challenges of living away from home. I failed miserably. I returned home ashamed and empty. No one could see where I was internally. I sought help and was told to pray harder. I volunteered at my former high school and youth group at the church. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I worked day and night to stay busy and fill a void. I was a restless soul that needed to be quenched from this internal thirst. Bartending and landscaping taught me a lot about people and yard-care, but those occupations were not my purpose; it paid bills yet was fruitless. I had to go somewhere, anywhere to make a difference. I was either going to have a life-changing experience or a life-ending one. I soon joined the military, eventually met my wife in Texas, while at Ft. Hood, and served on several missions around the world. I had a purpose and was part of