Dear brothers and sisters, We all have some version of this same question. How do I fill and keep my lamp full for Jesus’ return? How do I have more faith? How do I grow up in Christ? How do I overcome unbelief? How can I receive this promise I have read about in the Bible but not seen in my life?

The answer is the same to all of these questions. There are five things, five non-negociable, absolutely core essential things that are key to living the Kingdom life that God is calling all of us up to.

1. praise and worship God continually
2. Fellowship with God. Talk to Him continually, be mindful of His presence always, and commit to instantly dealing with any and every breach that comes up between you and Him. Be quick to repent for even the tiniest convictions. Be in the Word or meditating on what He has already told you every day. Know that He is the breath of our life, and apart from Him we can have no eternal or abundant life.
3. Fellowship with and sincerely submit to other believers
4. remember, replay, reconsider, meditate on all of things God has already done for you personally and corporately and scripturally. ie Often revisit the monuments, miracles, interventions, praise reports, stories in scripture etc of how God worked/showed up/ saved us). This would be an excellent reason to write down and reread a praise journal as a continuous source of encouragement for yourself and your family
5. serve others, especially the poor, the widows, the orphans, other people of faith, those in need….. Love others with hands on and practically.

These are all essential. We tend to specialize in one or two of these things. Truly we must aim to become faithful in them all.

Now the flip side of the coin, if you want to increase in your unbelief, if you want your faith to be covered with a wet blanket of doubt and fear etc….

Here are the 5 things to avoid doing as they will work against faith, against the Kingdom and against our growth in Christ.

1. grumbling and complaining, refusing to express praise and gratitude for what we have
2. Allowing other things to crowd out our time with God
3. Neglecting to gather with other saints, refusing to submit to instruction and correction
4. Not setting apart a regular time to meditate on and recall what God has already done… Jesus said they would not have been amazed by His calming the storm or had hear if they had meditated on the miracle of the loaves.
5. Serving self and or neglecting to serve other selflessly with no expectation of gain or recognition

Keep your lamps full dear friends…. the Groom will return suddenly one day and we want our lamps and every lamp around us overflowing when He appears. This is reason enough… but these are also the very core keys to seeing prayers answers and so very many of our heart cries fulfilled.

with Love always in Christ….