Sonship, responsibility, and why results follow discipline One of the most powerful yet most ignored instructions Jesus gave is found in Matthew 28. Go. Teach. Make disciples. That was not a suggestion. It was a transfer of responsibility. God’s method on the earth is the believer. God is sovereign, but He has chosen to limit His activity to human participation. Spirits do not fulfil the responsibilities of flesh. Authority may be spiritual, but execution is human. if you dont move, God wont and thats as real as it gets God will not preach the gospel. Believers will.God will not make disciples. Believers will.God will not reconcile the world to Himself. Believers will. This is not new. Genesis 1 shows us that dominion was given to man, but not just any man. Dominion was given to a man made in God’s image and likeness. God placed His man on the earth as a partner, not a spectator. An active relationship with God awakens a burden in you. The burden of sonship. You stop seeing your life as isolated from God’s agenda. You begin to understand that your existence carries responsibility. This is why Scripture calls us ambassadors. God is making His appeal through us. That means how we live, how we think, how we carry ourselves matters. The reason the church often feels like it has leverage but very little result is not because the gospel lacks power. Romans tells us the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The issue is not power. The issue is discipline. Grace brings us into the family. Sonship trains us to carry the family name. Discipline is not punishment. It is proof of belonging. Many believers want the privileges of sonship without the training of sons. But God disciplines those He loves. Maturity requires structure. Growth requires intentionality. If other belief systems can train, equip and mobilise their people with commitment and focus, how much more should the people who carry the truth walk with discipline and purpose. Live well. Build careers. Make money. Enjoy life. But ensure your life is tied to the Kingdom. Your existence must never be neutral to God’s agenda.

Why the heart matters more than the activity Very recently, I reconnected with someone I once called a brother. One of those relationships that didn’t grow slowly. We went straight from introduction to closeness. Life happened, responsibility happened, distance happened, and before we knew it, years had passed. When we finally spoke again, the conversation lasted for hours. It felt strangely familiar, almost untouched by time. And it reminded me of something simple but profound. Relationships don’t stay alive by accident. Whatever you see thriving today, someone worked for it. That is exactly how Scripture frames the pursuit of God. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.” Seeking is placed on us. Finding is guaranteed by God. But the approach of the heart determines the outcome. This is where many believers miss it. We talk about prayer, Bible study, church attendance and service, but rarely talk about the posture driving them. God is not found through activity alone. He is found through intention. Your heart is not neutral. It always has a motivation. And whatever is motivating your heart will inevitably shape how you relate with God. If your heart is driven by what God can do for you, your walk will become transactional. Prayer becomes a list. Scripture becomes a tool. Church becomes a means to an end. Scripture says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Your actions never rise above your heart posture. This is why two people can do the same spiritual activities and yet have completely different outcomes. This is where Mary Magdalene stands out in John 20. Peter and John ran to the tomb. Mary ran too. All three saw the stone rolled away. All three confirmed the body was gone. All three lacked full understanding of the resurrection. Yet two went home and one stayed. Mary stayed because her relationship with Jesus had substance. Luke tells us she had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. She did not just receive a miracle and move on. She followed. She served. She gave. She stayed present.

I learned this first hand! How Solid your walk with God is, will be pertinent on how much value you place on your salvation. I’ll share a lot more about this in my next post later tonight

LONG READ BUT PLEASE STAY WITH ME In Part 1, I tried to establish something simple but often missed: Faith does not exist on its own, It is not self-generated and it is certainly not something you stir up in isolation. Scripture says faith is the substance of things hoped for. Which means faith only works where there is already something to expect. And this is where many believers get stuck. We’ve been taught to apply faith but not always taught to first find the promise that gives faith something to work with. This is a major failure point with the Faith movement of today So we pray. We confess. We declare. We fast. And yet… nothing seems to move. Not because faith doesn’t work but because there was no hope anchoring it. Let me say this in a language you can understand; You may be exercising faith and not seeing results not because your faith is weak but because there is no promise behind what you’re believing because faith cannot substantiate what God has not spoken. That doesn’t mean God is unwilling, It simply means faith was never designed to function in a vacuum. Think about Abraham again. Scripture says he believed IN HOPE (confident expectation) according to that which was spoken. Abraham wasn’t believing in a feeling. it wasn't vibes. And that's why when the going got tough, he stuck with that confident expectation of the promise of his son. He was believing a word. It was tangible. He heard it, he felt it, in-fact his hope was so real i'm sure he shared it! Think about this. If i promised you something, your ability to hold unto my word is premised on the fact that it was spoken in the first place. You heard it, you believed it and you received it. It is the word that creates expectation and that expectation in return gives faith direction! This is why a lot of what we call “faith” today becomes exhausting. We’re trying to persuade ourselves instead of being persuaded by what God has said. So faith turns into effort, effort turns into pressure and pressure turns into disappointment.

A few months back, i ran a 3 part teaching series titled, The doctrine of faith and it was an attempt at reading hebrews 11 through and through to examine a critical portion we have missed out or misunderstood FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE… OF THINGS HOPED FOR This clearly shows faith and hope are connected. But here’s the misconception: I have heard a lot of preachers and believers describe hope as an immaterial construct but the truth is; Hope isn't mere wishing or empty desire. Hope is real. IT is tangible. Hope can be substantiated. Look at Romans 4:18–21 (KJV) “Who against hope BELIEVED in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken…” You don't believe in immaterial realities. If he couldn't see it, smell it or touch it, he would have nothing to believe in Stay with me! Romans 15:13 (KJV) “Now the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing…” Paul did not call Him “the God of wishful thinking.” or the God of empty desire! He called Him the God of Hope. So what exactly is this hope? I described Hope as confident expectation in a REAL promise. Titus 1:2 (AMPC) “…in hope of eternal life which the ever truthful God promised…” Scripture talks about the hope of eternal life the saints held unto as being premised on a promise! Let Me Bring This Home… Imagine you asked your father for help with a project —and he agreed. The moment he spoke, hope was born. You begin to plan, prepare, position not because money has arrived yet but because a faithful source has spoken. So watch this: Hope = Confidence in the promise Faith = Acting on that confidence So we can't believers that hope is some pixie fairy dust that exists for existing sakeFaith is not independent.Faith is anchored in HOPE. And this is WHY Scripture says: “Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for.” if you have nothing to Hope for, where exactly are you applying faith if there isn't an assurance of eternal life (a real promise), there will not be faith that causes salvation!