The journey that leads to heaven is painful but gainful in the end. It is the way of self denial and cross-bearing. Jesus, our example endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. The Lord of glory went through a painful ordeal on earth to gain His place at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven. He was despised, beaten, wounded, bruised and finally crucified to die a painful death on the cross.

The faith that really works is the faith that does work. It is living, active and productive faith. Dormant or idle faith on the other hand is dead and produces no result. That is the faith that says "I believe in God" or "I know God" but continues in disobedience to the word of God. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin - James 4:17. 

Faith makes the believer bigger than their actual appearance. All that you need to do exploits in the kingdom of God is faith as small as a mustard seed. Every believer has this size of faith but unfortunately many are not aware of this fact. When his disciples asked the Lord to increase their faith, he told them all they needed was faith as small as a mustard seed - Luke 17:6.

A baby that is born complete with all the members of the body does not immediately know how to use those members to their full potential. For instance, he may hear the sound of spoken words but is unable to make sense out of what is being said. Also, though the baby may make sounds with his mouth, he'll not be understood by grown-ups. The newborn baby needs food for physical growth and development.

At salvation a sinner is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, where he now lives as a child of God. Every child in the kingdom of light is meant to pass through the process of transformation that takes them from childhood to maturity. This process is necessary to make us mature sons and daughters that are able to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit - Romans 8:14.