By faith… By hoping in something very real, believing in the unseen. Through faith and faith alone!
Heb 11:4 By FAITH Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Able's righteousness was proven in the sacrifice he offered to God. Able's righteousness will live on forever and ever, he died in his righteousness through his faith in God. When you die in your faith your righteousness - which is Christ's righteousness - lives on. Faith in God, Faith in Christ, Faith in the righteousness of God brings righteousness to the faithful. It doesn't say- Abel was righteous in and of himself. It doesn't say- Abel's offering witnessed of his righteousness. It says- BY FAITH and by faith unto who? God! Without the faith in God there is NO RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Heb 11:5 By FAITH Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
By faith- he please God. We can't please God without faith it is impossible!
Heb 11:6 But without FAITH it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:7 By FAITH Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by FAITH.
By faith- Noah prepared an ark. God warned and Noah believed, Noah had faith that what God warned would come to pass. We have to believe what God warns will come to pass. Through His word God has warned us plenty!
Heb 11:8 By FAITH Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith- He was called and He obeyed.
Heb 11:9 By FAITH he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
WE look for a city whose builder and maker is God too! Just as they looked. Just as Abraham looked we look! Aren't you looking for a city whose builder and maker is God?
Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
We look for this city! We must look for this city! We must look for Christ our Savior to return to take us to this new city that isn't made by man's hands, but God's! And we look how? By faith!
We must believe!
As children you might have been told if you just close your eyes and wish hard enough for something that it will come true. You are told to make a wish and blow out candles on a cake, and that wish will come true. You are told to throw money into a wishing well and make a wish, and it will come true. As children we believe- as adults we don't believe because the majority of those wishes never, ever come true. Wishing is hoping, hoping is faith. Children have faith and lose that faith. They lose faith in people when they are made promises and those promises don't come to pass. We lose faith in our partners when they make promises and don't keep them. It's easy to lose faith in other human beings because we are not God, we are not infallible, we cannot control things on the same realm as God. Having faith in God and having that faith realized when we inherit the kingdom prepared for us is our hope. Being with our Savior, living with our God, our King is our hope. Eternal life is a real hope, a real faith that will not fail because God will not fail us. Having faith in Him is everything, should be our everything!
Faith.
Without faith it is impossible to please God.
With faith we will be counted among those God will find righteous- in His righteousness.
More tomorrow as we continue to study faith, by the grace of our Lord and our Savior now and forever and ever! Amen. Amen! Amen!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Not made of things which do appear
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
By faith the elders obtained a good report. We can look back through history and see where faith has been relied upon as opposed to lack of faith. The faithful believe.
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
He believed. Abraham believed and it was that belief that was righteousness- not anything else. Out of His belief, out of his faith he lived His life. Did he make mistakes? Yes. Did those mistakes destroy his belief in the LORD? No. We can't let our miserable failures destroy our belief in the LORD, we can't. Satan loves to hold up our mistakes and wave them in our faces, taunting us over and over telling us that we are failures when it comes to the Lord and living for the Lord. Miserable, wretched failures doomed to fail forever. He's right. Yes, I said Satan is right. We are miserable, we are wretched, we are failures in and of ourselves and we will never be anything more as long as Satan exists. Only FAITH can change that, faith in our Savior! Faith that our Savior succeeded in obtaining Salvation for us. We can be as good as gold, we can go days without any obvious sinning, without any obvious mistakes or missteps but that still will not save us- not ever. Only faith in our Savior will save us.
When Satan realizes a person understands they are saved by faith, he'll batter at that faith and do all sorts of things to undermine that faith. As surely as you can have faith, you can lose faith and loss of that faith is deadly. Again I'll recite my favorite Bible verse- Mark 9:24- '...Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief' It's my favorite because believing is having faith, and if there is any part of me that doesn't have faith, if I'm at or ever going to be at a place where I'm doubting my faith I have to cry out to my Savior- help thou mine unbelief! Help me to believe! I don't want to ever stop believing! I don't ever want to lose my faith in my Savior to save me.
So when we read about the elders obtaining a good report by faith it's no surprise is it? Not really, because we know each one of those elders is a human, born into the world just like you and I. Those elders believed in God- not themselves. Those elders weren't perfect in themselves but rather had faith in God to save them.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Through faith we UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed by the word of God-
So that things which are seen
Were NOT made of things which do APPEAR.
Outright we are told things are going to appear different from the fact God created the worlds. Even today we have famed scientist touting their belief that God did not create the world. What are they basing their supposed irrefutable facts on? Things that appear a certain way. Without faith you won't understand that God created the world, it's impossible without faith. Without believing, without faith, without understanding that we won't have evidence - the evidence men without faith demand- we can't understand that God created the worlds.
You want to be an intellectual giant who can pat themselves on the back soundly and puff out your chest while swelling your head so big you can't fit through the largest doorway- then sure go ahead and lack faith, live with your self-delusions, live with your sense of self-grandeur but tell me- can you create a world? Can you create something from nothing? Are you willing to believe that you exist by mere chance? Are you saying that you believe in nothing? You probably are believing and saying all that and you're happy to do so because in your own mind it makes you appear wise, much wiser than those deluded fools willing to believe in something they can't see. As long as you claim self-wisdom you'll never be able to claim God's wisdom. Hold onto your self righteousness, it's your prerogative, your choice to make- but in the end self-righteousness will fail you - it fails everyone.
God's righteousness alone will save.
Believing that things were made differently than how they appear to have been made isn't foolishness. Us created beings daring to believe we can control and understand all of life is foolishness.
You think about how today's science has enabled man to put into barren wombs a fertilize egg to create a human being and some believe men are the creators, that this is wrong. Can all women still bear children this way? Has barrenness been done away with? No and no. When God shuts a womb no amount of science from man will enable a woman to bear a child. God's will- will be done ultimately no matter how much men of science, men who refuse to believe by faith that the worlds were created by God, try to convince themselves and others differently.
Faith- not believing by sight, but believing by not seeing.
Faith- hope.
May God open our hearts and minds to His truths by faith. May our faith only increase. May our faith be of the purest quality. May Jesus, our Lord and Savior be our everything, sight unseen.
In His amazing love! By His holiness! Through His grace, His righteousness, His mercy forever!
Amen.
Heb 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
By faith the elders obtained a good report. We can look back through history and see where faith has been relied upon as opposed to lack of faith. The faithful believe.
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
He believed. Abraham believed and it was that belief that was righteousness- not anything else. Out of His belief, out of his faith he lived His life. Did he make mistakes? Yes. Did those mistakes destroy his belief in the LORD? No. We can't let our miserable failures destroy our belief in the LORD, we can't. Satan loves to hold up our mistakes and wave them in our faces, taunting us over and over telling us that we are failures when it comes to the Lord and living for the Lord. Miserable, wretched failures doomed to fail forever. He's right. Yes, I said Satan is right. We are miserable, we are wretched, we are failures in and of ourselves and we will never be anything more as long as Satan exists. Only FAITH can change that, faith in our Savior! Faith that our Savior succeeded in obtaining Salvation for us. We can be as good as gold, we can go days without any obvious sinning, without any obvious mistakes or missteps but that still will not save us- not ever. Only faith in our Savior will save us.
When Satan realizes a person understands they are saved by faith, he'll batter at that faith and do all sorts of things to undermine that faith. As surely as you can have faith, you can lose faith and loss of that faith is deadly. Again I'll recite my favorite Bible verse- Mark 9:24- '...Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief' It's my favorite because believing is having faith, and if there is any part of me that doesn't have faith, if I'm at or ever going to be at a place where I'm doubting my faith I have to cry out to my Savior- help thou mine unbelief! Help me to believe! I don't want to ever stop believing! I don't ever want to lose my faith in my Savior to save me.
So when we read about the elders obtaining a good report by faith it's no surprise is it? Not really, because we know each one of those elders is a human, born into the world just like you and I. Those elders believed in God- not themselves. Those elders weren't perfect in themselves but rather had faith in God to save them.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Through faith we UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed by the word of God-
So that things which are seen
Were NOT made of things which do APPEAR.
Outright we are told things are going to appear different from the fact God created the worlds. Even today we have famed scientist touting their belief that God did not create the world. What are they basing their supposed irrefutable facts on? Things that appear a certain way. Without faith you won't understand that God created the world, it's impossible without faith. Without believing, without faith, without understanding that we won't have evidence - the evidence men without faith demand- we can't understand that God created the worlds.
You want to be an intellectual giant who can pat themselves on the back soundly and puff out your chest while swelling your head so big you can't fit through the largest doorway- then sure go ahead and lack faith, live with your self-delusions, live with your sense of self-grandeur but tell me- can you create a world? Can you create something from nothing? Are you willing to believe that you exist by mere chance? Are you saying that you believe in nothing? You probably are believing and saying all that and you're happy to do so because in your own mind it makes you appear wise, much wiser than those deluded fools willing to believe in something they can't see. As long as you claim self-wisdom you'll never be able to claim God's wisdom. Hold onto your self righteousness, it's your prerogative, your choice to make- but in the end self-righteousness will fail you - it fails everyone.
God's righteousness alone will save.
Believing that things were made differently than how they appear to have been made isn't foolishness. Us created beings daring to believe we can control and understand all of life is foolishness.
You think about how today's science has enabled man to put into barren wombs a fertilize egg to create a human being and some believe men are the creators, that this is wrong. Can all women still bear children this way? Has barrenness been done away with? No and no. When God shuts a womb no amount of science from man will enable a woman to bear a child. God's will- will be done ultimately no matter how much men of science, men who refuse to believe by faith that the worlds were created by God, try to convince themselves and others differently.
Faith- not believing by sight, but believing by not seeing.
Faith- hope.
May God open our hearts and minds to His truths by faith. May our faith only increase. May our faith be of the purest quality. May Jesus, our Lord and Savior be our everything, sight unseen.
In His amazing love! By His holiness! Through His grace, His righteousness, His mercy forever!
Amen.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Faith - Evidence of the Unseen
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Yesterday the first half of this first was discussed- Faith is the substance (the real, solid) substance of things hoped for. The thing we hope for is Christ, right?
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope
Our hope- our Savior.
1Th 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
Our hope…our joy…our crown of rejoicing is to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.
It doesn't say our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing is here and now upon this earth in it's fullness in all this earth has to offer. This earth has some wonderful things, marvelous, beautiful things that are to be enjoyed, but ultimately it is Christ, our hope, who is to be our everything.
Faith being the substance of things hoped for, the REAL hope, for the REAL thing and the evidence of things…..NOT SEEN.
Some love to remark how contradictory this sounds- evidence is proof, don't we convict criminals based upon the evidence, based upon the facts that evidence reveals. Evidence doesn't sound wishy washy, evidence sounds firm, it sounds solid and it should- it's evidence. So when we say evidence of things NOT SEEN, we're not offering tangible proof. We are not offering the sort of evidence that we can hold up in court and wave around for people to see. Faith calls for evidence you CAN'T See. By it's very nature, faith isn't something captured in a bottle. Faith isn't something you show to someone. Faith isn't a supposed dated piece of bone millions of years old. Faith isn't the fact you had a prayer answered. Faith isn't in the wealth you gain. Faith isn't in the disasters you encounter. Faith- if you want an example is this---
Your young child walking towards your outstretched arms unaware, uncaring about the dangers around, only seeing you and believing in you and the safety you offer in your arms. Faith is when that child lets go of the furniture they are used to holding to for support and steps out without anything to support them. Faith, the friend willing to jump off a bridge with nothing but a bungee cord- trusting that cord to hold them. Faith, jumping from a building onto a trampoline, trusting it will break your fall. Faith, counting on someone to take care of you when you have no real proof they will. When you marry someonyou marry them out of faith- trusting you will be the one they love forever and no other- by faith you marry. There are any number of examples of faith people have who don't equate faith with religion. There is also misplaced faith. Faith that fails. Parents that don't catch their children, trampolines and cords that break, marriages that fail. Yet this doesn't stop people from having faith, it doesn't even stop those who have tried once and fail from trying again. Those who say that to believe in God and our Savior Jesus Christ is foolish because we have no REAL evidence to hold forth like to say that to have faith in something unseen is stupid, yet they have faith in things they don't see all the time.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Having faith is God is not a misplaced faith- God will never fail us for God promises us eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son- God does not promise us anything else. God does not promise you riches or food in your belly. Yes, God takes care of the birds and the fish, and the flowers and He will take care of us too but He will take care of us in His eternal way, not our mortal way. NO, I'm not saying He won't take care of us now- every breath we take is by His grace- but we face horrors that have many people doubting God exists and that if He does He's a sadistic monster. God is not a sadistic monster, God is…. LOVE. We have to step out of our mortal thinking into His eternal thinking and until we do we will forever risk losing our faith.
Faith.
May God help us to have faith. May God help us to believe and help our unbelief.
In His mercy now and forever and ever!
Amen.
Yesterday the first half of this first was discussed- Faith is the substance (the real, solid) substance of things hoped for. The thing we hope for is Christ, right?
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope
Our hope- our Savior.
1Th 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
Our hope…our joy…our crown of rejoicing is to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.
It doesn't say our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing is here and now upon this earth in it's fullness in all this earth has to offer. This earth has some wonderful things, marvelous, beautiful things that are to be enjoyed, but ultimately it is Christ, our hope, who is to be our everything.
Faith being the substance of things hoped for, the REAL hope, for the REAL thing and the evidence of things…..NOT SEEN.
Some love to remark how contradictory this sounds- evidence is proof, don't we convict criminals based upon the evidence, based upon the facts that evidence reveals. Evidence doesn't sound wishy washy, evidence sounds firm, it sounds solid and it should- it's evidence. So when we say evidence of things NOT SEEN, we're not offering tangible proof. We are not offering the sort of evidence that we can hold up in court and wave around for people to see. Faith calls for evidence you CAN'T See. By it's very nature, faith isn't something captured in a bottle. Faith isn't something you show to someone. Faith isn't a supposed dated piece of bone millions of years old. Faith isn't the fact you had a prayer answered. Faith isn't in the wealth you gain. Faith isn't in the disasters you encounter. Faith- if you want an example is this---
Your young child walking towards your outstretched arms unaware, uncaring about the dangers around, only seeing you and believing in you and the safety you offer in your arms. Faith is when that child lets go of the furniture they are used to holding to for support and steps out without anything to support them. Faith, the friend willing to jump off a bridge with nothing but a bungee cord- trusting that cord to hold them. Faith, jumping from a building onto a trampoline, trusting it will break your fall. Faith, counting on someone to take care of you when you have no real proof they will. When you marry someonyou marry them out of faith- trusting you will be the one they love forever and no other- by faith you marry. There are any number of examples of faith people have who don't equate faith with religion. There is also misplaced faith. Faith that fails. Parents that don't catch their children, trampolines and cords that break, marriages that fail. Yet this doesn't stop people from having faith, it doesn't even stop those who have tried once and fail from trying again. Those who say that to believe in God and our Savior Jesus Christ is foolish because we have no REAL evidence to hold forth like to say that to have faith in something unseen is stupid, yet they have faith in things they don't see all the time.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Having faith is God is not a misplaced faith- God will never fail us for God promises us eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son- God does not promise us anything else. God does not promise you riches or food in your belly. Yes, God takes care of the birds and the fish, and the flowers and He will take care of us too but He will take care of us in His eternal way, not our mortal way. NO, I'm not saying He won't take care of us now- every breath we take is by His grace- but we face horrors that have many people doubting God exists and that if He does He's a sadistic monster. God is not a sadistic monster, God is…. LOVE. We have to step out of our mortal thinking into His eternal thinking and until we do we will forever risk losing our faith.
Faith.
May God help us to have faith. May God help us to believe and help our unbelief.
In His mercy now and forever and ever!
Amen.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hope in Reality
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This is a much beloved verse because when someone asks you what faith is, or if you want to know yourself what faith is then this verse tells you-- faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is-
1) The substance of things hoped for.
2) The evidence of things not seen.
What is the substance of things hoped for- anything we hope for?
The New Testament Greek Lexicon: Substance- Hupostasis hoop-os'-tas-is
Definition -- a setting or placing under thing put under, substructure, foundation that which has foundation, is firm that which has actual existence a substance, real being the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution confidence, firm trust, assurance
This substance that is hoped for isn't a dream. This substance hoped for isn't some fantasy. This substance has REAL existence, REAL being. When we hope for something doesn't it have basis in reality? If I hope for a million dollars the reality is that people sometimes do win a million dollars. If I hope for good weather my hope is in something real- the weather. People do have pipe dreams, people do fantasize about unrealistic things, but unless they are mentally challenged on some level they don't hope for unrealistic things. A person in their right mind doesn't hope to become a super hero. They might have a passing thought about how cool it would be to be a super hero, but to actually hope to be one, well, that is a hope in something unsubstantial, a hope in something that doesn't have actual existence. The substance that is hoped for in this verse on faith is a hope in something REAL.
Eternal life is real.
The promise of God is real.
Our Savior is real.
Living in a world that would have us put our REAL HOPE into the realm of fiction and fantasy we have to know beyond any doubt that our hope is more real then anything we can touch, taste, see, feel, or smell. God is more real than anything else is real, and people would have you believe that's not true. They would rather you believe we exist and have always existed without God. They would have you believe that you were some ooze on the ground that evolved. That your ancestor was an ape. This is more real to these people- these unseen, unproven things, these fictions and fantasies are more real to some people than the truth- that they have a Creator.
Faith- the substance (the reality) of things hoped for. Our REAL hope.
By the grace of God we will have a REAL hope in our Savior.
More tomorrow.
By the will of our God now and forever.
Amen.
This is a much beloved verse because when someone asks you what faith is, or if you want to know yourself what faith is then this verse tells you-- faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is-
1) The substance of things hoped for.
2) The evidence of things not seen.
What is the substance of things hoped for- anything we hope for?
The New Testament Greek Lexicon: Substance- Hupostasis hoop-os'-tas-is
Definition -- a setting or placing under thing put under, substructure, foundation that which has foundation, is firm that which has actual existence a substance, real being the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution confidence, firm trust, assurance
This substance that is hoped for isn't a dream. This substance hoped for isn't some fantasy. This substance has REAL existence, REAL being. When we hope for something doesn't it have basis in reality? If I hope for a million dollars the reality is that people sometimes do win a million dollars. If I hope for good weather my hope is in something real- the weather. People do have pipe dreams, people do fantasize about unrealistic things, but unless they are mentally challenged on some level they don't hope for unrealistic things. A person in their right mind doesn't hope to become a super hero. They might have a passing thought about how cool it would be to be a super hero, but to actually hope to be one, well, that is a hope in something unsubstantial, a hope in something that doesn't have actual existence. The substance that is hoped for in this verse on faith is a hope in something REAL.
Eternal life is real.
The promise of God is real.
Our Savior is real.
Living in a world that would have us put our REAL HOPE into the realm of fiction and fantasy we have to know beyond any doubt that our hope is more real then anything we can touch, taste, see, feel, or smell. God is more real than anything else is real, and people would have you believe that's not true. They would rather you believe we exist and have always existed without God. They would have you believe that you were some ooze on the ground that evolved. That your ancestor was an ape. This is more real to these people- these unseen, unproven things, these fictions and fantasies are more real to some people than the truth- that they have a Creator.
Faith- the substance (the reality) of things hoped for. Our REAL hope.
By the grace of God we will have a REAL hope in our Savior.
More tomorrow.
By the will of our God now and forever.
Amen.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Losing Eternal Life is Silent
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Faith.
We hear about faith all the time and with good reason- it's that important. Faith is belief. If we don't have the belief then everything falls apart after that no matter what sort of glue you try to use to keep it together. If someone attacks your faith if you allow any of their attacks to turn you from your faith, you're lost. It sounds dramatic, and it is dramatic it's your eternal life.
I watched a movie- well, sort of watched- I fast forward through some of the long drawn out parts and bits and pieces I wasn't interested in but it held enough of my attention for me to get the gist of it all. There is a poor young man who attends college and is befriended by a rich young man- who falls in love with him. The rich young man is really emotionally messed up and he takes the poor man home even though he keeps telling himself he shouldn't do that. So he takes him to his mansion and the poor man is understandably very impressed. The rich man introduces the poor man to his grandmother and then tries to hurry them on their way but not before giving into the poor man's desire to see a bit of the mansion- so he shows him the very ornate chapel and mentions his family- particularly his mother is very religious. Anyway, the movie goes on and the poor man sees the rich man's sister and falls in love with her. There can be no sort of relationship with her though because the poor man is an atheist and she has to marry one who believes like she does. Throughout the movie the make the overly religious mother seem as if her religion has ruined the lives of her children, that she is obsessive and such. I'm not going to go on and on about the movie, my point in mentioning it at all is the fact the mother is made out to be the *bad guy* who influences her children into either becoming like her *also bad* or turning from her religious ways and becoming better in the end, all things considered having had such a *moral* upbringing.
The mother was attacked for her faith. I'm not saying there aren't religious fanatics who stop following Christ's ways and go off and become extremists. The Pharisees were extremists. People can become oppressive and that's not how Jesus would have us be. Putting that aside, I think it's safe to say that having our faith attacked by people who are atheists, by people who don't understand how we can believe when we have seemingly no tangible proof, is something we have to expect. Everyday, any day, we have to expect people NOT to understand our faith.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Our faith will be tried in many ways, in all ways. We have to understand that as fire burns, consumes, brings pain, our faith will be tried in painful, *REAL* ways!
Living by FAITH. Staying alive by FAITH. Our Spiritual life lives or dies on faith, not our carnal, fleshy life., our spiritual life.
No, you won't die instantly and be struck by lightening if you give up your faith.
Losing eternal life is a silent death.
No fanfare. No dirge music sounding to herald the demise of a spiritual life.
Spiritual wounds leave spiritual scars- invisible.
A spiritual death is unseen. A person's life will change when they die spiritually, but often because there are so many spiritually dead people it goes mostly unnoticed.
We live surrounded by the spiritually dead, the spiritually dying. Christ would have us bring hope to those who are spiritually dying and dead- because He can bring them back to life. We need to live our lives so that the spiritually wounded can find the spiritual salvation they need to have spiritual life.
We have to live by faith.
Live.
Our existence has to be a living faith in our Savior.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Live by faith, don't draw back, believe to the saving of our souls.
If we draw back, if we lose our faith we've lost everything that truly matters-- the spiritual.
May God bless us, keep us in Him by the grace of His Son, through His Son's righteousness forever through faith.
Amen.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Faith.
We hear about faith all the time and with good reason- it's that important. Faith is belief. If we don't have the belief then everything falls apart after that no matter what sort of glue you try to use to keep it together. If someone attacks your faith if you allow any of their attacks to turn you from your faith, you're lost. It sounds dramatic, and it is dramatic it's your eternal life.
I watched a movie- well, sort of watched- I fast forward through some of the long drawn out parts and bits and pieces I wasn't interested in but it held enough of my attention for me to get the gist of it all. There is a poor young man who attends college and is befriended by a rich young man- who falls in love with him. The rich young man is really emotionally messed up and he takes the poor man home even though he keeps telling himself he shouldn't do that. So he takes him to his mansion and the poor man is understandably very impressed. The rich man introduces the poor man to his grandmother and then tries to hurry them on their way but not before giving into the poor man's desire to see a bit of the mansion- so he shows him the very ornate chapel and mentions his family- particularly his mother is very religious. Anyway, the movie goes on and the poor man sees the rich man's sister and falls in love with her. There can be no sort of relationship with her though because the poor man is an atheist and she has to marry one who believes like she does. Throughout the movie the make the overly religious mother seem as if her religion has ruined the lives of her children, that she is obsessive and such. I'm not going to go on and on about the movie, my point in mentioning it at all is the fact the mother is made out to be the *bad guy* who influences her children into either becoming like her *also bad* or turning from her religious ways and becoming better in the end, all things considered having had such a *moral* upbringing.
The mother was attacked for her faith. I'm not saying there aren't religious fanatics who stop following Christ's ways and go off and become extremists. The Pharisees were extremists. People can become oppressive and that's not how Jesus would have us be. Putting that aside, I think it's safe to say that having our faith attacked by people who are atheists, by people who don't understand how we can believe when we have seemingly no tangible proof, is something we have to expect. Everyday, any day, we have to expect people NOT to understand our faith.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Our faith will be tried in many ways, in all ways. We have to understand that as fire burns, consumes, brings pain, our faith will be tried in painful, *REAL* ways!
Living by FAITH. Staying alive by FAITH. Our Spiritual life lives or dies on faith, not our carnal, fleshy life., our spiritual life.
No, you won't die instantly and be struck by lightening if you give up your faith.
Losing eternal life is a silent death.
No fanfare. No dirge music sounding to herald the demise of a spiritual life.
Spiritual wounds leave spiritual scars- invisible.
A spiritual death is unseen. A person's life will change when they die spiritually, but often because there are so many spiritually dead people it goes mostly unnoticed.
We live surrounded by the spiritually dead, the spiritually dying. Christ would have us bring hope to those who are spiritually dying and dead- because He can bring them back to life. We need to live our lives so that the spiritually wounded can find the spiritual salvation they need to have spiritual life.
We have to live by faith.
Live.
Our existence has to be a living faith in our Savior.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Live by faith, don't draw back, believe to the saving of our souls.
If we draw back, if we lose our faith we've lost everything that truly matters-- the spiritual.
May God bless us, keep us in Him by the grace of His Son, through His Son's righteousness forever through faith.
Amen.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Need of Patience
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Need of patience. It's safe to say that we could all use a bit more patience. Okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us. It's a rare thing to ever hear of someone have too much patience. The impatient would readily say such a thing about those who have patience though, wouldn't they? Do you know anyone with a lot of patience? I do. My mother is a very patient woman. Do I have the same patience as she does, unfortunately no. I really have need of patience in all things.
As Christians we need to really cultivate patience because without it we are a lot less likely to hold on to our faith and without faith we are lost and guaranteed to not receive the promise.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Run with patience; in your patience possess ye your souls.
The Christian walk isn't one that can be started and finished in a single day. It's a LIFE time walk, it's a walk we keep walking and if we are blessed enough to be alive when Christ comes we will continue that walk, that race, that run into eternity. If we are called to sleep before Christ comes, when we wake by the grace of our Savior it will be to enter right into the race heading to the finish line where we will live forever and ever with God, forever in love, His perfect, perfect love.
Is it any wonder we read this… IN YOUR PATIENCE POSSESS YE YOUR SOULS. Our life, our eternal life is in Christ and having patience through our lives for however many days, years, it might be, that we will have our reward in Christ, through Christ.
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Hab 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
In the scheme of eternity the entire 6000 some years of this world's existence is nothing….nothing. When you're faced with eternity-- years are nothing. When we measure our lives without eternity they can seem long. If you only have 72 years promised you then when you're young- say 20, that 72 years seems like a lot of years. When you're 65 years that 72 years seem like nothing. To say someone has lived to 100 years old is saying WOW that's a long, long life, and for us, it is. When we measure our time with 100 year spans, or 70 year spans as being long we break it down and our days can seem long, our weeks, our years, but in reality when we live in eternity- time here and now is NOTHING.
Is it any wonder we are told to have patience now as we wait for eternity? Is it any wonder it's necessary to have patience? We really need to tell ourselves as life gets us down and our problems seem to be long and drawn out… this is nothing compared to eternity, this will pass, eternity is without end. Any pain and yes, pain can vary from minor to excruciating, any pain will have it's end as we live for eternity. Heartaches, tears, agonies…they are all fleeting in eternity. No, I'm not trying to minimize anyone's pain or problems at all whatsoever, but to have the patience we need to possess our souls we have to look beyond our temporary existence. We have to- by the grace of our Savior- cultivate patience fit for eternity.
One more point...
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
AFTER ye have done the WILL OF GOD. It's the will of God that we all be saved, that we all accept salvation through our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ. After we understand this, after we lay hold of our Savior's gift of salvation we have to have patience, we have to continue on after that acceptance.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord now and forever!
Amen.
Need of patience. It's safe to say that we could all use a bit more patience. Okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us. It's a rare thing to ever hear of someone have too much patience. The impatient would readily say such a thing about those who have patience though, wouldn't they? Do you know anyone with a lot of patience? I do. My mother is a very patient woman. Do I have the same patience as she does, unfortunately no. I really have need of patience in all things.
As Christians we need to really cultivate patience because without it we are a lot less likely to hold on to our faith and without faith we are lost and guaranteed to not receive the promise.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Run with patience; in your patience possess ye your souls.
The Christian walk isn't one that can be started and finished in a single day. It's a LIFE time walk, it's a walk we keep walking and if we are blessed enough to be alive when Christ comes we will continue that walk, that race, that run into eternity. If we are called to sleep before Christ comes, when we wake by the grace of our Savior it will be to enter right into the race heading to the finish line where we will live forever and ever with God, forever in love, His perfect, perfect love.
Is it any wonder we read this… IN YOUR PATIENCE POSSESS YE YOUR SOULS. Our life, our eternal life is in Christ and having patience through our lives for however many days, years, it might be, that we will have our reward in Christ, through Christ.
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Hab 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
In the scheme of eternity the entire 6000 some years of this world's existence is nothing….nothing. When you're faced with eternity-- years are nothing. When we measure our lives without eternity they can seem long. If you only have 72 years promised you then when you're young- say 20, that 72 years seems like a lot of years. When you're 65 years that 72 years seem like nothing. To say someone has lived to 100 years old is saying WOW that's a long, long life, and for us, it is. When we measure our time with 100 year spans, or 70 year spans as being long we break it down and our days can seem long, our weeks, our years, but in reality when we live in eternity- time here and now is NOTHING.
Is it any wonder we are told to have patience now as we wait for eternity? Is it any wonder it's necessary to have patience? We really need to tell ourselves as life gets us down and our problems seem to be long and drawn out… this is nothing compared to eternity, this will pass, eternity is without end. Any pain and yes, pain can vary from minor to excruciating, any pain will have it's end as we live for eternity. Heartaches, tears, agonies…they are all fleeting in eternity. No, I'm not trying to minimize anyone's pain or problems at all whatsoever, but to have the patience we need to possess our souls we have to look beyond our temporary existence. We have to- by the grace of our Savior- cultivate patience fit for eternity.
One more point...
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
AFTER ye have done the WILL OF GOD. It's the will of God that we all be saved, that we all accept salvation through our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ. After we understand this, after we lay hold of our Savior's gift of salvation we have to have patience, we have to continue on after that acceptance.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord now and forever!
Amen.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Grounded Faith
Confidence
CON'FIDENCE, n. [L. See Confide.]
1. A trusting, or reliance; an assurance of mind or firm belief in the integrity, stability or veracity of another, or in the truth and reality of a fact.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
I know, I just wrote on confidence yesterday but I can't get it out of my mind for some reason.
Faith equals confidence
Belief equals confidence
Trust equals confidence
Assurance equals confidence
When we think of having faith we think this---
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is hope in what?
Faith is the evidence of what not seen?
Can we say the following and it be true?
Confidence is having hope in Christ.
Confidence is having evidence of Christ and eternal life- not yet seen.
Sometimes when we tell someone to have faith we don't equate it with confidence, but confidence just sounds more firm, doesn't it? Belief even sounds less sure. Yet belief is having confidence, firmly believing! We are to have confidence. Our belief has to be firm… grounded…
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Grounded.
Bring grounded is as firm as it gets, isn't it? I remember my father asking me this when I first started driving…
If you're skidding on the road and have the choice between hitting a telephone pole or a tree which one would you choose?
I don't quite remember what I said, but he then told me- always choose the telephone pole because a tree has deep roots and when you hit it, it's not going anywhere. On the other hand a telephone pole has no roots and can be knocked over easily (of course he was talking about the old wooden telephone poles, I’m not sure about these new cement/metal ones they're putting up here in Florida.)
The point to my relating this story is probably obvious. Being grounded, having our spiritual roots deep means we won't be moved, our confidence won't be shaken. This is how our lives have to be lived! We have to be grounded in our faith, we have to have confidence in our beliefs, we cannot be shaken away from our Lord and Savior though the devil will try His hardest to do all he can to shake us until our faith shatters and we have no more confidence left in our Savior.
When we are told to be confident we are really being told to believe in ourselves. When someone tells us to be confident we need to have that mean in our hearts that they are reminding us to be confident in God, not ourselves, and God will provide all we need one way or another. I say one way or another because what we imagine our need to be and what is really our need can be two different things. God is thinking on the level of eternity. If suffering is our lot in life now in order for us to find our faith in God, or for others to find their faith in God - then we have to trust that it will be enough. We DON'T have to understand, we have to believe and that belief has to be in God and God alone.
Confidence- the word needs to mean in our heart- deep faith in God, faith grounded and rooted as deeply as it can go all by the grace and mercy of our Savior!
Amen.
CON'FIDENCE, n. [L. See Confide.]
1. A trusting, or reliance; an assurance of mind or firm belief in the integrity, stability or veracity of another, or in the truth and reality of a fact.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
I know, I just wrote on confidence yesterday but I can't get it out of my mind for some reason.
Faith equals confidence
Belief equals confidence
Trust equals confidence
Assurance equals confidence
When we think of having faith we think this---
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is hope in what?
Faith is the evidence of what not seen?
Can we say the following and it be true?
Confidence is having hope in Christ.
Confidence is having evidence of Christ and eternal life- not yet seen.
Sometimes when we tell someone to have faith we don't equate it with confidence, but confidence just sounds more firm, doesn't it? Belief even sounds less sure. Yet belief is having confidence, firmly believing! We are to have confidence. Our belief has to be firm… grounded…
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Grounded.
Bring grounded is as firm as it gets, isn't it? I remember my father asking me this when I first started driving…
If you're skidding on the road and have the choice between hitting a telephone pole or a tree which one would you choose?
I don't quite remember what I said, but he then told me- always choose the telephone pole because a tree has deep roots and when you hit it, it's not going anywhere. On the other hand a telephone pole has no roots and can be knocked over easily (of course he was talking about the old wooden telephone poles, I’m not sure about these new cement/metal ones they're putting up here in Florida.)
The point to my relating this story is probably obvious. Being grounded, having our spiritual roots deep means we won't be moved, our confidence won't be shaken. This is how our lives have to be lived! We have to be grounded in our faith, we have to have confidence in our beliefs, we cannot be shaken away from our Lord and Savior though the devil will try His hardest to do all he can to shake us until our faith shatters and we have no more confidence left in our Savior.
When we are told to be confident we are really being told to believe in ourselves. When someone tells us to be confident we need to have that mean in our hearts that they are reminding us to be confident in God, not ourselves, and God will provide all we need one way or another. I say one way or another because what we imagine our need to be and what is really our need can be two different things. God is thinking on the level of eternity. If suffering is our lot in life now in order for us to find our faith in God, or for others to find their faith in God - then we have to trust that it will be enough. We DON'T have to understand, we have to believe and that belief has to be in God and God alone.
Confidence- the word needs to mean in our heart- deep faith in God, faith grounded and rooted as deeply as it can go all by the grace and mercy of our Savior!
Amen.
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