"And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." (I John 5: 4b)
It is pretty easy to exercise faith when the sun is shining, and our life is filled with beauty and flowers. In fact, it requires very little effort at all. But consider Abraham. The promise had come before he ever left Ur of the Chaldees back in Genesis 12. Yet even in old age, no son as promised. Yet He continue to trust. Consider Job. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." How do you exercise faith after all the calamity he faced?
Consider Jesus hanging on the cross. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" And yet before He died, "Into your hands I entrust My Spirit." What incredible faith does it require? Or is it so simple we overlook it? After all, Jesus said, "Faith the size of a mustard seed."
Romans 10 tells us that "Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God." When God speaks, it is sure as it has already happened. God, who is outside of time and fills all eternity, sees the future in the same way we see yesterday. God's promise is sure and certain.
Fear, someone has said, is the acrostic, "False Evidence Appearing Real." Fear is often our response to what appears to be the circumstances of our lives. But Faith is built on the reality of the promise of God. Faith is as simple as acting on the basis of the Word of God. What has God said in your life? Do you believe Him? Act on God's promises and assurances.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Have Faith in God
"as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations -in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." (Rom. 4:17)
Have you considered the faith of Abraham? God called him to leave his home and ancestors and travel to a place that he would tell him about when he got there? He did not have a Bible to consult or a pastor to talk with. He set out in faith. He had all that mattered, the Word from God.
Then as an old man when it seemed biologically impossible to have a child, he dared to believe the promise of God that He would have a son. He called himself father before there was reality. And then after Isaac had come and was likely a teenage boy, God asked the unthinkable, that he offer him as a sacrifice on the mountain. And yet Abraham knew God was a God who could raise the dead.
Do you dare to believe the Word God's Spirit has spoken to your heart? Can you rely on the scripture and the Holy Spirit no matter what the circumstances? Let me ask you the most important question. Not do you believe in God, but do you believe God? The old hymn calls us to "Have faith in God when your pathway in lonely, He sees and knows all the way you have trod." Will you depend on God today?
Have you considered the faith of Abraham? God called him to leave his home and ancestors and travel to a place that he would tell him about when he got there? He did not have a Bible to consult or a pastor to talk with. He set out in faith. He had all that mattered, the Word from God.
Then as an old man when it seemed biologically impossible to have a child, he dared to believe the promise of God that He would have a son. He called himself father before there was reality. And then after Isaac had come and was likely a teenage boy, God asked the unthinkable, that he offer him as a sacrifice on the mountain. And yet Abraham knew God was a God who could raise the dead.
Do you dare to believe the Word God's Spirit has spoken to your heart? Can you rely on the scripture and the Holy Spirit no matter what the circumstances? Let me ask you the most important question. Not do you believe in God, but do you believe God? The old hymn calls us to "Have faith in God when your pathway in lonely, He sees and knows all the way you have trod." Will you depend on God today?
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