What is Hope? What is Faith? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…..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. …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 rewarded of them that diligently seek him…24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing to rather suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Hebrews 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, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh do I tire, Oh do I weep, Oh I don't cherish the trials at my feet, For only God knoweth my shame that I bare, and only God knoweth yes, He's there; Only God knows my heart weeps in despair, to be battered and torn and to be ripped into threads; So my hope can be shattered and my faith sometimes weak, and my spirit is yearning while his strength is complete; Great is my weakness and strong is his power, and it carries me aloft in each new waking hour; To rest in his care I doth rest in his word, like the air that’s invisible, carries the birds; Oh my Lord is my strength, and his spirit is my comfort, I’d be lost without him, and be down in the dumps; So with care I will rest in his Words there like balm, with each minute in this world I am soothed and made calm; And there's just one more thing, I'm so glad I'm his child, my tears he knows best while on my soul he smiles; This world still revolves and holds nothing so dear, than my sweet savior's voice, that small voice in my ear; While I listen he leads through the trials and through pain, but his love washes me, like a good summer rain; I no longer can share in the worlds false delights, Cause my Shepard knows best how I rest in his light. Without faith it's impossible to please the Lord, and we really should be more than we can afford; That means spending time in his word and in prayer, so don't you just sit around going nowhere; Our lives were commissioned to give him the glory, it's not about us, it's about Him, it's His story; By Mark Aldrich (c) There are so many verses in the bible on faith that it is redundant to quote them all but Jesus made it abundantly clear that the Christian life is all about faith! Here are just a few to start. In Matthew 6:30, 8:10, 8:26, 9:2, 9:22, 14:31, 15:28, 16:8, 17:20, 21:21, 23:23. In Mark 2:5, 4:40, 5:34, 10:52, 11:22. Luke 5:20, 7:9, 7:50, 8:25, 8:48, 12:28, 17:5,6, 17:19, 18:8, 18:42, 22:32. The list goes on, 13 verses in Acts, 34 verses in Romans, 7 in 1 Corinthians, 5 in 2 Corinthians, 20 in Galatians and the list goes on, you get my point! Faith and patience work hand in hand and are most needed everyday of our lives. How do we live with out them? You know when it comes to having faith in ourselves, we know when we are at the cross roads and can't stretch any further. That is were the faith in God kicks in. Have you ever been at the end of your rope? At the end of your patience, at the end of your emotional train, and said, God I can't deal with this any more, I can't do it anymore, it's up to you to make this work! We all have been there haven't we? I believe we all have experienced the divine working of the Holy Spirit in our lives too and seen what our God can do in our desperation. So why do we have to be desperate to begin with? Is that a prerequisite to miracles? Is that a prerequisite to walking in faith? If we are walking with him and at peace within ourselves that is a pretty good sign that we are resting in him. When we get out of his will we will feel the weight of our sin. I mean the weight of disobedience! If we are a sure child of God, God's will in us is easier to follow because all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose! Romans 8:28 I have come to realize as I have said once before, that our way is guided and we shouldn't have to worry about the decisions we are confronted with in our lives. If we are conscious of his presence in our everyday situations, then he is conscious of us being conscious of him! It's at those moments our faith will be resting in Him. Here is an example, when Jesus sent the disciples out two by two in Mark 6:7 and he told them to take nothing with them, but yet he gave them power over unclean spirits, they went out and preached, healed the sick and cast out devils, was Jesus with them then? In Luke 10:1 he sent out another seventy this time and they did the same, was Jesus with them? Was it their faith that carried them through? Surely, once they left the presence of Jesus they could have lost all faith, being alone unto men. They returned with joy saying the devils are subject unto us through thy name. In conclusion: Oh how powerful a witness we have in Jesus name. He is in us as we are in him and he is in the Father. We are one with Jesus; we are the body of Christ! So what are we doubting, why should we loose our faith in him? We have hispromises and we have the Holy Spirit living in us! A Daily Devotional From Oswald Chambers
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