Faith
Down through time, God has wanted His children to live by faith and not sight. So today I want to tackle this thing of faith. You can’t hardly read the Bible without reading of someone who didn’t have faith in something. Some have faith in God, some in the church, others have faith in man, money, and possessions. Remember, the Bible is filled with people who show us how to do it, and people that show us how not to do it. Now we need to figure out which is which. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now when it says the hope, it isn’t talking about hope so maybe so. It is a looking forward to hope. An anticipating if you will. A person has hope in seeing their grandchild. They know it is coming, and they are anticipating his or her coming. They can’t see the child, but they see the mothers rising stomach which is a evidence of things to come. Now to give us hope of future things God gives us evidence when we take time to look at it and listen to it.
There is a difference between believing in something and having faith in something. Faith is of the heart where belief is in the eyes. There was a fellow that stretched a cable across the Grand Canyon. He then took a wheel-barrow and pushed it across the canyon on that cable. When he reached the other side, he asked the quickly gathering crowd, who believed he could push it back across. Everyone raised their hand. He then asked, who will ride in the wheel-barrow. Those who raised their hands for the first answer believed, but the one that got in the wheel barrow, had faith. Hebrews 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. When I was a young man I was a certified scuba diver. I was friends with my scuba instructor, so in my free time, I would frequent the dive shop. He had two beautiful girls that loved me and would stand on the counter and jump to me to catch them. My friend was upset about this because they wouldn’t jump to him. Can I tell you that their faith, that I was going to catch them, did not hinder my love for them. Actually, it made my love for them even greater. You might find yourself today standing on the counter of life afraid to jump into anything, but can I tell you that until you do, you will never know the enjoyment of being caught and safely secure in the Father’s hand. And He will love you even more for it. Then your love for Him will grow by leaps and bounds. God wants us to be busy practicing faith. Luke 18:8b Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Now faith has a common denominator which is called OBEDIENCE. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. In preparing to fight Jericho, Joshua had soldiers of war. Behind them, came the trumpet players. Behind them came the Ark of the covenant. If the ark would have been in front, or if one thing have been out of order, then the walls of Jericho would not have fallen. If they would have marched around the city eight days, do you think those walls would have fallen. If they had spoken one word? If they would have blown the trumpet after the sixth time on the seventh day? God gave specific instructions that were to be carried out exactly, whether it made sense or not. I can tell you that wasn’t any way to win a war. BUT GOD!!!
Remember when Elijah was living out the drought? God told him to go to the brook Cherith. Now Elijah probably could have found a nicer brook than that of Cherith, but if he had gone to any other brook, do you think God would have fed him? Was God able to feed him anywhere he was? At the marriage feast in Canaan, Jesus told the men to fill the water pots to the brim. If they had only filled them three forths up, do you think He would have turned the water into wine? Would He have been able to?
God gives us specific instructions of what to do in order to get certain things. We can either do it, and by faith expect God to honor His Word, or we can do it our way and by faith expect that it won’t happen.
We need to walk by faith and quit walking by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight:
Well how do I get more faith? The Bible says in Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We need to read our Bible, and as we read our Bible and ask for God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit will speak to us. He speaks in a still small voice, so the only way that we are going to hear Him is to turn off the TV, radio and everything else trying to get our attention. Quit daydreaming about everything under the sun, or wondering what you are going to have for your next meal. If you are reading this, and are married; If you gave your wife the attention that you give God; how would your relationship be?
So in conclusion, now that 2016 is here, let’s try to live by faith a little more than we did in 2015
There is a difference between believing in something and having faith in something. Faith is of the heart where belief is in the eyes. There was a fellow that stretched a cable across the Grand Canyon. He then took a wheel-barrow and pushed it across the canyon on that cable. When he reached the other side, he asked the quickly gathering crowd, who believed he could push it back across. Everyone raised their hand. He then asked, who will ride in the wheel-barrow. Those who raised their hands for the first answer believed, but the one that got in the wheel barrow, had faith. Hebrews 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. When I was a young man I was a certified scuba diver. I was friends with my scuba instructor, so in my free time, I would frequent the dive shop. He had two beautiful girls that loved me and would stand on the counter and jump to me to catch them. My friend was upset about this because they wouldn’t jump to him. Can I tell you that their faith, that I was going to catch them, did not hinder my love for them. Actually, it made my love for them even greater. You might find yourself today standing on the counter of life afraid to jump into anything, but can I tell you that until you do, you will never know the enjoyment of being caught and safely secure in the Father’s hand. And He will love you even more for it. Then your love for Him will grow by leaps and bounds. God wants us to be busy practicing faith. Luke 18:8b Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Now faith has a common denominator which is called OBEDIENCE. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. In preparing to fight Jericho, Joshua had soldiers of war. Behind them, came the trumpet players. Behind them came the Ark of the covenant. If the ark would have been in front, or if one thing have been out of order, then the walls of Jericho would not have fallen. If they would have marched around the city eight days, do you think those walls would have fallen. If they had spoken one word? If they would have blown the trumpet after the sixth time on the seventh day? God gave specific instructions that were to be carried out exactly, whether it made sense or not. I can tell you that wasn’t any way to win a war. BUT GOD!!!
Remember when Elijah was living out the drought? God told him to go to the brook Cherith. Now Elijah probably could have found a nicer brook than that of Cherith, but if he had gone to any other brook, do you think God would have fed him? Was God able to feed him anywhere he was? At the marriage feast in Canaan, Jesus told the men to fill the water pots to the brim. If they had only filled them three forths up, do you think He would have turned the water into wine? Would He have been able to?
God gives us specific instructions of what to do in order to get certain things. We can either do it, and by faith expect God to honor His Word, or we can do it our way and by faith expect that it won’t happen.
We need to walk by faith and quit walking by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight:
Well how do I get more faith? The Bible says in Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We need to read our Bible, and as we read our Bible and ask for God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit will speak to us. He speaks in a still small voice, so the only way that we are going to hear Him is to turn off the TV, radio and everything else trying to get our attention. Quit daydreaming about everything under the sun, or wondering what you are going to have for your next meal. If you are reading this, and are married; If you gave your wife the attention that you give God; how would your relationship be?
So in conclusion, now that 2016 is here, let’s try to live by faith a little more than we did in 2015