Believe

Faith, Your Link to Promise and Victory – R. Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

ENCOURAGING WORD:

The life of Joshua in the Old Testament is an illustration of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, Joshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our heavenly Joshua who leads us into the land of promise and victory. And what is this victory? It is a victory of faith.

Victory in faith is not achieved by fighting. Victory is received by faith. So, how do we get faith? We read in Romans 10:17; ^“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If we do not read the Bible, then how can we have faith in something when we don’t know what to have faith in? Most mainline denominations tell us we need to have faith, but faith in what! First, we must define what faith really is. Hebrews 11:1; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This passage in relation to the covenant of God is often used as a definition of faith. According to Christian traditions, Christian faith requires a belief in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. This is the plan of Salvation according to God the Father. The Gospel is defined in the following verse and this is the corner stone of what we, as Christians need to have faith in, 1 Corinthians 15: 3b-4; “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” Only by reading the Word of God (The Bible) and accepting the Gospel as truth, can one truly have faith. True faith is knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and knowing that one day we will pass from this world and we will immediately be with Him throughout all eternity.

We read this small, but powerful verse in 2 Corinthians 5:7; “For we live by faith, not by sight.” To me, this verse explains why there is so much atheism in our country. Intelligence in our country is almost a curse. Those that profess themselves wise are fools according the scriptures as we read in Romans 1:22; “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Hebrews 11:6; says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” If you say that you have faith, then you must trust that every word written in the Bible is true and your life should emulate what the Bible teaches. If we say we have faith and then we don’t live accordingly, then there is really no evidence of our confession and it just becomes words. If we say that we have faith in something, the best way to prove it is to put our faith to the test. If we say that we have faith in something and then don’t put it into practice, then how we can say we have faith. If you truly believe and accept the scriptures of the Bible as truth, then you should be willing to walk according to what the Bible teaches.

Without getting into too much history, the reformation actual began when Martin Luther King, through a careful study of the Bible, came to the remarkable, life changing discovery that the righteousness which God requires is actually a righteousness which He freely gives to unrighteous sinners. And He does so when they trust in Jesus. Martin Luther came to this glad realization when he studied and pondered the truth of Romans 1: 16-17; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” We see in Ephesians 2:8-9 where we read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” We read these immensely powerful truths from the Word of God, yet many Christian churches of today still teach salvation by works. Again, we read in another verse written by Paul the Apostle, Romans 11:6; “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

What most people do not understand, nor are they even taught is that grace is a free gift from God. (Unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification). Notice it saysit is given to us, not earned.It is imperative (not to be avoided or evaded) that we all understand this. It is only through faith that we can accept grace, but to the human mind, it is hard to understand how we can be saved just by believing the truth of the Gospel. In this world, we are all under the assumption that when we receive something from somebody, we should offer them something in return. As human beings, we can extend grace to others because a lot of us just like to give because it makes us feel good. We like to give freely. Where grace is something that we can give to others, faith is not something that we can give away. Faith is something that can only be received when one is born-again and understands the plan of salvation. Then as we read through the scriptures of the Bible, truth will jump out at us to a point where we really get it, but even then, we still have a tough time putting it into words.

If you read through Hebrews 11, you see many examples of what faith is. Here are a couple examples I will share with you. Hebrews 11: 5-10; “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Enoch trusted in God and he was found righteous, therefore was removed prior to the wrath of God that fell on an unbelieving world in the days of Noah.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. The story of Noah is in and of itself an incredible story of faith. One day God came to Noah and told him to build an ark. God gave him all the specifics of how to build it and Noah proceeded to build it exactly he as was instructed without questioning why. For over one hundred years Noah spend day in and day out building an ark for a flood that he was told was coming. The remarkable part of this story that most people probably do not know is this, it had never rained before, but Noah had faith that the word of God would come to fruition, so through faith he continued building the ark even through all the mocking and laughing that he had to endure. Jesus Christ has instructed us through the scriptures of the Bible that He is coming one day and only those that are watching are very aware of that truth, therefore, we have faith that it too will come to fruition. Just to clarify, I am not setting any dates, I’m just sure that by faith I know Jesus Christ is coming back just as He said He would. When, only God knows.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Can you imagine God coming down to talk to any one of us and then He gives us specific instructions to move somewhere and does not tell us why? How many of us would pull up stakes and hit the road, especially when you don’t know where you are going. It was only by faith that Abraham did what he was told, knowing that if God spoke it, he could trust it. I do however believe that God calls people to do exactly that in these days in which we live. We have missionaries that I believe God has called to teach in the darkest jungles of Africa and other dangerous locations to share the gospel. I’m sure that they are not always aware of what is in store for them, but they take the following verse literally which we often read in Romans 8:28 where it tells them, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” They take this verse literally and apply it to faith. Some actually end up losing their lives for teaching the Gospel of Salvation to fierce populations of people in areas where they are heavy into witchcraft and other religious beliefs and evil rituals. Some of them know they will not come back, but because of their faith in the true Word of God, they know without a doubt, that when they leave this world, they will be with Jesus Christ in paradise forever. Those that have that kind of faith also know that they will eventually be with their Lord and Savior forever.

ACTION POINT:

The kind of faith that we are talking about cannot be sold in any store, it cannot be taught in any religion class, and it has to come from the Word of God as we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and the only way to do that is to spend as much time in the scriptures as possible. You see, when God has a gigantic task, He wants us to perform, He gives us the faith that we need to accomplish His will. Your faith links your nothingness to God’s almightiness and victory is yours for the taking! Trust in the Word of God and have faith in the Gospel and know that you will be forever in His care! “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

A Commentary from our Chaplin – R. Fritz

When I look at people in the Old Testament I am amazed at their “Faith.” You probably wonder why. They had to believe in faith what they saw or if what they heard was from God. There was no easy way to communicate or get around to talk to other people in the early days of Christianity. We, on the other hand have access to the Bible, we can go on the internet or drive anywhere we like to talk about “faith” or to hear somebody talk about what happened in their life. We have many more options to learn about “faith” if we want to. If we want to learn about faith, we need to read Hebrews 11. The whole chapter talks about “faith.” The one thing I learned was to associate with people that had stories about things that God had done for them. This is how I first saw firsthand what God could do for other people. I believed that if he did things for them, he could do the same for me. Your belief level has everything to do with your level of faith. My faith became a reality by what I heard other people say. Suddenly, I was seeing things happen in my own life from God that eventually changed my life. My faith and belief level kept going higher and higher. The things you go through, whether good or bad will change how you perceive “faith”!

I talked about Faith being the opposite of Fear when I wrote about “Fear.” Faith is trusting in God when it looks like things are falling apart around you and believing your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will take care of you. Faith is what gives you hope when things look impossible in your life. Fear is listening to your feelings and thoughts and they start to dwell on your future, which makes you believe that something bad is coming in the future. Fear was never something good when it entered my life. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is so important in our lives. This is where the Bible verses I talked about overcoming fear came from. 2 Corinthian 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Faith comes from God; Fear comes from Satan. It took the Holy Spirit’s help for me to know when it was time to use the tool that God gave me and what tools would help me overcome fear. I believe through many years of dealing with it that fear steals your faith at that moment, and that is when fear takes over your mind. Fear is not losing your faith; it is you momentarily dealing with fear and forgetting about your faith. That is why faith is so important!

I believe that your degree of “Faith” depends on you. You must first have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship with Jesus Christ and trusting in Him as we go through trials in our life, are the building blocks in which our faith grows. We also need to allow God’s word to saturate our mind and thoughts. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says (For we walk by faith, not by sight). This is where we need to trust in the Lord, by walking in faith as we go through our trials. The mixture of trials in our life and God’s word is what will build your faith. Once you have that relationship with Jesus and surround yourself with other believers, you will see your faith continue to grow.

In Conclusion – R. Nelson

The Word of God is quite simple to follow as we read in Romans 10:17; “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This one verse really sums up what we are trying to get across. Back to what I said at the top of this page, “If we do not read the Bible, then how can we have faith in something when we don’t know what to have faith in?” It all starts with you and how you perceive the scriptures of the Bible. Is it a book of myths and legends or it is truly the Word of God? This is the first question that you must ask yourself. If you genuinely believe it is the true and inherent Word of God, then you need to take His Word seriously and start learning what God has to say to you. Through your studies of the Bible and learning from the Holy Spirit, you will find yourself believing and understanding what faith all is about. You cannot have one without the other. If you want to be a serious Bible scholar, I always like to suggest that you start reading in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Read them over and over until you feel you understand the life of Jesus Christ and why He came to earth in the first place. Once you get to that understanding, the rest of the Bible will start to make a lot of sense to you and you will find your faith start to grow more and more each day as you walk with the Lord. Why not start your walk today, give your life over to the one that loves you more than you could ever imagine. He will not let you down…by the true and faithful Word of God, I can promise you that you will not be sorry! “Written To the glory of God, Inspired by the Holy Spirit.” Amen!