"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."
Luke 23:46 [NIV]
I put my faith and my wellbeing into the hands of God.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Magic of Faith
Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
- S: But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, "We saw the Master." But he said, "Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe." Thomas said, "My Master! My God!" Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing." John 20:25-29 [MSG]
- O: Seeing is believing. Faith is believing without seeing.
- A: The Gospel of John shows us a perfect example of the difference between having evidence and having faith. As the risen Christ had appeared to a group of his disciples, they recognized Him to be all He had said He was and more. Even though they had never been told that He would raise from the grave and walk among them again, upon seeing Him they knew that to be the case. With the exception of one: "Doubting" Thomas. Thomas hadn't been with them when the Lord appeared. When the disciples told Thomas of what they had seen, he replied that he wouldn't believe it without proof. Without tangible evidence supporting the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Thomas wasn't buying it. When the risen Savior first presented Himself to Thomas, He told him, "Examine the holes in My hands. Stick your hand where the sword pierced My side as I hung dying on the cross." He told Thomas, "Believe." Of course, Thomas could no longer doubt the evidence he had seen with his own eyes and touched with his own hands. He believed. Not because he had faith, but because he had evidence. Christ said, "Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing." For some it is so easy to find themselves in doubt, needing evidence before they'll believe. Faith has no meaning for them. In my home hangs a sign that reads:
Faith is not believing that God can -- it is knowing that He will.I can tell you, having faith feels so much better than having evidence. Faith gives you something to look forward to -- anticipation. It's easy to believe what we can touch and see. To believe it upon faith alone is magical! For me, faith in God is the ability to see the evidence of His existence everywhere I look.
- P: God, You are. And I know it, because Your Word has said it. Thank You for being.
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Joe
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Faith
Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
- S: ...there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. John 4:46-53 [MSG]
- O: It is by our faith that God answers our prayers.
- A: To have the faith of this official, who traveled for two days to see Jesus, not having any guarantee that Jesus would still be there when he arrived, with nothing more than his own belief that Jesus could and would heal his son. For having the faith to make the trip and approach Jesus, he was rewarded b finding Jesus. For having the faith to believe Him when Jesus told him that his son would live, he was rewarded with the restoration of his son's health. How often do we have so little faith that we don't trust God to provide for us, or to get us through the rough spots? It is written that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. True faith brings miracles.
- P: Father, I have seen You provide for myself and my family -- seen You reward us and bless us for our faith. Thank You!
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Joe
Saturday, August 2, 2008
One Faith
Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
- S: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:16-18 [NIV]
- O: Jesus came to be our Savior, and failing to believe in Him is an eternal death sentence.
- A: It is often quoted -- John 3:16. That Jesus came to give us everlasting life. It's quite clear, really, that He is the one and only path to Heaven. But lest we fail to understand completely, John also explained in further detail in verse 18 that by failing to believe in Jesus Christ as the One and Only Son of God, our Savior, we can just as easily condemn ourselves to eternal death. Many politicians will try to say that any faith is good, that we all believe in the same God, and that if we live a good life we will go to Heaven. That just isn't true. Only one faith teaches that Jesus Christ is the path to eternal life. Believing in God is important, yes. But knowing His Son as your Savior is irreplaceable.
- P: Lord, help me today to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with someone.
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Joe
Saturday, July 19, 2008
All Bark, No Bite
Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
- S: You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period. ... Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department." Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands? Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works? The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. James 2:10-11, 14-26 [MSG]
- O: Faith without works is dead.
- A: Good deeds don't earn us a place in Heaven. We are saved by faith. But what is faith? Defined as "belief in something without proof," faith requires us to accept as fact that which we cannot provide evidence of. But what of good deeds then? If good deeds don't earn us a place in Heaven, why bother? If it's just enough to believe, what does it matter what we do? ANSWER: Real faith changes you. How can you have faith in God -- believe in God -- and not believe in His Word, or not want to follow the example He set through His Son Jesus Christ? If you just don't care what God says, what kind of faith do you have? By the same token, if you do have the kind of all-encompassing faith that makes you want to please your Creator by following His examples and obeying His direction, how then can deeds not matter? If I truly love my wife and am devoted and committed to her, it stands to reason that I would want to please her. And if I want to please her, then, would I not please her by doing things that make her feel good and happy and loved? Does my love for her alone please her? No! To just say that I love her isn't enough. I have to show her my love by doing something. My deeds are the acts that validate my love for her. It is just so with God. Although he knows my heart, and doesn't need to see proof of my faith, others are not omniscient. It is my faith and love for God that make me want to share Him with others. If I share only His Word but don't live an example of it through my actions, what is my faith worth? It is by setting an example through living the kind of life that God would be pleased with -- by these acts or deeds -- that others can see His Glory. Without those deeds, it's just words. Words without action are meaningless.
- P: Father, I want to please You in all that I do. Use me as a tool however You see fit so that I might reflect Your Glory upon others.
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Joe
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