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GoBeDoministriesGo Be and Do as the Lord commands!
Study the Prophecies of Revelation and Daniel |
last update: 17 August 2005 |
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For your FREE copy of Warning! Revelation is About to Be Fulfilled by Larry Wilson, visit Wake Up America Seminars. |
What is Faith?What exactly is faith? We
hear that Salvation comes by faith. We are to have faith in God. But
what is faith and how do we get it. When we get up in the
morning and get out of bed we have faith that the floor will be there to
meet our feet. We turn on the water faucet and we have faith that the
water will flow out. We go to the grocery store to buy our food and we
have faith that there will be food in the store. We have faith in all
sorts of daily things. We have faith when we are
small, that our parents will meet our every need. We have faith in
ourselves when we work and in the many things we can buy. We have faith
that the daylight will come and the night's darkness will fall. Why is
it so easy to have faith in all of these things, yet we have trouble
having faith in God. Do we not know that He
controls our very existence, the very next breath that we take is given
by Him. He controls the night and the day. He even gives us the talents
that makes our living at our workplace. Can we not look around us and
see all the beauty of this world. A rose in bloom, the trees and the
beautiful sky. Yet we forget to even praise Him for all these good
things in our lives. He sees us through many troubles and He heals our
bodies many times. The Bible tells us that
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see. (Hebrews 11:1) And it tells us that 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.
(Hebrews 11:6) He promises that if you
have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, 'Move
from here to there' and it will move and that nothing will be impossible
for you." (Matthew 17:20) Faith is not something that
we can be taught, or just say we believe. Faith is something that grows.
It helps if a child has grown up in a home that demonstrates faith, but
this same child must experience it for himself. First of all, faith is
believing that God is real. Faith is trusting God completely with all
things, knowing that He alone can be trusted. He can be trusted with all
aspects of our lives. As we grow in experience
with our Lord we do learn to have that total trust, that no matter how
the situation looks that our God is both interested and caring. He alone
will make the best possible decisions for our welfare when we place that
trust in Him. Sometimes it may even look like a situation is hopeless.
Yet our God is working for our good and this is a promise. And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called to His purpose. Romans 8:28 The secret here
is to all those who love Him. We grow in faith as we see
the Lord work in our lives and learn to recognize it. Things don't
happen by just luck. God is in control of all things. We grow as we look
back on situations that did seem hopeless and our God moves in and meets
our needs. Many times we are wronged and God moves in and uses this situation for our good. In Genesis 37, we read the story of Joseph who was the youngest son of Israel. His brothers were jealous of Joseph because they could see that their father favored him. They plotted to kill him and threw him into a pit to die. He was rescued by some traders who sold him as a slave to Pharaoh. Joseph was later put over all the land of Egypt because of his faith in God. He was able to forgive and help his brothers during their crisis. God can make good things even out of bad things. "And as for you
meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about
this present result, to preserve many people alive. Genesis 50:20 If you will examine your
own life, you will see how many times God has intervened in your own
times of crisis. There are many times we do not even recognize how He
has helped. Times when we may have been disappointed in perhaps a prayer
that we felt was unanswered. That very thing we ask for may have been
harmful for us or perhaps God had better things in mind. Sometimes
people are not healed because God knows the outcome in their life. He
may have saved them from something far worse. It may have even been used
to bring someone else to knowing Him. We can not possibly know
why God works in the way He does. But we can be assured that it will be
for our good. So faith is simply
believing in God, that He exists and He will make everything work for
our good. Faith is also being willing to trust Him completely as a child
trusts his parents. For He is our heavenly Father and wants what is best
for us in order that we grow. Faith is being willing to go, be and do
all that Jesus asks. Ask God for faith and He
will give it to you. It cannot be found within ourselves, but is a gift
from Him to all those desiring it. Fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 And the apostles said
to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" Luke 17:5 Let this be your prayer, for God to increase your faith!
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©GoBeDo 2004-2005 17 August 2005
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