One More Thought on Faith

Job 13:15-16
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him; but I will maintain my ways before Him.
16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before Him.

True Faith…
Job desired to ‘reason with God’. He desired that God would ‘explain’ things to him. When God visited Job in the “whirlwind” He required answers of Job – a lot of questions and in those questions Job found his ‘explanation of the unreasonable’. Job’s faith in God was not one of reason; rather, Job believed in the goodness and righteousness of God in spite of what was happening in his life, in his flesh. Faith is not reasonable – faith is believing in spite of all reasoning. Faith believes the unbelievable.
Peter walked on water until he realized he was doing the impossible. Peter took his eyes off of Faith and looked at his fleshly feet sinking beneath the waves. Peter was sinking because he could not believe the impossible, the unreasonable, the unbelievable.
Our walk with God defies the ‘reasoning of men’; our faith in Him – in His word – cannot be explained; it is not a matter of reasoning. It is a matter of faith – ‘Now Faith’; ‘By Faith’, ‘Through Faith’ and ‘True Faith’.

Thoughts on Faith

Hebrews 11:3
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.

Through Faith…

"Things are not as they appear." I remember how often my mom told me this truth, that things aren't alway as they seem and we just need to wait for the truth to be made known. Somehow as a young person that was not so comforting, since I was dealing with the here and now and how things appeared at the time. As I have grown older and wiser, I have realized that mom was simply paraphrasing Hebrews 11:3. Waiting for the truth to be made known is "through faith" simply moving forward and trusting God. Our finances, our children, all those things we see with our own eyes in the here and now are test of our "through faith". We wonder how we will ever see our prayers answered when we just can't see it coming to pass. We need to ask God to give us 'faith vision'- eyes that look beyond what is happening right now and see what God sees just a few miles on down the road.

“Through Faith” is the vehicle that carries us forward when the road we travel becomes a trail and the trail seems to disappear. “Through Faith” carries us on realizing that because God is leading us we can follow the path He is cutting ahead of us. “Through Faith” simply follows the trail markers. “Through Faith” is the all terrain vehicle that moves forward, over and through the obstacles to our progress toward God-set goals and destinations. "Through faith" allows us to see beyond those things that appear to be and view the truth of what God has set in motion and believe that what He has promised will come to pass.

A Few Thoughts on Faith - "By Faith"



Heb 11:8-12; 17-19
8 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. 9 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; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Abraham’s faith in God surpassed reason:
He went out without knowing where he was going…
He and Sara became parents when they were far beyond the natural ability to do so…
He offered up his only son in obedience, to the seeming detriment of God’s promise to make him the father of many.

By Faith…..

“By faith” is the route we travel toward goals set by God for our lives. Abraham had no map when he set out in search of the ‘city not made by hands’. He had a goal, a target to reach for, but the only direction he had was his faith in a promise made by a God he desired to believe and please.
“By Faith” is the vehicle by which we will attain our goals. When we do not understand and have no road map to follow, faith in God’s promise requires only our commitment to follow as He leads us.
“By Faith” is the act of saying, “I have decided to follow Jesus – I will not turn back – I will trust Him to lead me in the path I should go.

Thoughts on Faith

Hebrews 11:1-2
1 Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

Now Faith….
“Now Faith” has substance; it is revealed in the things we hope for though we may not be able to ‘see’ it’s reality. “Now Faith” is the space ( ) we leave for God to fill. It is evidence that we believe the promise that God has given us concerning His plan to prosper us. “Now Faith” is evidence of our trust in His Purpose for our existence. “Now Faith” rejoices in those things we cannot yet see.

It seems so simple, just have faith! To have faith implies belief. It seems so simple to just say 'I believe' and yet it is not simple at all. Words are easy to come by - we are all wired to speak. Faith is more than saying the words, "I believe". Faith is 'allowing' God to fill a vacuum in our lives with His own will as we hope for fulfillment of His promises. Intellectually we may believe, but faith puts aside our intellect, our own abilities and leaves space for God.