November 20-Faith

Happy Wednesday. Last night my Circle of friends got together for fellowship and book study (we are reading Defined together, a great book by the way.) Last night, we went over chapter nine on faith “You are Able to Test Your Faith.” The point of the chapter is that we can be sure that Chist has saved us and that the Holy Spirit abides within us. If we are not sure, we may not have been transformed by the renewing of the Spirit. One passage in the book puts it like this:”as God says, salvation is a gift from Him, but it’s not automatic. Our relationship with God is always on His terms, not ours. We don’t choose how we prefer to be saved or how we’ll relate to him. We’re talking about eternity here; this is serious. 


Wow. That seems a little heavy for this early in the morning, doesn’t it? But our faith, is a heavy subject. It IS the most serious subject of anything in our lives We aren’t afraid to talk seriously to our friends and family about big decisions concerning marriage or careers because “it’s a really big deal” but how much bigger deal is eternity? These lives are temporary—as Paul says just a vapor then gone. But the next life? It’s forever. 


“who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:33-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬


Reading through that makes me want to put on my big girl pants and get brave. Don’t you? I think what’s important for us to remember is they were people just like us. If you notice, their power came “through faith” not through some mighty power or divine, miracle, but through faith. Wow, right? Can we ever overstate the importance of our faith?


Lord thank you for loving us. Thank you that your love so completely transforms us to the point we can know without a shadow of a doubt that you are living and working in us. And Lord even though we know we can always rest in your salvation, help us to never treat it lightly for it came at great cost. Please teach us to never be satisfied with where we are but to continually strive to be more like you. Help us to reach out to those around us, making you famous and your name glorious. What a great, wonderful Father you are! Hallelujah to the Lamb. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear one,

Pam


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