| HAVE FAITH IN GOD ! |
HAVE FAITH IN GOD !
God's Love inspires His people to have faith in Him.
Such Love brings surrender of our pride and rebellion.
As we enter His Presence, let us repent of our sins of omission and commission, then ask God to give us the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and revelation we need now, in Jesus name, amen.
Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
(Matthew 22:37-40)
Why did Jesus Christ give this answer?
Only when we love God first with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, can we love our neighbor.
How do we love God?
Jesus said in the Holy Scriptures that "If you love me you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15)
To obey Jesus' commandments is proof of your unconditional love for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are three distinct persons, yet one God.
Here is the key:
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8)
If we do not have an intimate relationship with God, we do not know God.
The only way to be sure we love God is by obeying His commandments. We must seek His Presence as the 'pearl of great price' that Jesus described. We have the amazing invitation from our Heavenly Father to approach Him as a little child.
"Unless you become as a child, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven."
True worship grows from this desire to know God, and humble willingness to 'die' to one's own ego. There is no other path to relationship with our Creator. We must die to self, that we may live to God . . . and Yeshua/Jesus is our example.
The new film, "Son of God", can be our open door to the Presence of our God and Father. We urge you to view this inspired film - open the door of your heart, and begin the divine relationship which shall grow, blossom, and last through eternity!
To enhance and continually grow our intimate relationship with God we are blessed to meet with God's people for the following activities on a daily, weekly or monthly basis:
Personal devotions (prayer and reading the Bible on a daily basis) and fasting, with personal praise and worship
Group Bible Study
Cell Group
Sunday Corporate worship services
Corporate Bible study
Cultivating an intimate relationship with God enables us to love Him. We strengthen that love as we obey His commandments.
The disciple of Jesus Christ must put Him above everything and everyone.
To put it another way, the gospel of James says "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)
Faith proves itself by works. This proves the love of God present in the life of the disciple of Jesus Christ.
What does God's Word say about faith in the life of the 'saints' of Jesus Christ?
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Roman 11:1)
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Roman 11:6)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21)
What did Jesus mean when He said to His disciples,
"Have Faith in God"?
In the Old Testament, the 17th chapter of Jeremiah verses 7 and 8 explain what Jesus meant when said to his disciples to "Have Faith in God." He said, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ?
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Roman 10:9)
Having faith in Jesus Christ, according to Holy Scripture comes in two parts. That is, we must
1. believe in our heart and
2. confess with our mouth
("Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21)) that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived on the earth as a man, died for the sins of mankind, went into hell and took the keys of death and hell away from satan. Then on the third day He rose from the grave.
Consider these biblical personalities . . .
The Centurion
Now when He ('Jesus") concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, "for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue."
Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!" And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick. (Luke 7:1-10)
The Centurion practiced his faith in God in two parts. He believed by faith with his whole heart that Jesus Christ could heal his servant. Secondly, he sent his friends to Jesus to say that he was not worthy to come to Jesus or for Him to enter under his roof. However, with great faith in God he said, "Just say the Word and my servant will be healed". The Centurion made his faith in God come alive by believing in his heart and then speaking with his mouth what he believed only God could do for him.
The woman with the issue of blood
And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." But Jesus said, "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me." When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." Luke 8:43-48 (NASB)
The woman with the issue of blood believed first with her whole heart that Jesus Christ could heal her of her sickness. She also spoke with her mouth . . .
"if I can touch the border of His garment, I would be healed." She practiced her faith in God in two parts. She believed in her heart and spoke it with her mouth. And because she believed and spoke, God honored her faith in Him by instantly healing her. He will do the same thing for you if you ask Him to. Remember, God does not play favorites. (Acts 10:34)
Daniel
(Men who wanted to destroy Daniel had tricked the king into signing a decree that no one could pray to anyone other than to the king.)
"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days."
(Daniel 6:10)
Daniel believed that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of his forefathers was his only source of eternal life. Daniel had an intimate relationship with God through daily prayer. The Scripture says that "he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom." He trusted and put his hope in God. When he knew that the decree was signed, he went home and prayed with his windows open towards Jerusalem. All could see that he was not ashamed to pray to his God.
Daniel also practiced his faith in God in two parts. He believed, and had an intimate relationship with Him on a daily basis. Then during his prayer time he gave thanks to God by speaking it with his mouth.
Let us always remember, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Proverbs 18:21) It is our tongue that shapes our destiny in God. We can use it to bless or to curse our life. We are to choose what God has chosen for us. LIFE! (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego
We remember the story of the king's statue, with the command that all bow down to worship it when they hear the musical command.
The three Hebrew young men refused, and . . .
"Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king,
'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.'" (Daniel 3:16-18)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's response to king Nebuchadnezzar shows us:
They loved God first with all their heart, soul and mind. (Their actions revealed their love for God.)
They trusted and put their hope and confidence in their God.
They acted in faith by first believing in their God and declaring that God is able to deliver them from the burning fiery furnace.
They loved, believed, professed, trusted, and said that "God is able and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king, But if not, we will not serve or worship the golden image."
These young men did not try to put words in God's mouth, but ultimately left it up to their God to deliver them or not deliver them when they said to the king "But if not."
So to sum up, we must
1. believe in our heart,
2. speak it with our mouth,
3. and obey the commandments of Jesus Christ."
History has revealed that the greatest heroes of faith are not those who are healed or delivered by God. Indeed, it is those who practice their faith in God no matter what the outcome - whether or not they are delivered or healed. We still trust and hope in our God. We will live in love and hope, with joy and confidence even to death. Then . . .
"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."
(2 Corinthians 5:8)
Most importantly, let us remember that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave on the third day proved that Jesus Christ is God. He is the "Living" God and not the God of the dead.
The book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter and the 1st verse says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
The word "Now" is important because God expects all His faithful children to practice faith in the present.
There is no part of the Christian life more important than having faith in God right now in our present - in our today.
In His Awesome and Holy Presence,
Saint Wisdom