Sermon remnants from Aug 15th.
Why do we experience trials and hardship? I thought God saved us to be powerful, as a benefit and byproduct of my redemption. So God, why should we go through “the going through”? Jesus responded that, “In this world you will have tribulation …” I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)
1 Peter 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. NLT
What is the meaning of biblical faith? We ask because faith is what we all need. If it is to regain health after a serious diagnosis that we need, a relationship remake, the ability to excel, to compete or to just “stay alive”, we need faith. So how does God say we can get more of what we need??
Especially as faith is defined by Hebrews 11 putting a huge concept into a few words: Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” NRSV
A.W. Tozer’s explanation for Hebrews 11:1 is “Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent.” Faith is not believing in something that is not actually there.
Or Jim Wallis says, ” Faith is believing in spite of the evidence and then watching the evidence change.”
Biblical faith believes God when God tells us there is a reality, which we cannot see.
Faith is just to keep your eyes on God who controls circumstances — not to gaze on the impossible circumstances themselves.
Faith is not in our prayers. Faith is not in the thing we want or need. Faith is in God…so keep your eyes and thoughts and hopes in God.
II Corinthians 5:7 says: We live by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith not by sight. That sounds simple enough. But for some reason, it is hard to do. Our misconceptions about Faith are so strong and overpowering.
Faith is NOT a blind leap in the dark. You don’t need to totally ignore logic and reason in order to believe in God. The fact is, believing there is NO God requires an unreasonable kind of faith.
Biblical faith does not believe that God will do what WE say. Biblical Faith knows that God will do what HE says. By faith, we rest on the promises of God — no matter what happens.
I love 1 John 5:14: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” So have confidence approaching God, ask according to God’s will, God hears us and answers us.
