Thursday 14 July 2016

You, God, and Faith

You, God, and Faith
Raphael Simon said,
“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” Raphael Simon.
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
The book of Deuteronomy states,
Love the LORD your God
 with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  
Impress them on your children.
 Talk about them when you sit at home
 and when you walk along the road, 
when you lie down and when you get up.  
Tie them as symbols on your hands
 and bind them on your foreheads.  
Write them on the doorframes of your houses 
and on your gates. 
                                                                              Deuteronomy 6:5-9
To know Jesus as one’s personal Saviour. To allow Christ into one’s life and fall in love with God is indeed the most incredible thing an individual can do.
The writer of Proverbs tells us,
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”Proverbs 3:5,6.
God indeed loves us. The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans states,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.
God loved us so much that He in the form of His one and Only Son Jesus entered the world to point us to Himself.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
God exists and God loves all people.
Most people in the world today believe there is a God. However they do not have faith in Him. Something God asks of all people.
In my previous Blog post I quoted the writer of Hebrews as telling us,
“And 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.
Faith is something that has been exercised by all of God’s prophets in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”Hebrews 11:8,9
Abraham believed God existed, but he didn’t stop there he exercised his faith in God by doing what God told him to do even though he couldn’t see what his actions would bring about. 
The writer of Hebrews defines faith, saying,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 
and certain of what we do not see.” 
 Hebrews 11:1.
This what Abraham did. He was sure of what he hoped for and certain that God would bring about what he could not see. Abrahams faith was not simply intellectual.  He truly believed.
Do you simply believe intellectually that God exists or do you have actually have faith in him as the writer of Hebrews defines faith? I ask this question because it is by faith that we get to heaven.
The apostle Paul tells us,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith
—and this not from yourselves, 
it is the gift of God—  
not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
Ephesians 2:8,9.
Getting to heaven is a free gift of God. It is by His grace we get there. Still it is only through faith that we can receive that grace.
Jesus speaking of himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
Speaking to Martha Jesus gave us all a question we must answer saying,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
So my question is do you simply believe intellectually there is a God and leave things at that. OR do you truly have faith in God and that Jesus is His one and only Son who died for your sins.
Please think about it. 

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