Your Faith

 Your faith

In the book of Exodus we read,

“And God spoke all these words: 

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 

“You shall have no other gods before me. 

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,” Exodus 20:1-5.

Do you have other gods? Looking at the United States over the past year I question if many claiming to be Christians leaders and others claiming to be Christians have truly put their trust in God. 

Sadly it seems to me that other things are being mixed with their faith in God. First among them their rights as written in the constitution. Others mix their faith, with their belief in a particular political party or individual politicians.

As Christians we need to be careful who or what we put first in our lives. We as Christians cannot hitch ourselves to anyone or anything however good and noble they might be.

God must always be supreme in our lives. We cannot mix our faith with anything period. Either we are 100% for God or we are not. There is no gray areas. As Jesus said,

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24.

So where is your faith? 

Please think about it.

Your Faith

Your Faith
            The Psalmist wrote,

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

 He leads me beside quiet waters, 

He restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, 

for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; 

my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. 

                                                                            Psalm 23

Do you have complete faith in God?
The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

                                                        Hebrews 11:1

Martin Luther King jr. said,

“Faith is taking the first step 

even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

                                                 Martin Luther King, Jr.

Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“To trust God in the light is nothing, 

but to trust Him in the dark—

that is faith.” 

                                             Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

It can be very easy to confess being a Christian in the good times when life is easy and trouble free. However it is a different for many when life becomes difficult. When trouble and persecution come along.
God however requires faith in the bad times as well as the good times. The apostle Paul writing,
“Here is a trustworthy saying:

if we died with him, we will also live with him; 

if we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we disown him, he will also disown us; 

if we are faithless, 

he will remain faithful, 

for he cannot disown himself.

                                          2 Timothy 11-13

Thus the question is do you have complete faith in God?
The writer of Hebrews reminding 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

Please think about it.

Your Faith

Your Faith.
Job said,
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”  
                                                                                                                                      Job 13:15.
When I read this verse from the book of Job I couldn’t help but think Job had what my Jewish friends called “chutzpah”.
Job was so confident in his faith and his actions with respect to God that he was willing to defend himself directly to God’s face. That takes confidence!
I wonder how many of us have that kind of confidence in our faith. Are we as secure in our faith in our actions toward God as Job obviously was?
Think carefully about your life and lifestyle. Only you truly know you.
It has been said each individual has many faces. There is the face we present to the world in general. The face most people see. The one they know us by.
Then there is the face we let our true friends see. A face with a few flaws and foibles , flaws and foibles our friends accept, even like.
Then there is the face that only you see. It is comprised of all you are. Your imperfections, your fears, likes and dislikes. It is your inner being that is truly you. This is what only you and God see.
When you stand before God. When he looks at your life. At all you were as a person what will he say.
Job was so confident that he’d lived a life acceptable to God that he could say,
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”  
                                                                                                                                           Job 13:15.
While it is true we are saved through the grace of God. Through faith in Christ Jesus, and true believers in Christ have their sins washed away. Thus allowing them to enter heaven. Christians will still be judged by God with respect to our actions in this life.
So what will God say about your life.
Having faith in God and accepting the saving Grace Christ offers should only be a beginning for Christians. Our faith should spur us on to do good works for Christ.
James the half brother of Christ wrote,
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” 
                                                                                                                  James 2:14-20. 
 What are you doing for God. Are your actions pleasing to God? Could you stand like Job was willing to do and say, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”  
  Please think carefully about it.