Faith!!

FAITH!!

So we hear this word all the time and don’t even think about what it means to us. I know we as New Hope people are very familiar with the responsive reading about faith... Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen... blah blah blah, elders something, Abraham something else, right?

Well faith is ever so important to us! I actually recently have become familiar with the Message version (also known as the gangster version, jk) of the bible. Hebrews 11 here says: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Wow. I had to read it over and over again to truly get the full meaning... This faith in God is the FUNDAMENTAL fact of existence that makes life worth living. Your faith in God, without it, life isn’t worth living. It shows a lot about why a lot of people reach their dreams and achieve their goals and still have NOTHING. No happiness, no joy, no fulfillment, nothing at all. The truth is, without your relationship with God, life just isn’t worth it. Its boring, dull, worthless, even. ( If you are feeling a little dull, see if you have let your faith slip a little or if you have put it in someone or something else) So many people are suicidal and depressed, why? We were CREATED TO BRING GLORY TO GOD. God literally created every single thing as a manifestation of his glory. Every creation points back to the father (Psalm 19:1). So if you don't even know that that is your purpose, it is easy to fight against it and get farther away from the only thing that makes life worth it. 

Ok so this faith that I am talking about is not only the kind of faith that God rewards after you have asked him for something that you feel is in his will(James 1:6). It is also this faith that even though your plans did not go as expected, God loves you and he is only doing things for your good... (I know, I just love Romans 8:28). This faith is the faith that God knows what he is doing and he is more than powerful and loving enough to take care of his daughter (or son) It is faith in God’s CHARACTER. I was reading a book by A.W. Tozer called The Attributes of God (Our parents did a study on it that we didn’t get to do in sunday school... I suggest you get the book from them, like I did :) )  It was very interesting book about who God REALLY is.One of my favorite points is that whatever God is, he is infinitely so. So if God is loving, God is infinitely loving. If God is merciful and righteous and holy, all of these things, he is infinitely so. His love, his glory, his wonderfulness never run dry!!! So don’t worry about things not working out for your good, you serve a God who is infinitely good! He is infinitely powerful to work things out in your favor as well. 

So next time your plans don’t work out, remember to have faith in God’s character and his love for you. Trust that if he kept something from you, it isn’t because he isn’t as good as you thought he was. It is because this thing was not as good for you as YOU thought it was. God has better plans for us than we have for ourselves, so instead of us making up our own plans then going to God and asking him to bless them, we should go to God with an open heart and ask him what HIS plans are for us and trust him and his direction ( Jeremiah 29:11).

Love you guys :)

- Lise, A4C

P.S. Having trouble understanding the Bible? Try a different version, or even switching back and forth between versions to get the full understanding. I personally recommend the gangster, I mean, The Message version of the Bible for when you are REALLY not understanding something :)