Faith is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches Him must believe that He does exist and that He becomes a Rewarder to those who seek Him out. Hebrews 11:1 & 6

It is so interesting that I am writing this even as I am going through a trial of my faith, and a time when I feel that my faith is showing just how weak and wimpy it really is. For those of you who don't know me or my situation, let me just say that my family and I don't know where we will be living next month. The house we have been renting was foreclosed on, sold at auction, and is being put on the market by the bank. The mortgage on the house we are planning to rent has not yet been approved. And so, we find ourselves within a couple of weeks of moving and not knowing where we will be moving to. It’s stressful to say the least. And I wonder, where is my faith?

So, here I am examining FAITH as a person who is struggling with faith at the moment. I am not struggling with my faith in God as my Father, as the One who loves me, or as my Provider. But I am struggling more with what He is doing in my life at this season and
in this circumstance. In this need, is He God, my Provider, or is He God, my Sustainer in times of need? Would He be saying, “My grace is sufficient?” Is He providing the nice house we long for, or is He at work teaching me that I don't need all the long list of things American prosperity has taught me to accept as necessity? (Hmmmmm. Maybe I think too much and over analyze everything!)

Anyway, the above verses in Hebrews are the basis for my understanding of what faith is. From them I understand that FAITH is a firm confidence in the things that we
expectantly hope for: the things God has promised and the things we have been told are true in Scripture. The word here for “firm confidence” is hypostasis, a Greek word that was commonly used in business documents of the time as the basis of a guarantee of transactions It is important to note here that it isn’t so much about my faith as it is about the object of my faith, God. Just as in a business transaction, the contract itself is only as valuable as the integrity of the one you are contracting with.

Faith is also a confidence, acceptance, and belief in things that we cannot see. It’s rather like believing in gravity or the wind. “Faith apprehends as a real fact what is not revealed to the senses. It rests on that fact, acts upon it, and is upheld by it in the face of all that seems to contradict it.” Notice verse 11:27, where it says those who lived by faith “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”

So faith is a confidence in things that are not here yet (we haven’t received them physically as yet) and a conviction about the things that exist but we just can't see them. It is learning to walk or live according to the truth of God’s Word, even when we haven’t yet received and are not yet able to see. Matthew Henry said that faith is to the soul all that the senses are to the body.

From this "definition," it would seem that the things that we see and the things that we already have are not of faith, they don’t require faith. And, you know, that is the rub. I ask God to give me faith, to build my faith, but then I get upset when I don’t have or see all the things I “need.” Maybe I should be careful of what I ask for, it sounds a little like asking for more patience and then having one person after another getting on your last nerve.

Interestingly enough, Hebrews is very direct in saying, "All of these (the list that follows in Hebrews 11) had their merit attested because of their faith. Nevertheless, they did not receive what had been promised, because God had planned something better that would involve us, so that only with us would they be brought to the goal." It seems to imply that having enough faith is not a guarantee that we will get everything we hope for when we expect it. God may have something better in mind. God's thoughts and ways are so much higher and farther than ours, and we don't always quite understand what He is truly saying or what His timeline is for its fulfillment. Nevertheless, we are to believe if for no other reason then that it pleases Him.

By the way, take another look at the last paragraph. The Word says they “had their merit attested because of their faith.” What it is saying is that God testifies about their faith. All through Scripture we find God pointing out those who believed and who expressed their faith actively in their obedience. It seems that among other things, the Bible may also be God’s Brag Book. I hope that doesn’t sound sacrilegious. I know that all the wonders throughout the Bible are the work of God. Yet, it seems that God made sure a record was kept and a report was made to honor them for the things that they did in faith. Can you imagine God giving a testimony about you because you believed Him? Wow!

Verse 6 says that we must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him out. I guess we can’t have faith in His promises if we don’t believe that God exists, that seems like a given. But we also must believe that He is good, that He wants to do us good. We must believe that as we reach out to Him, He will be reaching out to us and that He will do us good. We must believe that His will for us is good.

Again, I am so like a child here, Daddy God says "I am taking you somewhere." And immediately I start, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" He says, "I am doing a new thing in your life." And, I begin asking, "Are You done yet? Am I done yet?"

I want to have faith. I want to believe and trust in God. I want to please Him by my faith. BUT I want everything NOW. I want my needs to all be met! I want my walk with Him to be smooth and easy. According to the definition of faith above, if I had all of this, if I could see Jesus sitting here beside me, where would my faith be? And if I didn't need faith, how could I please God?

i. Word Pictures in the New Testament, Archibald Thomas Robertson, QuickVerse.
ii. ibid
iii. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the New Testament, QuickVerse.
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God

Just some thoughts about God, His nature or character.

• Supreme over all - able and active in the world
• Bringing down the proud, greedy, 'important,' power-hungry
• Raising up, satisfying, sustaining, 'seeing' the lowly, humble, needy, the 'nobodies'
• Merciful - not only wanting to forgive, to help, to heal, but providing the legal means to deal with sin in order to be merciful and remain just
• He speaks - not some distant unknowable deity who remains invisible, untouchable, impersonal.  He speaks in personal words, whispers, stories, songs, love songs, sometimes warnings and discipline, but always personal.
• It isn't about living a 'godly' lifestyle, or doing great deeds, it is (His will for us is) about KNOWING Him, about listening to His heart and doing what He says because we love Him.
• He wants us to know and love Him, and He wants us to see more clearly the reality of life, the true values, the real weights and measures, what is really important, what really matters.

Just some of my random thoughts about our God.  

On my way home last night, I heard the following verse: "And in the 39th year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. 2 Chron. 16:12

Now before you get upset with me, I am not advocating the avoidance of all doctors!!

But it spoke to me of how often I neglect seeking the Lords help in my needs. I know that I am so slow to turn to God. I have this sense that whatever the issue is, it's my own fault, my sin, my lack of self-control, my carelessness, and so on and so forth. I think, if it is my fault, my failure, how can I ask the Lord to help me?

But isn't that exactly the point. I am weak! Maybe the lie is NOT that "I can't do it." It isn't that it is an excuse I use because I'm too lazy. Maybe the lie is "I am strong enough, I don't need God's help. I just need to try harder, exercise more self-control, want it more, stop being lazy."

I am not advocating that we treat God like a genie in a bottle. I don't want to just sit back and have Him solve all my problems while I eat grapes. But neither do I want to deny the weakness of my flesh and refuse to ask, seek, or knock from either pride or shame.

I want to trust the Lord God to show/tell me what I need to do even as He responds to my prayers as He sees fit.

I just felt that the verse above was one more reminder to ASK for my needs rather than just seeking man-made remedies, self-control, doctors, wise-men/wise-women, etc. Doesn't mean I won't go to the doctor, but that I will perhaps put more emphasis on seeking the Lord first and foremost in all things.

Love and blessings -- Evelyn

21¶  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;. (Col. 1:21 - 23)

There is so much directed at diverting us from the faith we once heard that was so simple and straight forward. We MUST stand firm, immovable in this simple yet so profound truth of our reconciliation to God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Beyond this, we seek to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God and to enjoy the great privilege of fellowship with Him that is now available to us. <3 span="">

Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Him

I'm B-A-C-K!!!  Don't know how long, but I hope I continue.

Today, I just want to share the following prayers from Ephesians that have just touched my heart so powerfully.  I want to pray these over and over for myself, for all my family, and for all the saints!!  How often we get so distracted by theology, eschatology, religiosity, and churchiosity, not to mention the day to day distractions of politics, earning a living, and family activities.

(I pray) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us, who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.  (Eph. 1:17-23)

I pray that from the treasures of His glory, God will empower you with inner strength by His Spirit, so that Christ may live in your hearts through your trusting.  Also, I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love, so that you, with all God's people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ's love, yes to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him Who by His power working in us is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine, to Him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ from generation to generation forever.
Amen (Eph. 3:16-21)

I love these prayers because that is the cry of my heart, to KNOW HIM!  To really understand Who He is and the wonder of His purposes, His will, His gifts, His love, His creation!

I pray this for you today, whoever you are!  If we truly had even a small concept of all that Christ has done for us and all that He has made available to each of us, could our hearts even contain the joy and gratitude we would be overcome with?

Anyway, this is the thought on my heart today and I wanted to share it with you.



Visit my other pages: A Day in the Life: http://ev-dayinthelife.blogspot.com/ Bible Studies: http://ev-study.blogspot.com/

After my study last night in Genesis, I feel I need to do a 'shout out' for the study book I use.  The name of the book is 'Search the Scriptures: A Three-Year Daily Devotional Guide to the Whole Bible', edited by Alan M Stibbs.  I would probably say that this is my second favorite book ever.

The book was recommended to me years ago, and I have been using it ever since.

I'll tell you why I love this book and why I highly recommend it.  Where other devotionals give you a passage of Scripture to read and then give you comments on that passage of Scripture for you to meditate on.  This book gives you the Scripture to read, and then it asks you some questions about what you read, occasionally giving reference to additional verses for you to consider as you answer the questions.  So, if fact, you are studying the Bible rather than just reading it devotionaly.  Now, that may sound as though I am saying you are simply going through a study program.  But in fact, as you dig into the Word for your study, your eyes are opened to the glory and greatness of our God and are moved to worship and praise as much if not more so than with the usual devotionals you might use.

The introduction of the book recommends you journal or write out your answers.  Oh my goodness, can I just say that this is part of the secret to this book.  Writing out the answers causes you to focus onto the subject and often leads you deeper into the question/answer than just a mental response would produce!  That was what happened to me last night.  As I am writing out my answer, I suddenly saw another aspect -- the greatest part of the whole thing -- of the issue that I would otherwise have missed.  I was totally blessed by that deeper insight.

Another thing I appreciate about this book is that it doesn't start in the Old Testament or in the New.  The book has the Scriptures divided and organized in a completely unorthodox manner.  Each section is about 2-weeks long, so many of the books of the Bible are divided up into 2 or more sections.  Also, the sections are alternated between OT and NT, so you don't get bogged down at any point.

Now you might think that this is counter-intuitive.  It is, but it works.  If you think about it, the Bible is one book.  One complete and harmonious volume.  So, even as you work back and forth through the Scriptures, each section builds on the past sections and in each section there are references to other Scriptures.  You come away with a renewed sense of the unity and harmony of all of it.

As a matter of fact, last night's 'Aha!' moment was from an OT section.  The question related to the OT situation but then referenced a NT passage.  Oh my goodness!  It was absolutely amazing, as though the Author had specifically intended those two passages to be linked!  I was so elated!

Oh, one other thing I should mention.  The sections and order of the Scriptures the book takes you through is well thought out, especially for someone new to studying the Bible.  The first two sections are from Luke and Genesis.  It starts out with the basics and then finishes off with the more prophetic books, with Revelation as the finale.

So, I just wanted to put this out there.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  It has blessed me greatly over the years and aided my understanding and appreciation for God's Word.  Oh, and I will add that when I first began to use this book, I was a total novice at reading the Bible.  I think like most people, I didn't know where to start.  And just reading it, I came away saying, "Oh, that was nice."  But I really had no idea whatsoever as to what the portion I had read was really about and how it really made a difference to my life, my understanding of the world, and my understanding of my God.  This book revolutionized Bible study for me.

Love and blessings,
Ev

Satisfaction

In the world is the unquenchable desire for MORE, for what we do not have.  We want more power, more wealth, more experience, more extreme, more control, more fame, more things, more knowledge.  MORE.  We are never satisfied, never quite 'there.'

God provides that very satisfaction, the fulfillment of all our hearts are longing for.  It is HIM!  All striving can cease in this satisfaction; the joy and the wonder of His presence.  Recognizing Him even as (wonder of wonders) He recognizes, regards, notices, LOVES us!!

Lord, I ask You to reveal Yourself to us, each one of us, very personally!

Love and blessings,
Ev