Word for Today, Mon, 31 Mar 2003: Faith: In the Sun or the Son?

#1 · March 31, 2003, 3:50 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on March 31, 2003, 3:50 pm
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Neil Anderson writes a good message today about faith. Most of
us realize that faith is one of the pillars, cornerstones,
foundations - the very essence upon which Christianity is based.
We call it the Christian faith. The Bible says, "Without faith,
it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6A, NIV).

"1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).

Every day, we unthinkingly place our faith in many things. We
believe that the sun will come up (or at least there will be "the
next day". We believe that our bed will hold us, and when we get
up, the ground will support us, and for most people, our feet
will allow us to stand. We believe that we'll be able to take
our next breath, we believe that the food in our refrigerator
will remain edible, and the list goes on.

What do we believe about the things we haven't always experienced
yet, particularly the things we cannot see? Now that's where the
real test of faith comes, as so clearly articulated by Hebrews
11:1.

I believe that God loves me, and that He cares about everyone
(regardless of whether we, as individuals, think that we - or
anyone else - is lovable or not). I believe that God has a plan
for each person's life, and I also believe that God already knows
the choices that each of us will make. I believe that God's
grace is available to everyone, but I also believe that not
everyone will accept God's grace, not because it isn't freely
offered ( it IS) but because there's a choice involved, and not
everyone will accept the freely offered gift! Incredible, isn't
it?

Why wouldn't anyone want to offer a gift that God freely offers
to each one of us? Well, I don't know for sure, I can only
guess. I'd guess that some would think that there are some
"strings attached", there are some conditions, or possibly that
the gift is undeserved. I can certainly speak to the second
item. The gift IS undeserved, there is nothing any of us (no
matter how good or bad we are) can do to earn a gift. In fact,
thinking that way undermines the definition of a true gift,
doesn't it? For example, if I offered you some gift, but only if
you'd shovel my driveway for a month, that wouldn't be a gift at
all, now would it? In the same way, the free gift of God's grace
to us, the gift of saving us from our sins (because His Son Jesus
Christ paid the full price and bore the full brunt of our sins)
wouldn't be a gift if we somehow had to do something to earn it.

So I ask you today to consider faith in the One (Jesus Christ)
who gave everything for us, and trust in Him alone instead of the
things you do. Nothing else will save you, anyway, and His gift
is complete, when it comes to matters of eternity.

I suppose that raises the question of eternity, and whether or
not you believe in it. There we go again, so I ask you this: Do
you believe in the God of the Bible, and do you believe what the
Bible says? That's going to determine what kind of faith you
really have.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

AD| Budgeting Made Easy-Organize & Get Control of Your Finances!
l.salemweb.net/bmapdev403na
____________________________

NEIL ANDERSON'S DAILY IN CHRIST
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

March 31

THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF LIFE

And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God" (Mark
11:22).

The sun is perhaps the most credible object of faith for the
world. It appears to be immutable. It has always been there, 24
hours of every day, 365 days a year. Without the sun, people
couldn't live. If the sun didn't rise tomorrow morning, what
would happen to the world's faith? All of humanity would be
thrown into confusion.

If we have such great faith in the sun, why don't we have even
greater faith in the Son who made the sun and all the rest of the
fixed order of the universe?

Our faith is in God. Genuine faith is born out of a knowledge of
the will of God and exists only to fulfill that will. Faith is
not a means of getting man's will done in heaven; it is the means
of getting God's will done on earth.

After hearing me speak on spiritual conflicts, a young man came
by to talk about his personal life. He said he'd had several
experiences of not being able to speak the name of Jesus aloud. I
asked him about his faith. He thought he had made a decision for
Christ years earlier in an evangelistic meeting. He tried living
with some American Indians to continue his spiritual journey, but
that proved to be disastrous. He finally ended up living in a
pastor's home where he was helped with the assurance of his
salvation. The pastor encouraged him to just go live by faith.

The young man said to me, "I've been trying to live by faith for
three years, and it has been one trial after another."

"Faith in what?" I asked.

He didn't know how to respond. This young man was trying to live
by faith in faith. But faith itself is not a valid object. The
only valid object for faith is God and the revelation we have of
Him in His Word. Faith is the operating principle of life. The
only difference between Christian and non-Christian faith is the
object. God must be the object of our faith.

Lord God, I place my faith in You alone today. Help me not to
allow anyone or anything to take Your place as the object of my
faith.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.1.293748.
-----------
Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.2.293748.
-----------
To read current World news stories, National news stories, and
commentaries, visit
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.3.293748
-----------
For Copyright Terms visit
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.4.293748

FREE Christian Book
l.salemweb.net/swnoffer0203/UMNA

____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________

* Copyright (c) 2002 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content
Providers. All rights reserved.

Crosswalk.com is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a
division of Salem Communications.

Please visit our other websites at:

Oneplace.com
www.oneplace.com

SermonSearch.com
www.sermonsearch.com

TheFish.com
www.thefish.com

____________________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
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Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Neil Anderson writes a good message today about faith. Most of
us realize that faith is one of the pillars, cornerstones,
foundations - the very essence upon which Christianity is based.
We call it the Christian faith. The Bible says, "Without faith,
it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6A, NIV).

"1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).

Every day, we unthinkingly place our faith in many things. We
believe that the sun will come up (or at least there will be "the
next day". We believe that our bed will hold us, and when we get
up, the ground will support us, and for most people, our feet
will allow us to stand. We believe that we'll be able to take
our next breath, we believe that the food in our refrigerator
will remain edible, and the list goes on.

What do we believe about the things we haven't always experienced
yet, particularly the things we cannot see? Now that's where the
real test of faith comes, as so clearly articulated by Hebrews
11:1.

I believe that God loves me, and that He cares about everyone
(regardless of whether we, as individuals, think that we - or
anyone else - is lovable or not). I believe that God has a plan
for each person's life, and I also believe that God already knows
the choices that each of us will make. I believe that God's
grace is available to everyone, but I also believe that not
everyone will accept God's grace, not because it isn't freely
offered ( it IS) but because there's a choice involved, and not
everyone will accept the freely offered gift! Incredible, isn't
it?

Why wouldn't anyone want to offer a gift that God freely offers
to each one of us? Well, I don't know for sure, I can only
guess. I'd guess that some would think that there are some
"strings attached", there are some conditions, or possibly that
the gift is undeserved. I can certainly speak to the second
item. The gift IS undeserved, there is nothing any of us (no
matter how good or bad we are) can do to earn a gift. In fact,
thinking that way undermines the definition of a true gift,
doesn't it? For example, if I offered you some gift, but only if
you'd shovel my driveway for a month, that wouldn't be a gift at
all, now would it? In the same way, the free gift of God's grace
to us, the gift of saving us from our sins (because His Son Jesus
Christ paid the full price and bore the full brunt of our sins)
wouldn't be a gift if we somehow had to do something to earn it.

So I ask you today to consider faith in the One (Jesus Christ)
who gave everything for us, and trust in Him alone instead of the
things you do. Nothing else will save you, anyway, and His gift
is complete, when it comes to matters of eternity.

I suppose that raises the question of eternity, and whether or
not you believe in it. There we go again, so I ask you this: Do
you believe in the God of the Bible, and do you believe what the
Bible says? That's going to determine what kind of faith you
really have.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

AD| Budgeting Made Easy-Organize & Get Control of Your Finances!
l.salemweb.net/bmapdev403na
____________________________

NEIL ANDERSON'S DAILY IN CHRIST
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

March 31

THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF LIFE

And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God" (Mark
11:22).

The sun is perhaps the most credible object of faith for the
world. It appears to be immutable. It has always been there, 24
hours of every day, 365 days a year. Without the sun, people
couldn't live. If the sun didn't rise tomorrow morning, what
would happen to the world's faith? All of humanity would be
thrown into confusion.

If we have such great faith in the sun, why don't we have even
greater faith in the Son who made the sun and all the rest of the
fixed order of the universe?

Our faith is in God. Genuine faith is born out of a knowledge of
the will of God and exists only to fulfill that will. Faith is
not a means of getting man's will done in heaven; it is the means
of getting God's will done on earth.

After hearing me speak on spiritual conflicts, a young man came
by to talk about his personal life. He said he'd had several
experiences of not being able to speak the name of Jesus aloud. I
asked him about his faith. He thought he had made a decision for
Christ years earlier in an evangelistic meeting. He tried living
with some American Indians to continue his spiritual journey, but
that proved to be disastrous. He finally ended up living in a
pastor's home where he was helped with the assurance of his
salvation. The pastor encouraged him to just go live by faith.

The young man said to me, "I've been trying to live by faith for
three years, and it has been one trial after another."

"Faith in what?" I asked.

He didn't know how to respond. This young man was trying to live
by faith in faith. But faith itself is not a valid object. The
only valid object for faith is God and the revelation we have of
Him in His Word. Faith is the operating principle of life. The
only difference between Christian and non-Christian faith is the
object. God must be the object of our faith.

Lord God, I place my faith in You alone today. Help me not to
allow anyone or anything to take Your place as the object of my
faith.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.1.293748.
-----------
Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.2.293748.
-----------
To read current World news stories, National news stories, and
commentaries, visit
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.3.293748
-----------
For Copyright Terms visit
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.14.11021.4.293748

FREE Christian Book
l.salemweb.net/swnoffer0203/UMNA

____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________

Crosswalk.com is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a
division of Salem Communications.

Please visit our other websites at:

Oneplace.com
http://www.oneplace.com

SermonSearch.com
http://www.sermonsearch.com

TheFish.com
http://www.thefish.com

____________________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
platinum.yahoo.com