Live by Faith

Romans 1:16-17

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,^[a] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

If you have ever trusted in the Lord to be your Savior, believed that you are a sinner, repented of your sins, and asked for forgiveness, you did that by faith.  I did that by faith at a young age.  If we have indeed asked God to be Lord of our lives, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, then we have demonstrated that we have faith.  However, our faith should not end there, we must daily be reminded that our hope, our trust, all that we are, remains in Him. It is the only hope that we have in a troubled world.  Live by faith, not by sight.  Remember that God remains in control.

Seek Him and know that He and He alone is worthy to place your faith in.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw3zIA1NJU0

 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Faith or Disaster?

Luke 18:1-8

English Standard Version (ESV)

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

As I read this I had to think back on those things that I have persistently prayed for and must admit it has not been for my adversaries and that justice will be done.  Often times we try to take care of that on our own.  We may speak ill of others to our friends and families, maybe publicly or on social media.  What we should be doing is praying to our Father in Heaven for them and for ourselves that we may wait upon Him rather than take action on our own.  Now, that’s easy to say but harder to put into practice.  My challenge is to remember to pray for those who persecute Christians, that God’s justice will soon be revealed.  Praying for the strength of those being persecuted, asking for justice, and waiting on the Lord, these are keys to a life filled with faith.  If we continue in this way, the Son of Man will find faith on earth rather than disaster when He returns.

Seek Him and know that He is Just.

Seeing Him with all my heart,

Sheila

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Have Faith

Luke 17:5-6

English Standard Version (ESV)

Increase Our Faith

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

As I read this I got caught on the fact that Jesus that if we have faith that we can uproot a tree and thought, how little faith I have.  Just the other day I prayed for clear skies so my daughter’s community outdoor event would not be rained out but yet it rained and we were all having to help get people and food out of the rain while it thundered and lightened above us.  Did I not have enough faith or did God just have other plans for the picnic?  When I read  this again today, I had another thought!  The first part of the verse you read that the apostles were asking the Lord for faith.  His answer to that is that we need to just do it.  This is not something he is going to just give us but rather it is a work of action on our part.  Just like the Nike commercial, “Just Do It!”  The responsibility of our faith is on our shoulders not God’s shoulders.  As you seek Him, live a life that allows your faith to increase as you use it for His glory.

Seeking Him with all my heart, 

 Sheila

Contagious with Joyful Praise

 Habakkuk 2:4English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.[1]

Puffer fish are slow moving, clumsy fish that can be found in the ocean.  When a predator approaches, a puffer fish will expand in size taking in water and air to make itself huge and unappealing to the predator. If a predator does catch one of these fish before they expand, they will find that the fish is extremely poisonous and was a mistake to eat![2]  I believe this is a good example of a prideful person.  When attacked they may puff themselves up trying to repel the negative comments coming their way.  If, on the other hand, people unaware of the prideful soul, connect with them, they may only to find out this prideful person is poisonous, nasty, and dangerous.

I’ve never considered myself a prideful person but the more I examine faith and pride, I tend to lean heavier on the pride side than the faith side.  If I am attacked or rejected I may not puff myself up but I do start to wonder what is wrong with me.  Why am I being attacked?  Why doesn’t anyone like me?  Why am I not good enough?  A person who has faith and depends on God rather than their own actions will be content and joyful in the situation that can bring a prideful person down.

As I seek Him more and more, I want my faith to shine above my pride.  I don’t want to be poisonous with prideful venom but rather contagious with joyful praise.

Seek Him and know that faith will get you through.  Wait patiently on the Lord as He works amazing wonders in your life.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

---

[1]https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Habakkuk2%3A4&version=ESV

[2] http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/pufferfish/

We are not Worthy but He is Willing

Luke 7:2-10

English Standard Version (ESV)

² Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

If you lookup the word “Worthy” on a Google search you will find lots of sayings that indicate that we are worthy.  The centurion in Luke 7: 5 had it correct when he said, “I am not worthy”. 

In our world today we seem to think that God owes us everything.  We tend to believe that love equals getting anything and everything that we want.  I am guilty of promoting this as a mom and grandma.  If I am able to give my children anything that they want, I will do it but I am not always able.  God shows His love to us in a different way.  He gives us what we need and sometimes what we want in order to bring Him glory.  If we never had a want, there would be no reason to ask.  If we never had a desire there would be no communion with Him.  

What is amazing to me is that even in our sinful state, even when we are not worthy to go to the throne of God, He is willing and waiting for us to do so.  We are not worthy of such honor, it is a gift from God that we have it.

Next time I think I need or want something (which will probably be in the next few minutes) I hope to keep in mind that I am not worthy to ask but God is willing to listen and act upon my plea.  I also hope to remember that the centurion sent others to petition to Jesus.  How often do I do this for my friends and how often do I ask them to do it for me.  We must pray and petition to God on behalf of our friends, our bosses, our family and yes, even our enemy. 

Commune with God as you seek Him with all your heart.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

                          

Faith = Belief

As I began reading today I decided that I wanted to go to scripture and search scriptures on faith.  This seems to be an area that I lack in on many parts.  I do have faith that I will someday see my Savior.  I believe that someday the life that I now know will be gone but there will be a far better life after this one is over.  This faith sustains me throughout trials, tribulations, and the loss of loved ones.  However, often times I find myself praying and trying to believe but doubting that  my prayer for whatever I am praying for will actually come to fruition.  This results in frustration, discouragement, and even despair. 

The first scripture on faith that I decided to look at today is found in Mark 11.  The first part of the scripture sets the stage and the second part of the scriptures gives us an explanation as to why this all happened. 

Mark 11:12-14English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹² On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

I never could fully understand why Jesus would do this to a tree when it was just not time for it to bear fruit.  However, the last part of verse 14 gives us the reason, He wanted His disciples to hear this because He had a lesson for them later on.  He also wanted us to hear these words.

As we continue reading, we find out the reason for the curse on this poor tree:

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received^[a] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publish

We must believe that what we ask will come to pass.  If there is doubt in our hearts, we may need to learn a little bit more about faith and continue to pray that God will give us the faith we need to be one with Him.  As I seek Him and desire to be one that will pray as the Father would have me pray, I will examine my heart more closely and look for and rid it of the doubt that lies within.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila