Romans
10:17
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International Version (NIV)
17 Consequently, faith
comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about
Christ.
2
Corinthians 4:18
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International Version (NIV)
18 So we fix our eyes not
on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but
what is unseen is eternal.
Hebrews
11:1
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11 Now faith is confidence
in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1
Timothy 1:14
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14 The grace of our Lord
was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in
Christ Jesus.
1
Timothy 1:18-19New
International Version (NIV)
18 Timothy, my son, I am
giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so
that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and
a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with
regard to the faith.
2
Peter 1:5-11
New
International Version (NIV)
5 For this very reason,
make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge,
self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,
godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual
affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these
qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not
have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed
from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers
and sisters,[a] make every effort to
confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never
stumble, 11 and you will receive a
rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II+peter+1%3A5-11&version=NIV )
As I have been
researching faith, believing my faith needs to be stronger, I realized
something that I found profound. My
faith is strong enough because I my faith is based on my hope and trust in the
Lord for my forever after, not the present.
I have been told that worry is a lack of faith. After hearing that, I felt that my faith was
so weak because I find myself fretting about things that I should not fret
about. The Bible is clear that we should
be free of worry. As I myself view it,
worry is not a lack of faith because faith is grounded in the hereafter not the
present. However, if I can have faith in a future life,
that I have not seen, that faith should hold true in the present life as well
and I should, by all means, not worry. Yet,
my faith is in Christ Jesus not in this world and the things of this world. I may be disappointed at the way things turn
out on this earth but my faith holds strong through Christ Jesus my Lord, this
life is only temporary. I know my future
is bright in Him. Faith does not mean
that everything I want will be mine if I abide in Christ. It means that my everything is Christ. I am free in Him.
This journey of
trying to make my faith stronger has rather allowed me to see that my faith is
strong enough. My faith is not in this
world or the people of this world, it is with Christ Jesus my Lord. Since I have this faith, I need to add to it
as II Peter tells us. Virtues such as
these spreads that faith to others. May
you see in me the light of Christ so that you too may believe.
Seek Him and
know that faith in Him is all you need. Today will pass but our future is
bright and everlasting in Him. Base you
faith on this and not of the things of this world.
Seeking Him with
all my heart,
Sheila
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