What is Faith?
Amid the choas of the Amish school shootings the news media has referred to the response of the Amish people to this tragedy as "towering faith."
What do you think faith is?
posted by SHL @ 10/06/2006 11:20:00 AM
Friday, October 06, 2006
What do you think faith is?
6 Comments:
For me, as a Christian, that is I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I have accepted Him as my Savior; I try to react to things based on how I think God would want me to respond.
This is in light of Him being "in control" of it all. I am human so immediately when something happens there is that range of emotions that we associate with being human. Fear, unbelief, uncertainty, etc.
I know as a Christian God understands that I am human. He isn't asking me to act "superhuman" and deny that I have any feelings. He wants me to express emotion and to "feel." He made me that way. Uniquely human.
But through my relationship with Him, He has made me uniquely His. And I know that by being "His," His child, He takes care of me and encourages me,helps me, and He is there for me.
Is faith unique to Christians alone? No. Faith in "itself," that means we belive in something, I think is universal. Humans have that need to trust and believe in "something."
But, I think what makes "faith" that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ so unique, is that when we place our trust (faith) in Him; there is a guarantee of who He is and where we will go when we die. And it lasts beyond an event or a day or a year. It lasts forever. That is, it's an abiding faith.
You can define faith however you want. You can say there is different levels and types and durations.
But, I say the faith that comes from trusting Jesus is a faith beyond measure and understanding.
You just have to belive. That is what God is asking us to do. Not to try to figure it all or or make sense of it...but,to believe in Him for our eternity and for our everyday, too.
He is just asking us...to believe.
SHL :)
Dear SHL --
Yes, I too am a Christian. I believe that Jesus died for my sins of which I am so very grateful. I believe that He rose on the third day to eternal life. Thank you Jesus.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is complete belief, trust and confidence in God.
Hallelujah! God is so awesome. Faith is seeing a mental picture in our minds even though it’s not manifest in the natural and believing that God is somehow going to bring it to pass or make it a reality. Our thoughts are so powerful and our imaginations were created in us for a purpose. Just think about it. Where did all of the inventions come from that were created on earth? They weren’t a finished product from the beginning, but started out as a mental picture in someone’s mind – an idea. From the idea came the process to create it to make it “real.” But it started out in the imagination. To prove how important thought is, the scripture says that “secrets” are going to be judged – this includes secret thoughts. Rom. 2:14-16. Ah! Lord help us. Every secret thought is going to be judged and our (very own) conscious is going to bear witness. So thought, imagination and conscious plays a vital role in our lives. God is the only one who can create without preexistent material. But He has placed everything on this earth for man to create what he sees in his mind. Psalm 37:4-5 says that He will give us the desires of our hearts…and He shall bring it to pass.
Last year I became quite ill. I lost my ability to walk. Right before this happened to the extent that it happened, I prayed to God for something. I believe the Holy Spirit guided me what to do. I did it and upon completing it I told the Lord, I did it. After that I became bedridden. I was so weak and lost my ability to walk. As I lay on my sick bed, the Lord began to minister to me about suffering for Christ and reigning with Christ. I believed that I wasn’t going to die because of how the Holy Spirit led me. I began to picture myself walking again. By the grace of God, He has brought me a long way. I use crutches and I use a wheelchair at work. While I am maintaining the mental picture of me walking without any assistance from crutches and wheelchair, I am praising God and trusting Him that He shall surely bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5. I believe I am healed and at God’s appointed time, He will manifest it in the flesh. Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Be blessed in Jesus Great Name!
Beverly
Hey, Everyone!
Thanks for the feedback about the "Faith" posting.
I wouldn't venture to say my faith is "towering." That has a lot to do with our relationship with God.
The closer we stay to Him, the greater our faith and belief in what He can do through us and in our lives is.
Bless you all for your confidence in the Lord. That He is working in all our lives to the extent we let Him.
And thank you to those who read, and write and pray and believe that God is doing so much more than what we could ever see...with this blog...and with it all.
Bless you! Read on...and blog when you can!
SHL :)
Hey.
I saw your blog. It's cool. I guess I always think that faith is what you believe about something. I know God does a lot. When we see it and when we don't. Sometimes I get confused about what I believe. I saw on your blog that one of your posts said something like "how far has my faith brought me." I don't really think of me getting something from my faith. Like an answer or whatever. That is curious I think. I am going to think about that more. Thanks. RK
Hey, RK
Thanks for blogging in. You are welcome to, anytime.
I thought your comment was interesting when you said you never thought of “getting something from your faith.”
I know that when you have a relationship with God, through faith in Jesus, His Son, Our Savior, you not only get eternal life, but, a friendship with a living God.
Not a statue or a “dead prophet.” But, a God, our God, who is alive. And always has been for that matter.
That relationship with God, can bring you joy. And love. And forgiveness. Forgiveness only God can give.
Thanks for taking time to visit.
Peace RK.
SHL
Hello, All!
Thanks for visiting and reading.
My husband and I were talking about a guy we know from our church.
If he had a favorite game...it would have to be Trival Pursuit.
This guy seems to know every obscure fact known to man!
At any given time...if you ask him a statistic for the number of ice cream eaters that prefer strawberry over vanilla, or how many lefties (left-handers) there are in the world and their ages...he could tell you.
A majority of any conversation with him seems to be about reporting news facts, etc. And although I am glad he "is so smart" or wants the "appearance" that he is; he never seems to be able to "get off first base."
He never seems to be able to talk about anything of any real substance.
I am glad he is open to talk. I always hope and pray that eventually, one of our conversations can lead to a deeper topic.
It seems that many people in society spend a majority of their time in small talk. And in what I fear are "trival pursuits."
We can't talk about God or think about God every moment of our lives. But, we can spend our time on earth, with things that really matter.
Temporal things, those things that will pass away, those things we can't "take with us;" can occupy the minutes we have here on earth. But, they do little to "settle" our issues of eternity.
And hopefully the "God things" we pursue will relate to "securing" our etenity and not just to get attention and praise on this earth.
Trival Pursuit is a great game. But, our lives aren't a game.
May some of the trival things we concern ourselves with, be the decision of what size pocorn we are going to get at the movies; or what color shoes we will wear with an outfit.
Life is not trival...may we not be in pursuit of the wasting of our lives, but, in the spending of each minute wisely. The spending that will be seen as an investment and not a loss.
SHL :)
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