Remembering God's Promises - Faith, Hope and Love
What is faith?
Paul defined faith clearly for me: Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Faith means trusting God’s power to change our circumstances. Faith means that we don’t focus on our problems but that we focus on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Faith teaches us to trust in God’s invisible power. Faith means that we believe that God is true to His Word and that He will not fail us. Faith means that we will honour God by believing that He is who He says He is.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:20 “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Jesus teaches us to speak to our mountains. We need to face them and not run from them. When we stand on our faith and face our “giants”, all things are possible with God. We remind our giants that our God is far greater than them.
Faith teaches us to focus on the desired outcome of our situation according to the truth of God’s Word. Faith teaches us to thank God, even though we can’t yet see the outcome.
Faith means trusting God in everything, not only in somethings. Faith comes from believing that God is perfectly good and that He knows what is best for us.
How do we start developing our faith in God?
We start by learning and knowing His Word. We need to ask Him to help us to understand His will for our lives. We ask Him to reveal truth to us and we learn to speak that truth into our lives and into the lives of others.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
We cannot please God without faith because if we lack faith in God we lack trust. Faith is absolute trust. When we believe God, we act according to our faith in Him because faith without works is not faith at all (James 2:17).
We believe that He is able to strengthen us to go through and overcome our circumstances. He is with us, helping us every moment. He has the power to change our circumstances.
When we have faith, we must trust God and believe that everything will have a good outcome because He can see what happens in the future and so guide us to the best possible result for our situation. (Romans 8:28)
’16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’ (Ephesians 3:16-21)
“True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie.” A. W. Tozer
“Faith engages the person and promises of God and rests upon them with perfect assurance.” A.W. Tozer
‘’Faith honors God by counting Him righteous and accepts His testimony against the very evidence of its own senses.’’ A.W. Tozer
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Extract from Remembering God's Promises Volume 1
Faith, Hope and Love
By Stella Ashworth