11-17-2016

Good Morning All,

      Romans 10:17; “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”

     We all want to have faith.  Faith is the critical element in our religion.  “You gotta have faith”; “Faith can move mountains”; “All it takes is a little faith”.  Yet have you ever sat down and really defined faith?  Or do you use the Potter Stewart theory of “I know it when I see it”?  Sometimes that is our approach.  It is there, it is something that I want, it is something that I need, it is something that God gives me through the Spirit and through the Word, but these are more of a description than a definition.  So what is faith?

     One good way to define faith is as follows.  “Faith is the desire to trust God’s promise of salvation.”  Faith is the exact opposite of our sinful nature; that desire to defy God, to not trust in his promise but to rather trust in our own selfishness.  This selfish desire is what leads to our destruction.  It is what leads to our despair and our hopelessness.

    This where God stepped in and changed our lives.  Through the active, redemptive power of his Word, incarnate in Jesus, God made faith the tool of our salvation.  God made faith the vehicle through which we would have hope in our eternal salvation.  By giving us faith, he made it so we no longer have to be controlled by our sinful desire but rather by our faith desire.  He empowers us by his grace to desire those things which are God pleasing and to cling to his promise of salvation.

   You know that feeling that you get when you see someone in need and you think, “I should help!”  That is faith.  Sometimes fear and our sinful nature slows us down but we desire to do what God desires.  When struggles appear we think, “Help me Lord!”  That is faith at work.  It is that desire to trust God at his word, to trust God’s Word to be true.

   Sometimes, we falter; sometimes we let our old nature return and sometimes we just don’t fully trust in God’s promise to protect and provide for us.  We look for other helps or other ways to be secure and they always let us down.  Yet God continually holds out his hand, calls to us and says, “That’s ok; trust me.”  Isn’t that the most incredible thing; God just keeps coming back and saying, “Trust me.”  That is what faith is; trusting God to do what he says he will do.  “I will protect you, I will guard you, I will never leave you” God’s promises to you and to me.  What a wonderful commitment he makes to us; all out of love for you and for me.  God gives to us faith.  He gives us the desire to trust in his promise.  All we have to do is cling to it.  All we have to do is grab on and hold on.  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Father of tender mercy, you bless us with faith.  You instill in us the desire to trust in your holy promises.  You instill in us your Holy Spirit to guide us as we journey on the path that you have laid out for us.  Be especially with those who struggle trusting in your wonderful mercy.  Be with those who do not trust you.  Lift them up and protect them in your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret