Faith

I heard a Christian radio program some years ago in which the Minister told the following joke:

A preacher was fishing on the bank of a river, when the rising water from a flood swept him away.  He was able to swim to a large rock, and he climbed up on it.  However, the water continued to rise, so he prayed for a miracle to rescue him.  A man walking on the edge of the river offered to throw him a rope.  The preacher refused because he was waiting for a miracle instead.  Soon, a boat came along and offered to allow him to come aboard.  Again, he refused saying that he was waiting for miracle.  Finally, a helicopter hovered overhead.  They lowered a ladder and told him to climb to safety.  He refused, vowing to wait for a miracle.  Finally, the floodwaters swept the preacher away and he drowned.  When he arrived in heaven, St. Peter met him at the pearly gates.  When the preacher asked St. Peter why he had not received his miracle, St. Peter replied, “We sent you a rope, a boat, and a helicopter.  What more do you want?”

Often, we fail to recognize God’s gifts when He gives them, because we are striving in our own strength to conjure up enough faith from within ourselves to “make miracles happen.”  If what we ask is consistent with God’s will, he will answer our prayers and give us what he knows is in our long-term best interest.  Our part is to surrender to His will, and to accept what He sends to us.

What is faith?  One way to describe it is a trust and belief in a person, deity, or religious or philosophical system.  Voltaire said, “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=1

The Holy Bible tells us:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,

so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.   (Heb. 11:1,3 NIV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/hebrews/11.html

Some say that they can only believe in what can be rationally and logically explained.  To them, you can only believe what can be supported by hard evidence; by facts.  Reality consists of the things that we learn from mathematics and science.  They think that those who accept things by faith are deluding themselves.  Well, quantum physicists have theorized, based on the speed of atomic particles, that it may be possible for things to be in two places at once and that parallel dimensions may exist in the universe.  Evolutionary theory espouses the transmigration of species.  Freud’s theories of personality, including the Id, Ego, and Superego are still widely accepted.  Did the Big Bang really happen, or is it conjecture?  Is climate change cyclical, or is it a “man-caused disaster?”

Friends, a theory is an unproved speculation about reality.  Yet, many people accept scientific theory as fact when the only basis for it is the speculation of “learned persons” based on scraps of evidence.  Thomas Aquinas said, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=3

Please don’t take this the wrong way.  I am not saying that logic, reason, and the scientific method are bunk.  I have done research that resulted in inferential conclusions about a sample population based on means (arithmetic averages).  I am not saying that there are no valid arguments for any of the theories listed above.  However, I’m saying that there is more. So much more awaits you in the spiritual realm.

The Apostle Paul said, 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1Cor 1:18 NKJV)

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block

and to the Greeks foolishness,

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men,

and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1Cor 1:22-25 NKJV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/1-corinthians/1.html

Jesus said:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/john/3.html

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul teaches us:

 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—

it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ

and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through

faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(Eph 2:4-10 NIV) (emphasis added)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/parallel-bible/passage/?q=ephesians+2&t=nkjv&t2=niv

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,

and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,

having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

above all, taking the shield of faith,

with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

(Eph 6:10-18 NKJV) (emphasis added)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/ephesians/6.html

Blaise Pascal said, “Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=2

  The faith to believe unto salvation is available to you as a free gift from God.  Please accept the gifts of faith and salvation.  Do it now.