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.

Finding It

We all misplace things.  It can be so annoying.  Have you noticed that whether it is the house keys, the TV remote, the cell phone, or a favorite pair of pliers, we always find it in the last place that we looked?

All joking aside, we find what we are looking for in the last place that we looked because, after we find what we want we stop looking.  It is because our wish has been satisfied. 

However, if the thing that we wanted only provides temporary satisfaction, we are often compelled to look for it again and again.  At my stage of life, it is cookies.  Yet, too many cookies make me fat and mess up my blood chemistry.  That seems to be true of the things of this world, which only bring temporary satisfaction.

Our need for earthly things like food, water, and shelter are physiological, in part.  We must have them in sufficient amounts to ensure survival.  When we desire these things in excess, they can be harmful to our health, relationships, and civic duty.

The pursuit of “earthly pleasures” can be destructive to ourselves and others.  Mind altering drugs and alcohol, tobacco, hoarding, and thrill seeking behavior can seem to be very pleasurable at first.  They seem to enhance life.  In excess, they can bring destruction to our careers, family life, and physical health. Even sex, which is a gift from God, can be destructive if it is misused.

The Holy Spirit inspired James to tell us, “The love of this world is enmity toward God.” (Jas. 4:4, 1Jn. 2:15-17)  Human kind is spiritually dead. (Gen. 3: 16-24, Rom. 5:18-19)  In Christ, however, our spirits have intimate personal fellowship with God’s Spirit. (Rom. 8:26-27, Eph. 3:14-19)  The self-destructive pursuit of things is just a symptom of our need to fill that void.  When you hear Christians say that people need God, this is what they are talking about.

Jesus said:

“Whoever drinks of this water (from a well) will thirst again,

but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst.

But the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water

springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn. 4:13-14 NKJV)

“I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger,

and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  (Jn. 6:35 NKJV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.”  (Mt. 5:6 NKJV)

Jesus will fill the void within you, that you are trying to fill by indulging in earthly things in excess … without moderation.  Turn to Him and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will take away the desire you have for the things of this world; which lead to destruction.  The Spirit will give you the desire for the things of God and the faith by which you can have them.