That's Faith

1 John 5:4, "because everyone who is a child of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world—our faith."

Once a man was being chased by a tiger. As he reached the edge of the cliff the tiger was hot on his heels. Seeing a branch off the cliff a few feet down, the man jumped and grabbed onto the branch. Just then a mouse came out of a nearby space and began to chew on that branch. Now the man was scared as he saw the thousand foot drop below him and if he fell, he'd surely be dead.

Frightened, the man looked to the sky and yelled, “Dear God, please help me. Please save me… I will do anything you ask me to do…”

Suddenly a voice came booming from the sky, “You will do anything I ask?”

Shocked to hear reply the man said, “I will do anything just please save me.”

The voice then spoke, “There is only one way to save you, but it will take courage and faith. Can you do what I ask? Can you have faith?”

Scared as the branch loosened and the tiger growled above the man says, “Please God, tell me what to do. I will do whatever you say, your will is my will.”

God then speaks, “Alright then, let go of the branch.”

The man pauses looking down at the thousand-foot drop that would kill him then looks up again and yells, “Is there anyone else up there?”

This may be a silly story, but the lesson remains the same. When we put our faith in God, do we truly believe in that faith? Do we only have faith on our terms, or can we allow God's will to be done even if it means letting go to a thousand-foot drop.

The Greek word for faith is Pistis, which means reliance upon Christ for salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

God clearly tells us that we have to go in faith even if we don't see the things and can't prove them. Faith in a God in Heaven who not only created us but is watching over us and taking care of us.

We don't question that the world exists, we are walking around it each day. We don't need proof there will be a tomorrow, we have seen it over and over. The sun will come up each day and set each night. We look at the sky and see the moon and stars and know there's a vast space out there. We go to bed believing we will wake up the next day. Why is it hard to believe in God our Creator? Oh, sure when things are good, we believe but when life gets a little rough, can our faith in God remain strong and sure?

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance (or realization) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit and trust the engineer that the light is on its way- that’s FAITH!

When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her- that’s TRUST!

Every night we go to bed with the assurance of being alive the next morning but still set the alarm to wake us- that’s HOPE!

We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future or having any certainties or uncertainties- that’s CONFIDENCE!

We all can have and exercise that same conquering faith that leads to eternal life if we have the determination to live by faith. Romans 8:37 says, “But in all these things we are completely victorious through God who showed his love for us.”

To have faith as defined in the Bible is to fully believe in someone (God), to believe in and act on the truth of His Word (the Bible) and to live for the greatest of causes: salvation for all who believe in the coming Kingdom of God- Mark 1:14-15. Faith is a relationship with God that deepens and matures over time.

I ask you today, where is your faith?

As we conclude our study through Proverbs I hope you have been inspired, found some new insights, and have felt the Lord leading you in all you do. If we claim to abide in Christ, we have to examine whether or not that’s true. We do that by asking ourselves, are we walking (i.e. living our life) like Jesus did? Proverbs shows us many ways on how Jesus wants us to live and how He feels about those who walk a path away from Him. As you study your Bible's you can learn many ways we can be like Jesus and when we seek Him, study with Him, pray to Him, He begins to abide more and more in our hearts and lives and we more and more begin to walk with Him. I hope you have had a chance to join me as we have gone through Proverbs and if you are still reading the chapters that's okay, move at a pace that works with you and God. On the next blog we will begin our new study and I hope you find time to join me. Let's finish with Proverbs 26-31.

Study 6, Proverbs 26-31- https://www.docdroid.net/yzAnDAh/study-6-docx

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