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Faith in God changes everything.
Jesus once told His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you
have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be
impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20, NKJV)
It is not enough to simply have a positive attitude, although
I'm sure that can make life better than if we were to try and
live as pessimists all the time. Positive attitudes make
us expect good results when other might expect something bad.
But a positive attitude does not alter reality beyond our own
immediate sphere of influence.
God, on the other hand, can do anything. And the Lord will
do anything for those who trust in Him.
Faith in God is believing whatever God says. When He tells
us something that we "know" is impossible in this universe, and
we choose to believe because we trust Him to reveal truth and to
to do whatever He promises to do, that is faith in God.
Noah had the faith to build an ark at God's command because God
said it would rain enough to cover the whole world. Abram
had the faith to leave his country and family to venture into an
unknown land that God promised to give him. Abraham also
believed God when he was old and childless, and the Lord
promised that his descendants would become as numerable as the
stars of heaven.
Moses believed God when He sent him to Pharaoh to demand the
release of the Israelites, and to perform signs, calling plagues
down upon Egypt. Moses had faith in God to open a way for
His people to pass through the Red Sea, and to provide a good
land for them to call home.
Faith in God is expressed in many ways by many people in
history. Naaman did not come by such faith easily, yet at
the urging of his servant, he went down to Jordan to dip seven
times in the water and was healed of his leprosy. With the
healing of his body, Naaman came to understand that the Lord God
of Israel was the one and only true God.
The three young Hebrew men who stood before King Nebuchadnezzar
and refused to bow down to a false god also had faith.
When they were threatened with death in a furnace of fire and
asked what or who would be able to save them from such a
penalty, they answered:
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your
hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that
we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which
you have set up."
They did not fear because God had already promised to be with
them in every calamity. Isaiah the prophet had written:
"But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who
formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through
the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall
not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I
am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.'"
(Isaiah 43:1-3, NSRV)
Their trust in God took them beyond a faith built on
circumstances alone. They fully believed that God was well
able to save them from anything, and yet had also determined
that even if He did not intervene in some miraculous way, they
would still take their stand with Him, even if it meant they
would perish in flames. They knew God would be with them
in the flames, and they chose to be with Him, no matter what.
God did intervene and saved them from all harm. Even though they
were thrown into the furnace, they came out again unharmed.
(Read the story in Daniel, chapter 3.)
Faith changes everything for anyone willing to trust in God.
Faith changes our lifestyle, our hopes for the future, our
choices for today.
Faith in God brings us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives
forever and who gives eternal life to all who trust in Him.
Faith in God makes us wise when the whole world is following a
lie and empty delusions. Faith in God gives us courage to
die and to live for Jesus. And it gives us laughter when
others are afraid, light in the darkness to show the way, and
freedom from the dread of death. Faith in God changes
everything.
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