Simply Titled "Faith"

This picture of "Footprints" reminds me of the following
poem which is always a gentle reminder of who is stronger than me:

"My precious child, I love you and would never leave you.
when you see only one set of footprints in the sand,
it was then that I carried you."

Good Evening to All!

Well, I was planning on giving this post a little "somethin' somethin' by way of a text box and some fancy illustrations, but then I realized I don't have a way to put in a text box, let alone some fancy illustrations, I don't even have a way to put regular Zemanta photos in. I originally had Zemanta, and some how or another, it got to where it wouldn't load, I guess my computer's too slow. Anyway, Lynette http://www/theysayimnuts.blogspot.com redownloaded it and I was so excited because it looked like I had gotten it back. Then my computer started freezing up, so I disabled it after trying to get everything to work together about 20 times. and now I can type my blog. I have come to the conclusion that its the Stupid Satellite Internet Server that we have. I have to learn to deal with it though because out where we live we can't get DSL, so if we want anything faster than dial-up, it has to be satellite. Oh well, enough whining. I just ask that you please bear with me, as I am having to go through the regular internet, and find pictures that pertain to my post at least some. Thank you for your patience.

Now, on with my Post...Simply Titled "Faith"

Boy! What a subject to talk about after how I was just whining! Well, here goes! Maybe, I'll learn something, or something will plant itself in my heart.

Today's Seed: "Now faith is being sure of what's hoped for and and certain of what we do not see." NIV-Hebrews 11:1

My Preference: KJV - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

It is always easier to teach on faith than it is to practice it, especially if you are a "new Christian", or one who is just coming into the church. Anyone can say "I have faith" and they would be telling an element of the truth, because God's Word does say that we have been given a "measure" of faith. A measure is not very much. For this reason is why we should delve into the Word of God and study, soaking His wishes and commands in like a sponge. The more we learn about God, the more faith we will acquire in Him. Not only that, if we practice believing, I mean REALLY believing, trusting God to tell us what to do and how to do it, then seeing the wonderful results of it, the more faith we will have. I have seen wondrous things in the way of healings and blessings happen to people, so I know prayers work. For prayers to work it takes Faith in God to do what He does best, take care of His people.

If you've ever been in charge of an event at church, your children's school, a volunteer group, or at work, you've had to rely on others to help get things done. (Unless you're the do it yourself type who can't delegate! But that's another Bible seed.)

To pull off an event successfully we need to let go and share the work. We try to trust that people are doing what they've said they will do, but most likely we check to make sure. We don't have "faith" that things are being done unless we have a loyal friend who has helped before. if we have such a tested friend, then we can be certain.

Something else I would like to remind myself as well as others, His Word also says we are to come to Him as little children, which means in like faith and belief as little children. I continually have to remind myself of that or I fall back into what I call "adult-itis. (Skeptical of everything, and I know better because of what I have seen.

The "heroes" in the Old Testament were filled with faith. When Abraham was called to go to the Promised Land, he obeyed. He had faith. He packed his belongings and started hiking, even though he didn't know where God was leading him. Amazingly, Sarah, his wife, followed. She had great faith in her husband, and she had faith in her husband's God.

Dig Deeper: the Greek word for "faith" is pistis, which means the conviction of the truthfulness of God, and especially in reliance on Christ for salvation. We need to have the faith of Abraham.

Faith is a living thing, an active way of life based on the certainty that the object of our hope is trustworthy. Abraham must have proven himself to be reliable, so reliable that Sarah moved with him away from their relatives. God must have shown Himself reliable to Abraham, so reliable that Abraham knew the LORD'S' voice and was willing to obey when God said, "Leave your country...I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:1-2).

Background Bulb: The first chapter of Hebrews gathers together the stories of many of the Old Testament heroes of faith from Abel and Enoch to David and Samuel. Not all the heroes, however, were triumphant over the events in their lives, but God blessed them all. God remained faithful even when they were faithless.

Weed & Water: It's easy to talk about having faith. It's not as easy to carry through. Our faith may falter occasionally. Stuff happens, and we can get caught up in a spiral that shakes us, making us wonder--for an instant--if there truly is a God. By examining stories of God's faithfulness to past generations and by thinking about how God has given us small joy in the past, we can be assured God is in His heaven and all is right with His world...our world will catch up.

Think about it:

How would you define faith?

If your faith varies from day to day, why does it?

Prayer Pot:

Lord, help me to let go and have faith that you....(insert your own need).

Take Away Idea:

Faith for the future is founded on the faltering steps of obedience today.


Good Night to All, and May God Bless!

PJ