When you’re in the middle of a crisis, what you really believe manifests itself in your words, attitude and actions. When Lazarus died and his sister Martha said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’ (John 11:21 NCV), she was voicing past–tense faith. When Jesus said, ‘[Lazarus] will…live again’ (John 11:23 NCV) and she replied, ‘I know that he will…live…in the resurrection…’ (John 11:24 NCV), that was future–tense faith. And when she said, ‘…Even now God will give You anything You ask’ (John 11:22 NCV), she was demonstrating ‘now’ faith, which is present–tense. As believers, the Bible tells us not to ‘…look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…’ (2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV) ‘Now’ faith stakes its claim on ‘something…even if we do not see it.’ (Hebrews 11:1 NCV) Paul says, ‘…we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) Too often we base our feelings on what we see, instead of what God says in His Word. But as Jon Walker writes: ‘When we believe that reality is confined to what we see, we become trapped into thinking the only truth is what we see. We become prisoners of our own perceptions; we cease walking in faith… For those who walk by faith, appearances are never the ultimate reality… Reality extends beyond what you can see… the things we do not see are eternal [time and circumstance do not diminish or alter them] (2 Corinthians 4:18). Even though things may appear bad, God is working things out for our good (Romans 8:28). He knows how the story ends, so fix your eyes on the unseen and not on what you see.’
Calvary Church
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
'Now' Faith
'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for...' Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
When you’re in the middle of a crisis, what you really believe manifests itself in your words, attitude and actions. When Lazarus died and his sister Martha said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’ (John 11:21 NCV), she was voicing past–tense faith. When Jesus said, ‘[Lazarus] will…live again’ (John 11:23 NCV) and she replied, ‘I know that he will…live…in the resurrection…’ (John 11:24 NCV), that was future–tense faith. And when she said, ‘…Even now God will give You anything You ask’ (John 11:22 NCV), she was demonstrating ‘now’ faith, which is present–tense. As believers, the Bible tells us not to ‘…look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…’ (2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV) ‘Now’ faith stakes its claim on ‘something…even if we do not see it.’ (Hebrews 11:1 NCV) Paul says, ‘…we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) Too often we base our feelings on what we see, instead of what God says in His Word. But as Jon Walker writes: ‘When we believe that reality is confined to what we see, we become trapped into thinking the only truth is what we see. We become prisoners of our own perceptions; we cease walking in faith… For those who walk by faith, appearances are never the ultimate reality… Reality extends beyond what you can see… the things we do not see are eternal [time and circumstance do not diminish or alter them] (2 Corinthians 4:18). Even though things may appear bad, God is working things out for our good (Romans 8:28). He knows how the story ends, so fix your eyes on the unseen and not on what you see.’
When you’re in the middle of a crisis, what you really believe manifests itself in your words, attitude and actions. When Lazarus died and his sister Martha said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’ (John 11:21 NCV), she was voicing past–tense faith. When Jesus said, ‘[Lazarus] will…live again’ (John 11:23 NCV) and she replied, ‘I know that he will…live…in the resurrection…’ (John 11:24 NCV), that was future–tense faith. And when she said, ‘…Even now God will give You anything You ask’ (John 11:22 NCV), she was demonstrating ‘now’ faith, which is present–tense. As believers, the Bible tells us not to ‘…look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…’ (2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV) ‘Now’ faith stakes its claim on ‘something…even if we do not see it.’ (Hebrews 11:1 NCV) Paul says, ‘…we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) Too often we base our feelings on what we see, instead of what God says in His Word. But as Jon Walker writes: ‘When we believe that reality is confined to what we see, we become trapped into thinking the only truth is what we see. We become prisoners of our own perceptions; we cease walking in faith… For those who walk by faith, appearances are never the ultimate reality… Reality extends beyond what you can see… the things we do not see are eternal [time and circumstance do not diminish or alter them] (2 Corinthians 4:18). Even though things may appear bad, God is working things out for our good (Romans 8:28). He knows how the story ends, so fix your eyes on the unseen and not on what you see.’
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