And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
I love this. There are few things that are impossible for God — He cannot lie, He cannot break His promise, He cannot tolerate sin, He cannot be unjust. This is one thing that is impossible for us — we cannot please God without faith.
Here is the recipe for faith spelled out clearly for us:
We must believe that He exists
We must believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him
This is not meant to supplant the Gospel in any way. We must believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must be sorry for our sins and ask Him to forgive us. Salvation is assured but even to receive salvation we see that word — belief! Faith is a belief!
I base all that I am and have on my belief that the Bible is true and that God is who He says He is.
Hebrews 11:1 KJV – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
THe Message Bible puts it this way
Hebrews 11:1 MSG – 1The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
Faith — trust in God is our firm foundation — how well put!
I see an example of this from an article in the Southern Baptist News posted on December 21, 2005 from the wake of the Pakistani earthquakes – the Article Name is Testimonies of Faith :
In the quake: Believer asks Jesus to move rubble, rescue boy“I was walking with people everywhere, hearing screaming and other noises from destroyed houses. Everyone was busy trying to help. I saw a 2-year-old baby boy. This little boy was screaming out, saying that somebody should help him. I went close to him and saw that he was stuck in the rubble. Only his head and one hand were sticking out. He said to me, ‘Uncle, save me!’“Brethren, believe me, this situation seemed impossible for me alone to get him out. But I reached for him and started pushing the wall. I tried a lot, but this wall was very heavy. I tried again and again. It was hard for me to see this boy stuck and bleeding, and he was continuing to cry out, ‘Save me!’ “Finally, I sat down and told the boy to ask the Lord Jesus to help him. I told him that Jesus could help because I couldn’t. He asked me with his little mouth, speaking in the Pushtu language, who Jesus was. I said that He is the most powerful Lord God. He then started asking Jesus to help him. “I then told him that I would try to push the wall, but that Jesus would actually move it. Brethren, after one push against this wall that weighed about 1.5 tons, the Lord Jesus picked it up, as if He was picking up a book! I then quickly moved the boy out. I later told this boy that his new name is ‘Emanuel’.”
There are several other stories of Faith that are amazing! My mother always says that it is easy to have faith for others, however, when we are in the midst of the crisis and we have to believe Him for ourselves that is when faith becomes true faith.
In the Quake: Injured survivors call on Jesus to heal themWith no medical facilities or doctors available, many survivors suffered with severe injuries. As time elapsed, some of the wounds became infected and had worms in them. One group of believers turned to the only help they knew: prayer. They gathered 62 people – 29 women, 24 men and nine children – and started to pray, asking the Lord Jesus to heal them. They prayed for about 15 minutes. When they stopped praying and said “Amen,” everyone looked at the injured people and their wounds. The wounds immediately started to dry up and disappear. Everyone was healed. They were truly amazed and asked the group to tell them know more about Jesus. The people who were healed now say that Jesus is their “disappear” doctor, since their wounds have disappeared.
“Over the past two months, a wonderful partnership between the compassionate giving of Southern Baptists in the U.S. and the sacrificial service of International Mission Board personnel on the ground have resulted in ministry to thousands of displaced Pakistanis and Indians,” said David Garrison, the IMB’s regional leader for South Asia. “Many of the victims of October’s earthquake are having their first encounter with the Gospel in the person of Southern Baptists bringing the Gospel to life in service to them,” he said. “On behalf of the missionaries serving in this earthquake-devastated region, I want to thank Southern Baptists for their prayers, contributions and personal involvement.” Officials estimate that the 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed 73,000 people and left about 2.8 million homeless in Pakistan. Another 1,300 people died in India, where 150,000 are homeless. “There are widows over here who have nobody to take care of them,” said volunteer Jesse Smith, a wheat farmer from Kansas. “That is something the Twelve told us to do, to take care of the widows and orphans. They are here, and they are in need.”
Monies from the Lottie Moon International Missions Offering and World Hunger offerings are being used to feed the thousands of starving people amidst this very harsh winter.
But how long the window of opportunity will remain open is unknown, workers said. “God’s ways are beyond searching out, and even devastating events like this can open doors that otherwise would never be open,” Davis said. Southern Baptists need to take advantage of the opportunity now to show God’s love, he said. “Pray for the hearts and souls of the people over here,” said Seay, “that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes and they would recognize that He is their true Savior.” For more information about current and future volunteer needs, e-mail southasiavim@wigtake.org.
God is taking the money from our missions offering and multiplying it! He is blessing the works of Southern Baptists in disaster areas. He is using disaster to open up doors — what Satan meant for evil God is using for good. We are witnessing human tragedies on magnitudes I’ve never seen in my lifetime! God is opening doors. We must give sacrificially to our missions offerings. WE must come along our southern baptist brethren and sisters like never before! Miracles are happening!
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Lord, increase our faith, it is but a mustard seed. Let us pray for and help our brothers and sisters in Christ for we do not know when it will be us on the receiving end. Let us work diligently until the day the master comes. Let us not spend our time finding fault with others but focus on the loving face of Jesus Christ who loves us and died for us. Thank you, Lord for allowing us the gift of the Internet to unite Christians everywhere in prayer! Amen
