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Volumns could be written about Faith..It is a thene throughout the Word of God, in both the Old and New Testaments..Faith is the declar ation of our Christian life. As the "Light of the World" I believe that it is our Faith that shines through the darkness to make a
difference. It is a requirement to the growth of our Christian life in obtaining that which God would have us to obtain and by which Jesus Himself set the perfect example with His faith in the Heavenly Father. (remember, Jesus was flesh and blood, just as you and I). Although the Bible doesn't refer to Jesus as living by Faith, to me it appears that this was the essence of His every deed and
word. When tempted, He spoke the Word
of God and believed in the Heavenly Father to provide for His needs. As a man of
flesh, this required a lot of faith. When in the desert for 40 days and nights, and
Satan tempted Him to turn the stones into bread to eat, it took tremendous faith for Him to resist and say to Satan, It is written: man shall not live by bread alone".
I want you to think about this. I had NO idea that I was going to start this study out by talking about Jesus...I have never
really considered thinking about Jesus
living by Faith, even though I've considered how hard it must of been for Him at times as flesh and blood (just like me). Too often, we only think of Jesus as The Son of God and think that living a perfect life was easy for Him because He WAS the Son of God.
As you strive to build YOUR faith through the Word of God, I want you to think about Jesus in a different light...think of Him as flesh and blood, just as we are; free choice, just as you and I have; aches, pains,
broken hearts; pain and humiliation just as we can feel; His feelings were hurt just the same as ours. He was tempted in
everyway as we are; He grieved just as
we do; he knew what it felt like to be
betrayed by those He loved and by those
whom He wanted to help. He prayed that
the cup (cross) might not have to be..so He knew the meaning of fear as well..Or
so I believe He did. But His Love and His Faith was stronger than His fear.
When you think about Jesus or read of
Him, think of Him in this new light..FIRST as a flesh and blood person just as your self who overcame the powers and temp
tations of the world...a perfect example of what a Christian life should become.
Back to the desert and the temptation
there. The Holy Spirit Must of put this on my heart because I hadn't thought of it
before until I started writing the above. We are going to need this kind of faith that Jesus showed in the desert IF we are faced with the decision to take the Mark of the Beast or not...It's easy to say we won't...and we need to keep telling ourselves that...but when the children are hungry or ill; when we feel we can't face the world without some sort of security to lean on...that will be when our faith and edurance will really be tested.
When we have a choice as to live or die
(or perhaps the choice as to if our loved ones live or die) we will need the stength and faith that Jesus had when He submitted Himself to the Father's Will in accepting His crucifixion on the cross. He was tempted to deny the Father's will; will we have the Faith and courage to die rather than reject our God and our Saviour??
We need all the faith we can build up to overcome what lies ahead of us in the
future...whether it be six months, a year, or longer. We need to start building that faith NOW...we also need to start demon
strating it now in our everyday life..our problems..our wants and desires for peace and joy and for good things ...blessings!!!
Because it must be essential that we see this faith in Jesus; and see Jesus as flesh and blood instead of a Holy Son of God
I want you to read Luke 22:31 through
Luke 23:49. As you read it, think of Jesus as someone you might have known in
School or in the neighborhood....just a
man, like your brother, husband, etc. As you read, actually imagine HOW Jesus
was feeling as He lived through this..TRY to visualize it as a real life event that is happening to someone you know...today!!
Not an event that happened 2000 years
ago. Feel His heart; His emotions; His
lonliness; His fear or dread of what He is to face; How did He feel when someone
He loved denied knowing Him?
Read it verse by verse and give each
incident TIME ...relive that inciedent before going on to the next one.
This will be our foundation and introduction to our venture into Faith...If it makes it easier to feel His feelings, put yourself in His place and let it be YOU going through these events in these scripture.
GOD LOVES YOU! AND OH, HOW
JESUS MUST HAVE LOVED YOU & ME!!
Please read on....next pg
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