The power of faith: Navigating life's ups and downs with grace

The CrossRoads Connection: Faith!

Good day to all my faithful readers. I pray you are having a great week and are enjoying this wet cold Winter here in the Bootheel. It won’t be long before Spring will come, but for now we must endure a little rain, snow, and cold. Isn’t that the way life is in general, good days, average days, and then a few bad days?

In our story today, we find a picture of Faith. We are told in scripture that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1) Faith is the substance and the evidence!

It is easy to say we believe in God while we remain in the little world we choose to live in! It is easy to say we have faith sitting in a church service! But get out into the world, the noisy world where people are indifferent to you, where your message is nothing more than a crazy story belonging to a bygone age, can you believe God - there?

No one can go to hell or heaven for me, so no one can believe for me and no one can open or close the door of heaven or hell for me. No one can make me to either believe or disbelieve. “To those of us who believe, no explanation is necessary. To those of us who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

You see, Faith is an essential and valuable characteristic for the Christian. We are saved by Faith. For by grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8) We are to live by faith. But without faith it is impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11:6) So, your Faith in God will take you all through life!

We see that by faith Moses led the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. It was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn't afraid of Pharaoh’s anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him. When we truly trust God, our faith will be a living faith that will spring alive. Moses's trusted God to leave the land of Egypt! It is not our trust that keeps us, but the God in whom we trust who keeps us.

Moses was told to keep the Passover, he did as he was told. You see, Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God; and he that trusts God, obeys God. You do realize God doesn’t make us obey or trust Him. You see, if God removed the possibility of disobedience, our obedience would have no value, it would be a mechanical business. So, we need to obey, cause there’s no other way!

They were told to go forward and this took them to The Red Sea. The waters of the Red Sea represented trouble for them. The waters had potential to hurt the Israelites, but it could not harm them because God was protecting them! We all face many troubles and circumstances in our life, but a Christian who walks by faith accepts all circumstances from God. He thanks God when everything goes well, and He thanks God when everything goes bad. He even thanks God for the "blues" somewhere in-between. He thanks God whether he feels like it or not.

Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Israel marched around their enemies. They marched and kept silent, they marched a very long ways, they marched in the heat, they marched in the sand, they marched if they felt like it, they marched if they didn’t feel like it, they marched if they were sick, they marched tired, they marched hungry, they marched thirsty, But the key is they marched! Church we must keep the Faith, we have got to march!

We can only prove our faith by our commitment to use our faith and in no other way. Any faith that does not control and command the one who holds it, is not a real faith, it is only a bogus faith. We might be shocked if we were suddenly brought face to face with our beliefs and forced to test them. The greatest proof of Christianity is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing,

The greatest proof of Faith is how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.

To believe in God is to believe in someone who will always be far beyond us, who will forever be presenting a new aspect of himself to us as we grow in Him. If you desire Christ for a permanent guest, give Him all the keys of your heart; let not one cabinet be locked up from him; give Him the range of every room and the key of every chamber. There are many of you this very moment who are having problems with your relationship with God. You haven’t fully trusted Him yet!

The Word of God says; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.(Jer 33:3) Several of you need to do just that; without hesitation, call upon Him! There is a direct line to God right now! As the old song says, have a little talk with Jesus, tell Him all about your troubles. He'll here your faintest cry and answer by and by.

FAITH will get you OUT OF BONDAGE, FAITH will bring you INTO OBEDIENCE

FAITH will help you THROUGH TROUBLE, FAITH will march you AROUND THE ENEMY

Trust Jesus today!

Until next week,

Pastor Danny Neal