The Joy of Having Faith! Only Believe!

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Does God positively want good for you, because if He does, then we should have great expectation which is exactly what faith is. Faith is expectation—your belief or expectation that something is or will be.

As Christians, we are often considered weird for having faith. Why would you believe in something you can’t see, says the atheist. When was the last time you actually saw your brain? says the little girl. I guess that must not exist either! Yes we do believe in what we can’t see. Why? Because God tells us that the things that we can see did not originate from this earthly realm we live in. They actually came from a place and source we can’t see. They come from God’s realm and were birthed or originated there by the faith-filled words spoken by God. Hebrews 11:3 NLT says, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.” And in Genesis 1:3 KJV, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light…”

Jesus commended those that had faith and admonished those who let their minds of unbelief, override their hearts desire to have childlike faith. He even admonished His own disciples at various times. After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas had boastfully declared his unbelief saying he wouldn’t believe Jesus was alive until he could see Him and put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds himself. A short time later Jesus appeared to Thomas and the disciples… John 20:27-29 NIV, “Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.”

When we read the Bible and believe what it says and live accordingly, we are often thought of as crazy or weird but we’re not! We are and will be blessed for having faith in the Lord and His Word. Matthew 5:10 NLT says, “God blesses those who are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

So then, what is it we believe that helps us know what God wants for us? We believe His Word and His promises! Romans 15:8-9 NLT helps us take a hold of this truth. “Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises He made to their ancestors. And He came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for His mercies to them…” These promises were a part of God’s covenant with His children. When you think of covenant, think of two things—an agreement and a inheritance. This means that what is agreed upon (the promises of God) are true in the agreement (covenant) and are passed on through inheritance when someone dies. When Jesus died for us, that inheritance of promises was willed to us. Those promises are eternal and reach forward into our lives to be taken a hold of by faith today! We see that in Galatians 3:28-29 NLT, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you.”

So, as we just read, “…now all the promises God gave to Abraham belong to you!” If that is the case, we better know two things. We better know what those promises are and how to take hold of them. We’ll look at that tomorrow…

For today, be encouraged! This is shouting insight! Have great joy! God has not forgotten you. God picked Abraham to begin to introduce Himself and His ways to the people of this world. He made Abraham and his inheritance, the Jews, great promises that they could absolutely trust. Not one promise failed! Then God added us to be grafted into that inheritance of promises through our faith in Jesus Christ. Those promises are true through your faith today. And this is why faith in God is so important! Faith is the carrier of those promises into your life today! And Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes!”

Galatians 3:28-29 (NLT2) “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ,
you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to
Abraham belongs to you.”

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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