Faith is supposed to...

Beloved,

I am prayerful for and over all of you. The world can be a difficult place to navigate sometimes. We have challenges in our health as evidenced by those who we know who are in the hospital, in rehabilitation centers, on bed rest at home, in hospice, or those who we have to say goodbye to as they transition from one side of glory to the next. We have challenges in our wealth with jobs that can sometimes seem good but not good enough with pay that is pay but not quite enough and the creeping anxiety of a retirement that may not be funded completely enough. And, we have challenges in our relationships that can make the storm clouds full of thunder and lightning in the sky seem like child's play compared to the storm clouds that rise in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, jobs, and, sometimes, even our churches.

With so much to contend with, it is no wonder that some of us lose our peace, cannot sleep, and can be short on patience when anyone or anything does not go our way. It is no wonder that some of us find it so easy to go off.

But, when we think about it, really think about it, is what we do not have that causes us so much turmoil and trouble in how we live from day to day so pronounced in our lives because of what we forget that we are supposed to have?

What I am writing about is faith.

Beloved, your faith in God is not something to simply be defined and talked about. Your faith in God is supposed to be how you live your life from this side of glory to the other side of glory.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us about 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."

Your faith, if lived out, should be something that makes a transformative difference in your life and the lives of those around you. Without it, you should expect nothing from God with evidence to match. With it, you should expect everything from God with evidence to match.

What does the weighty evidence of your life say about your faith in God?

Hebrews 11:1-3 says of faith, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible."

Beloved, faith in God is supposed to assure you. Faith in God is supposed to approve you. And, faith in God is supposed to awaken you.

If you want to believe in more than your day to day existence as the end all and be all of the sum totality of your life, you need faith in God to assure you that the visions of a better life are not nightmares to perplex you but a God-given destiny that God is trying to fulfill in you and through you for His glory.

If you want to believe that you are more than what others have thought about you, said about, and done to you, you need faith in God to approve you as a child of the Most High God who is the creator of all things, including you, and has decided to love you beyond compare.

If you want to trust that earthly limitations have no hold on your destiny and future, you need to have faith in God to awaken you to the possibility of the impossible, the probability of the improbable, and the fact that definitive words such as never and always are God words that no one else should ever use to determine the outcome of your life.

Beloved, faith is supposed to help you to embrace each day as a day of thanksgiving, an opportunity for rejoicing, and a victory yet to be achieved with an expectation that victory is already yours.

Imagine if you seized each day like that, not by your own devices, but by your faith in God through Jesus the Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit.

What would your world be like and what would be the impact on others in your world if you just had a little more faith?

You can have more faith. Just ask God. Say it now over your situation, "Lord, please give me more faith."

When you humble yourself before God on a continuous basis, He has to respond for 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6 both tell us, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Beloved, do not let your pride stand in the way of your faith. Let your faith lead you to your God who always has your best in store for you.

Part of that best is learning more about Him and His relationship with us. Come out to HOPE Wednesday tonight from 6:30-7:30 as we discuss Goodness, the sixth fruit of the Spirit. I do believe it will strengthen your faith.

You come and bring someone with you.

And, remember, God loves you and I love you too.

Be blessed,

Rev. Cain