Faith, hope and trust have been an extremely difficult thing
for me to do since I was 15 years old. When I was 15 my father was diagnosed
with lung cancer. However I was told things like “if you trust God things will
turn out for the better” or “your father will be okay”. These were words told
to me by family and friends to comfort me. I had no idea how bad he really was
until January 2, 1979 at 2:09am when my father took a deep breath and squeezed
my hand for the last time. At that moment I lost faith, hope and trust in God.
It has taken me long time to come back to God after that. It
took my world to be turned upside down again. But I realized this. I never lost
faith, hope and trust in God because if I did I wouldn’t be talking to Him
today. I just lost touch with Him. He was always there waiting for me to come
back
So I continue to search for answers about faith, hope and
trust. Here are a few things that I have learned along the way.
FAITH/HOPE/TRUST
Faith is not attached to emotion
Faith is the WORD/Not emotion
There are two types of faith
- Spoke word from God
- Written from God
This is what the Kingdom of God is like. A man scatters
seeds on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed
sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces
again. First the stalk, then the head, then the full head.
Mark 4:26-28
Our actions are directly linked to our thoughts and it is
through the renewing of the mind that we are transformed and freed from our
slavery to old thought habits.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is
Romans 2:2
Emotion is only concerned with “now.” It is short term
consequence free. Real thoughts have consequences beyond the present.
Short tem, emotional thinking, seeks either reward or relief
now or very soon after and is not seriously engaged in considering the future.
Faith is to believe in something or someone, to fully trust,
to be so confident that you base your actions on what you believe. To have
faith is to be fully convinced of the truthfulness and reliability of that
which you believe.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see
Hebrews 11:1
Faith causes you to know in your heart before you see with
your eyes. For we walk by faith not by sight
2 Cor 5-7
Hope is a condition for faith. Hope is a positive unwavering
expectation of good. Hope is for the mind, an anchor for the soul, it keeps us
in the place where we can believe, but it is not in itself “Faith” yet without hope.
There are no “things hoped for” and therefore there cannot be faith
Faith is an action word
Here are a few more words of encouragement and guidance that
I have found that may help you today, tomorrow or in the future
Take your eyes off the circumstances and put them back on
God
Do something that is bigger than you
Do something that causes you to live your life
Only YOU can control your AIR
You are what you are thinking
Every place you put your foot you are responsible for
Praise God for all He is doing in your life
Look at what is right and not what is wrong
92% of what we fear never happen
RESPOND DON’T REACT
Everyday is a new
day to start over, why wait for tomorrow
Don’t put off
showing someone you love them
Enjoy today and
let tomorrow take care of itself
Thank You for all of
your prayers. I can feel them working and I appreciate all of you.
Love,
Jim
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