Faith
Word of the Day: Faith
Verse of the Day: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32
I wrote this devotion previously so some of you may have seen a form of it. Enjoy.
Satan wanted Simon Peter. Satan was to crush him like wheat and blow away the chaff.
Interesting fact; there was a tool that was used to thresh wheat (separating the grain from the husk/chaff), and this tool was called the tribulum. The tribulum was used to beat the wheat. It is where the word tribulation comes from. I learned this from a sermon I heard from Dr. David Gibbs Jr.
Jesus told Peter that he prayed for him and that his faith would not fail him, but that it would strengthen him. Jesus told Peter that his faith would be tested.
There are many verses in the Bible that talk about faith. And in truth I struggle with faith often. But God promises that if we stay strong in our faith in Him, great things will happen. I pray each day for God to give me wisdom, to strengthen my faith and to soften my heart.
The word faith is found 229 times in the New Testament. It must be pretty important.
You have to trust something or someone before you can have faith in or on it. And trust is built in a relationship. It’s difficult to trust someone immediately. At least this is the way it is for me. For some of my brothers I watch them as they openly accept people and are very trusting and giving.
Overall we develop trust through a relationship with someone. During a conversation with a brother yesterday - he likened it to dating. If we only spent one day a month with someone we were dating it would take forever for us to build that relationship and develop that trust. But if we spent every day with that person, talking to them, understanding them, loving them and nurturing that relationship, trust comes much easier.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
In Hebrews, faith is trusting something you can not see. This is so so hard to do. We can’t see God, and we have faith in Him. And this is where I struggle sometimes. The one thing that has made my faith stronger is praying. Praying is my relationship with God. Reading the Bible and going to church help me study and learn and develop my relationship. I learned to pray through reading the Bible. It was a simple conversation with God. The stronger my fellowship with God, the stronger my relationship with Him - and the stronger my Faith on Him.
Faith is so hard to put in a box, wrap it up and say - here is my faith. Faith is something we see in someone else by their relationship with God and how they react to something.
This sounds so broad. And I think everyone has a definition of faith. Or at least what they believe it is to them.
To me you believe something to exist, build trust in it and have faith in it, without proof.
Faith requires no proof. Just belief and trust.
“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.”
Hebrews 11:6
Galatians 2:16
2 Corinthians 5:7