March 3, 2004
Hi folks!
Well it's great to be alive and serving our wonderful Saviour Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you, He is an awesome God and He deserves all that we can offer
Him and more!
My wife Leah and I and three of our friends drove to Rockhampton the other
day to watch Mel Gibson's latest movie "The Passion of the Christ".
We and many others walked out of the movie theatre deeply touched by what
our Lord must have suffered so as to redeem us. It was no small price Jesus
paid and I just want to say a big "Thank you Lord for all you have
done for me. I will keep on loving you and serving you both now and forever
more, amen."
I recommend you watch this movie and take friends and family along with
you - you will be blessed indeed. Many lives around the world will come
to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus as a result of this movie - praise
God!
The last couple of weeks at church I have been teaching on the Faith Walk.
I will endeavour to cover the high points in these teachings over the weeks
to come. I believe you will be blessed by these messages and that they will
help you in your walk with God. It's important we continue learning about
faith and how to live this way. Firstly, because it is impossible to please
God any other way (Hebrews 11:6) and I'm sure you desire
to please Him as I do. Secondly, it's important that we walk by faith because
we are commanded to in the Word...
- Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back My soul has
no pleasure in him Hebrews 10:38
- Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live
by his faith Habakkuk 2:4
- For we walk by faith, not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7
Our Father God is a faith God. According to the scriptures, when Jesus walked
the earth He perfectly pleased the Father. Well, He must have walked by
faith continually then because it is impossible to please God except by
this way. We are called to be imitators of God as dear children. If Jesus
walked this way then we can too. God wouldn't tell us to live a certain
way without giving us the grace to do it. You can walk by faith in this
life and please your Father God just like Jesus did!
When you got born again by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, the
Holy Spirit placed God's very nature and character within you so that you
can walk just like Him. Your spirit man, the real you was created by God
himself in His very own image and likeness. Remember you are a spirit being
created in the image and likeness of Almighty God; you have a soul which
is made up of your mind, will and emotions; and you live inside a physical
body. You are a supernatural being with supernatural powers - one of these
being faith.
Within your spirit God placed His very own characteristics and attributes
- commonly known as the 9 fruits of the spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).
Faith, or faithfulness (depending on which translation you read) is one
of the 9 fruits mentioned in these verses.
At the time of the new birth God gave each of His children the measure of
faith. If you know the Lord, His faith, or faithfulness is within you right
now! You don't have to go looking for it somewhere, or ask God to give you
some faith because you already have it. Now, this faith can be developed
and it can grow but we all start off with the same measure. There is nothing
wrong with it as Jesus is the author of it. We just have to learn what it
is and what we have to do to use it and develop it.
In closing let me give you some dictionary definitions of "faith"
and "faithful".
"Faith" (n) - reliance, trust; belief in religious doctrine; loyalty,
sincerity.
"Faithful" (a) - loyal, trustworthy; true, accurate.
Now if you will please turn to Hebrews Chapter 11 in your
bible and read the whole chapter. I believe God is still adding names to
the great company of the "faithful". If not already, in the days
to come your name may be one of them.
May God bless you richly and have a faith filled day!
David Pearce
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The Faith Walk
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave His approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 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... so you see it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that there is a God and that He rewards those that sincerely seek Him.
Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 (NLT)