How are your faith and faithfulness today? Hebrews 11:6 states, “without faith it is impossible to please God…” and Romans 5:1 says, “We are “justified by faith,” meaning that faith is the basis by which God declares us to be righteous.
If we combine the various versions of Hebrews 11:1, we gain the following: “Now faith is the assurance, confidence, reality, substance of things hoped for, the conviction, certainty, evidence of things not seen.”
FAITH is the genuine belief and confidence in God and His word and all that He has done and still does for us. FAITHFULNESS is living in accordance with that truth. In other words, the very essence of our faith and love for Christ, helps us to be faithful and true to God as we faithfully follow His will for our lives.
It is Christ’s GRACE that gives us the gift of faith. Eph. 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved THROUGH FAITH, and this not from yourselves; it is the GIFT of God.”
“We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7) And 2 Cor. 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes NOT on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
The NLT of Romans 8:25 says, “But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.”
I end with a prayer-song which Twyla Paris made famous some years ago -> “You have been faithful when I have been faithless – Oh unending Fountain of Grace; Forever giving when I have been selfish, Oh unending Fountain of Grace. Still the beginning of all that is holy – Unsearchable ancient of days. I kneel before You and offer this vessel, Oh unending Fountain of Grace. You were the constant when I chose to wander, Oh, unending Fountain of Grace. You were forgiveness when I cried for mercy, Oh unending Fountain of Grace. You are the Author of all that is finished – I owe You my life and my praise! I kneel before You And offer this vessel, Oh unending Fountain of Grace. Pour out Your water of life on this vessel Oh unending Fountain of Grace. Amen
Myrtle Turunen