Belief, Faith and Trusting in the Lord

In the uncertainty of these times we need Faith more than ever before. Webster’s dictionary defines faith as “belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust.

Many find it hard to have a belief in something which has no tactical or visual proof. But faith brings purpose to those whom, having not seen, still believe in God. The Bible says in I Peter 1:8 "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

Back in Bible times, believing in Jesus came with a cost. The new born faith, in the believer's life, drew attention from the religious leaders. Those who chose faith were put under their scrutiny. The religious leaders were threatened by Jesus .. A true disciple knew that following Jesus meant persecution and the very real possiblity of loosing their lives for Christ's sake ... Yet Jesus’ true followers' would not deny Him. They had seen the Messiah and knew that He held the power of life and death in His own hands.

Just as those living in Jesus time; Christians down through the ages have clung to a Faith whose hope is in Jesus' sure return. Faith changes them from the inside out. Faith brings hope and light into the darkest pit of life's journey. A follower of Christ does not believe in coincidences. By Faith, they see the hand of God at work in all things at all times. The believer knows, by Faith, that "God works all things together for the good of those that love Him." Romans 8:28

What do people, who have no faith, do when disasters happen and their hearts get broken? Without faith it would be easy to feel like a victim of circumstances and to concede with King Solomon as he viewed life, apart from God, proclaiming ... Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless.

What is Faith? It is belief in a God you cannot see.  It may be a concept that is hard to grasp. But that doesn't mean it is not very real. It’s like believing in the air you breathe in and are are surrounded by. Although you cannot see faith or the air you breathe, you still believe because you see the manifestations. The manifestations of an extrodinarily intellegent creator, like the air, are all around us and creation sings of His glory.

Faith Comes by Hearing ... and hearing by the Word of God. 

I have heard and read many stories about people who started out as atheists and set out to prove the Bible false. In order to do this they began their mission by reading through the Bible. During the course of this venture, the Word of God spoke to the spirit of the man. As God moved the man became aware that he was on Holy ground and what he was reading was truly God-breathed. The more time a person spends in this Holy book the more He is changed, from the temporary, limited, earth-bound perspective, to the eternal truth. Faith and Belief in God, the sacrifice of His son Jesus and in eternal life gives us hope and motivates those, who have chosen Christ, to live life on purpose with a purpose.

A facinating true story about Dr. Vic. and Joan Olsen who were self proclaimed agnostics. It is a story of their journey towards Faith. Vic and Joan Olsen set out on a mission to disprove the validity of a personal God who speaks to mankind through the Bible, but instead found the flaws in their thinking and proved to themselves that the Bible is God's very word to us.

Dr. Viggo Olsen B.S., M.S., M.D., F.A.C.S., D.T., M.&H., was one of four in his class at the University of Nebraska, College of Medicene, to receive the M.D. degree cum laude. Viggo declined the opportunity to become sixth in the prestigious Halsted lineage of surgeons and a professor at an early age. His Faith led him to leave everything behind and fly to the other side of the world to serve East Pakistanis in pain..

There is much more to the story in the book, I have listed for you here, called Daktar.

Lee Strobel was an award-winning reporter for the Chicago Tribune and was also an avowed atheist. Lee set out to investigate and disprove the Bible. In "The Case for Christ" he presents compelling evidence and expert testimony for the claims of Christianity.

As a seasoned journalist with a Yale law background Strobel systematically tracks down his leads to ask blunt tough questions - questions that can make or break the Christian faith. He refuses contrived, simplistic answers.

To learn more of his story and where his curiosity led ... read this provocative and spellbinding book called "The Case for Christ."  I have it listed for you to the right.

If you have never taken the time to investigate the Bible for yourself, I'd like to challenge you to do just that. If you are an intellect, I surely would recommend both books I've written about above. If you want to learn for yourself and are not sure how to go about reading the Bible, may I introduce you to the "How to Study the Bible" books listed below. .There are many reliable translations today. This year I am reading through New Living Bible and would highly recommend it. I listed the Living Bible below. The Online Amazon store is a great place to find new and deeply discounted prices on used books.  I have also included links where you can listen to The Bible Online for free.  The internet makes it SO easy for us.

God bless you as you journey - Please take the time to do your own search for Truth and contemplate the complexities of the Universe.  

For those who have been motivated to dig into the Bible, to search the question for themselves "What is Faith," if you don't have a Bible, I have included The Bible Online website where you can read the whole Bible for free.

Read the Bible Online Here:

http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults2.php?passage1=Genesis+1&book_id=1&version1=51&tp=50&c=1

I have friends who tell me that they HATE to read. These friends are NOT visual learners. For those of you that are auditory learners I have included an audio Bible Online. These are Awesome TOOLS!

Listen to the Bible On-line Here:

http://www.davidpfield.com/audio-bible/gen-deut.htm

Categorizing Hubs I have organized my Hubs alphabetically and by topic. I did this to help reader's to find my articles easier. Thank you for gracing my pages with your visits and lovely comments.

Mekenzie