Faith

GOD really WOWed me today. God gave our wonderful and gifted Pastor an amazing word to share with us today. Pastor Mark has been doing a series about Faith the last month. And boy it hit home with the week I have had. Pastor talked about-

'Trusting our Personal Faith Trainer' (the Holy Spirit) even though it means...

1. Leaving the familiar as Abraham had. Gen. 12:1, 4. The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." 4. So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
2. No clear destination. Heb. 11:8b. "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
3. Becoming an illegal alien. Heb. 11:9. "By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise."

'Trusting our Personal Faith Trainer' (Holy Spirit) because we are convinced...

1. Of a better future. Heb. 11:10. "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."
2. Of God's promise. Heb. 11:11-12 and Gen. 15:4-6. "By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Gen. 15:4-6. "Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

'Trusting our Personal Faith Trainer' requires...

1. Vision- Heb. 11:13. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth."
2. Perseverance- Heb. 11:14. "People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own."
3. Abandonment- Heb. 11:15. "If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return."
4. Passion- Heb. 11:16. "Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Thank you Pastor Mark for persevering through your tough times and believing God for the outcomes. Your strong faith encourages me to live by faith as well.

Lord, just like Abraham and all of the others who have walked by faith, I am asking for strength to walk by faith and not by sight and live every day with my eyes and heart set on my eternal home with You. To totally surrender my all to You and go where You send me, to leave my familiar places, not knowing where I am headed, or who I will be with. And I will look forward to what You have a head of me, and be convinced of Your promises for me. Completely knowing that all of this will require vision, perseverance, abandonment and passion.
Praise You my sweet Jesus~Amen