Many times in life we will come across situations where every ounce of our being is tested. What is it that gets us through these trying times? Well for some it might be a number of things: For some it might be the bottle, for some it might be drugs,and even for some it might be sex. But with those who know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior it is faith that gets us through these tough situations. When the most trying time in your life comes knocking at your door, it is faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ that will get you through the trying times that you will face.
Faith is the key that unlocks the power of God in our lives. Faith enables us to live by His promises and experience His blessings in our personal lives. Faith allows us to live beyond the normal limits of life and experience the unlimited power of God on a regular basis. Hebrews 11:1 says Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. This means that there are some things in this life that we cannot see right away but by faith we believe that it will happen. In what ways can we learn to develop Courageous Faith.
The first way that we can develop courageous faith is by staying in God's Word. Psalm 119:165 says, Great peace have they that love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. This verse shows that when trying times do come that those who truly love God's Word will not let trying times offend them or bring them down. In Psalm 119:105 the Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This verse illustrates the importance of letting the Holy Spirit illuminate your path so that the shadows that arise in your life will not overcome you. Psalm 1 is a example of how a faithful man should live and the person who has developed courageous faith will delight in the law of the Lord and in His law will he meditate day and night.
Finally, in the journey of developing courageous faith, we need to look at the stories of the men in the Bible who exhibited courageous faith. The first person I want you to see is Abraham. In Genesis 12, the Lord commanded him to get out of his country and out of his father's house and go to the land that I will show you. Now in Abraham's time, paganism was rampant and most of the people worshipped the moon god Nannar. Now Abraham was from Ur, a city known for its prosperity. Sir Charles Wooley excavated the place in the early 1920's and the early 1930's and found a 70 foot ziggurat that was dedicated to the moon god Nannar. I suppose that Abraham would often go to the ziggurat to pray to the moon god. On one particular day however after countless number of times of trying to reach Nannar without a response. Abraham was terrified when he did get a response. Only this time, it was an audible voice and it was Jehovah, the God over the moon and everything else. Abraham was then told to leave his home to the place that Jehovah would show him. Abraham's courageous faith was shown in his response to God and his journey in faith from everything he once knew. Several other examples show us in the Bible that Jacob exhibited courageous faith by hanging tough in the tough times, Joseph exhibited courageous faith by starting over when it all fell apart, Moses showed courageous faith by overcoming his past, Joshua showed courageous faith by conquering the opposition, Gideon exhibited courageous faith by overcoming his fears, Samson showed courageous faith by making faith at the very end one of his strengths, and David's courageous faith gave him confidence in the face of danger. The point of mentioning all these men is that we can all learn lessons from these men and through their examples our faith in God and in our everyday lives can be strengthened.
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