Today we look at the nature of faith and our need to trust in God. This is challenging because God's ways are not man's ways. The Kingdom of God is timeless, outside the realm of time and space. Therefore God's perspective is long-term compared with a single man's lifespan. If our prayers and expectations are not met it is often because God has a different way of looking at things which we find hard to comprehend.
We begin with Abram who at 100 naturally believes his child-rearing days are behind him. His 90-year-old wife finds the idea of conception laughable and indeed gives her son the name Isaac which means to laugh. But God assures Abraham that his descendents will be as plentiful as the grains of sand on a beach.
Our Psalm affirms the truth that God is in control and to him should be given the glory due unto his name. Even if we cannot understand God's ways we need to call on him and trust in him and praise him for all the good things he has done for us.
Our Epistle from Romans refers back to the faith of Abraham in Genesis. It was Abraham's faith that made him Father of a Great Nation not his adherence to the law:
Rom 4:20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."
God's message to Abram defied natural law and common sense. But to God all things are possible.
The messianic tradition which Christ inherited was rooted in the Jewish Creed that paid tribute to the Founding Fathers Abraham, Israel, and Jacob; Moses who led his people out of bondage in Egypt; and Elijah and the prophets who predicted one who would free his people from their bondage to foreign powers. If Christ was that Messiah the nature of the Freedom he offered did not immediately meet expectations. Even his most faithful followers were slow to get the message. The Kingdom of God is not of this world and God did not come to earth to interfere with the affairs of earthly authorities. In fact his earthly body was subject to their control.
The Kingdom of God/Heaven which Jesus embodied is a Spiritual realm over which earthly rulers have no control. Earthly laws do not apply. We, the members of Christ's body the chruch are in the world but not of the world. We have one foot on earth and one in heaven. We are saved and freed by our faith in a God of Love who relieves us from the guilt of sin, of breaking the law, when we repent and believe in his forgiveness and become freed to respond in love in joyful obedience to his call to serve.
God's peace comes from and results in a shared responsibility for the nurture and care of our earth and every creature in it. It is an act of love not a violent agressive subjugation.
We begin with Abram who at 100 naturally believes his child-rearing days are behind him. His 90-year-old wife finds the idea of conception laughable and indeed gives her son the name Isaac which means to laugh. But God assures Abraham that his descendents will be as plentiful as the grains of sand on a beach.
Our Psalm affirms the truth that God is in control and to him should be given the glory due unto his name. Even if we cannot understand God's ways we need to call on him and trust in him and praise him for all the good things he has done for us.
Our Epistle from Romans refers back to the faith of Abraham in Genesis. It was Abraham's faith that made him Father of a Great Nation not his adherence to the law:
Rom 4:20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."
God's message to Abram defied natural law and common sense. But to God all things are possible.
The messianic tradition which Christ inherited was rooted in the Jewish Creed that paid tribute to the Founding Fathers Abraham, Israel, and Jacob; Moses who led his people out of bondage in Egypt; and Elijah and the prophets who predicted one who would free his people from their bondage to foreign powers. If Christ was that Messiah the nature of the Freedom he offered did not immediately meet expectations. Even his most faithful followers were slow to get the message. The Kingdom of God is not of this world and God did not come to earth to interfere with the affairs of earthly authorities. In fact his earthly body was subject to their control.
The Kingdom of God/Heaven which Jesus embodied is a Spiritual realm over which earthly rulers have no control. Earthly laws do not apply. We, the members of Christ's body the chruch are in the world but not of the world. We have one foot on earth and one in heaven. We are saved and freed by our faith in a God of Love who relieves us from the guilt of sin, of breaking the law, when we repent and believe in his forgiveness and become freed to respond in love in joyful obedience to his call to serve.
God's peace comes from and results in a shared responsibility for the nurture and care of our earth and every creature in it. It is an act of love not a violent agressive subjugation.
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