January 31 – Building With Faith

“ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude 20-21 (ESV)

The letter by Jude is short with only 25 verses. It’s not one of the most read books in the New Testament yet it’s message is necessary for building our faith. Jude, a half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote this letter to believers urging them to contend for the faith and to guard against and condemn the apostates. He called for discernment on the part of the church and for a rigorous defense of biblical truth.  The basis for our Christian life is our faith which is a gift from God. We became members of God's family by His grace when we believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior. It is God's desire that our faith grow stronger as it should be constantly increasing. This happens as we trust God in more and more areas of our lives. This growth in faith is the point of these verses. It is our responsibility to build ourselves up in our most holy faith. As we pay attention to what God teaches us about Himself through the Holy Spirit from what we hear taught in the Bible taught by preaching and study, we will be building ourselves up in our faith. 

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July 28 – Hope Abounds

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” -Romans 15:13  (ESV)

In the letter the Apostle Paul wrote and sent to the believers in Rome, he takes time to proclaim how our God seeks to fulfill a promise He made to the patriarchs of the people of Israel. God has intended from the beginning to include in His plan of salvation, all nations, all people, all races without distinction. To the Jews at the time, all non-Jewish people were called Gentiles. This is the term Paul uses to identify all the people in the world. For Jews and non-Jews, God is the source of eternal hope, life, and salvation for every person. He is the object of hope for every believer. Unlike our English. word “hope,” the New Testament word contains no uncertainty or ambiguity. This hope expresses something that is certain, but not yet realized. The believer’s eventual providence is to share in the glory of God and that hope will be realized because Christ Himself secures it (1 Timothy 1:1). It is only because of the clear and positive promises we have in the Word of God, that we believers have a sure foundation for hope. It is a hope that will not disappoint. 

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September 19 – Purposefully Written

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:30-31 (ESV)

If we think about what Jesus taught and what He did when He walked on this Earth, how much is not recorded?  Thanks to Holy Spirit’s inspiration and guidance we have what God wants us to have. All that is recorded is what the Holy Spirit gave to each author about the words and deeds of Jesus.  The first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded many of the same events with different perspectives. The Apostle John makes clear his intention for recording what is in the Gospel of John. It is by believing in Jesus, after reading what He said and did, or by hearing it taught and preached, that people can respond to the Holy Spirit’s call and believe. We are promised that by believing we have eternal life in Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God and one with God. Every word of the Gospel by John was included for that one purpose – that we may believe that Jesus in the promised Messiah.  In John 21:25 John mentions “other things which Jesus did” which are not written down.  If they all were, says John, there would be too many for the world to contain them. 

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July 5 – Filled and Abounding

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  -  Romans 15:13 (NASB)

If we are hoping for peace in our world, we can know that this is the way we can find it. In our verse today the Apostle Paul expresses his desire for God to fill his readers (that would be you and I and all who believe), with all joy and peace. Our Joy relates to the delight of anticipation in seeing our hopes fulfilled.  Our Peace results from the assurance that God will fulfill those hopes as he has promised. This peace is promised in Philippians 4:7 NASB in a way that surpasses our understanding.  This is another key to the promise – recognizing that we do not have to understand everything God does or says He will do. If God says it we have hope through faith believing. Our hope will be fulfilled by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the midst of the storms and turmoil in our lives, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us hope that overflows and will not disappoint us. Through faith in what God has said, we will be filled with joy and peace today. God has promised, and will do what He has promised. 

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September 7 – Hope, Joy, Peace

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”   Romans 15:13  (NASB)

Don't we all wish that this could be our everyday experience?  We are confronted with many things that might rob us of our joy and peace, especially when our faith falters under the oppression of temptations. In our verse today the Apostle Paul is sending this encouraging promise to the followers of Jesus who were living in Rome and to us as well.  It was a difficult time to be a believer under Roman rule. The government did not welcome such “subversive” thought.  Today we can see our brothers and sisters around the world facing persecution and dying for professing the name of Jesus.  This promise is for them and for us as the movement against true faith is spreading and growing in our country and world. Paul is praying the believers in Rome that they will realize our God gives us hope and fills us with Joy and Peace.  These are ours from God when we faithfully believe Him and His promises.  How do we experience this?  We maintain our hold on to the hope God has given to us. A hope that overflows – that hope is really assurance that helps us know His promises will all come true.   

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August 4 – Does Seeing Mean Believing?

“Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””  John 20:29  (ESV)

“Seeing is believing.”  A common phrase used by all of us from time to time.  We want empirical proof, don't we?  Thomas, a disciple of Jesus demanded that when he was told by the others that Jesus had risen from the grave and appeared to them a week before.  Tomas missed that meeting.  Thomas doubted their witness and so we have “doubting Thomas” as a person type.  There is a lesson in the promise for those who believe without seeing physical evidence.  In fact the promise is a blessing, a special blessing which rewards our faith with eternal live.  Perhaps it would be good to have visible proof but most likely it would not make a difference to those who choose to not believe.  Isn't it true that we have accepted Jesus and believed on His name as our Savior without seeing Him with our eyes?  And have we experience the blessings which Jesus promised to those who believe? Let's be thankful to Him for these promises.  

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June 23 – Knowing Real Hope

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13  (NASB)

This verse reminds us of the plans God has for those who enter His family by faith believing in Jesus Christ.  We notice first of all in this verse our God is called the God of hope and we notice that He is eager to share this hope with us.  Yes, our verse says that God's desire for us is that we overflow with hope.  Now, as we have clarified before, when the Bible  speaks of hope it means “expectation” and it doesn't mean "wish-fullness" It means that there is something for us to look forward to.  It is our anticipation of receiving what we have been promised – that is our hope and it will not disappoint if what we hope for is what God has promised us is ours. God's earnest desire is that we are always looking forward to wonderful prospects which He has prepared for us into eternity.  Let's never forget what a future we have.  Let's allow this hope to overflow resulting in joy, love, and peace. That may be difficult to understand sometimes but it is our promise and it was given to us by God.   

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November 26 – Hear It, Believe It

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Romans 10:17 (ESV)

The promises we have in today's verse are very special because they affirm for us how we have the faith we claim to have.   When ever we have the opportunity to hear the Word of God spoken and taught to us, and whenever we read from the Bible, we have the opportunity to believe.  It is our faith in the truthfulness of God's word that builds our life in Christ.  Faith comes from hearing the message.  We know that we are saved by faith and the Bible  tells us that we live by faith.  Yes, we need faith to live our Christian live each day.  We need faith to believe and trust the promises and as we do our faith is strengthened.  Paying attention to His Word whenever we hear it and taking it in and thinking about it is how our faith grows.  When confronted by a trial or test of our faith, we can trust it to help us because we believe what we have heard through His Word. 

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January 15 - Building Ourselves Up in Faith

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” Jude 20 (NIV)

The letter by Jude is short and has no chapter breaks. We realize that the basis for our Christian life is our faith. We became members of God's family when we believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior. After being saved by faith we continue on believing and living by faith. It is God's desire that our faith become stronger and it should be constantly growing. This happens as we trust God for more and more aspects of our lives. This growth in faith is what our verse talks about. It is our privilege and our responsibility to build ourselves up in our faith. God gives us many opportunities to exercise our faith to help it grow. One way to do this is to pay attention to what God teaches us about Himself in the Bible. It is a promise that as we hear the Bible taught and preached and we pay attention, we will be building ourselves up in our faith. God is with us and His Holy Spirit is in us to teach us.