A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (September 23, 2016)
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Faith is extremely important in the life of a Christian. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith we cannot attain eternal life (Ephesians 2:8). Without faith we are still in sin (Romans 14:23). And according to Jesus, when He returns, He will be looking for faith (Luke 18:8). So we can see that faith is critical in the life of a Christian. In fact, a person cannot even be a Christian without faith.
Over the years, I’ve noticed one personality trait that many people have that can cause a problem when they try to rightly divide the Word of God. In order to build up one thing, something else must be torn down. For example, I know people who like the PC brand computers, and in order to explain how good their PC is, they must also talk about how bad the Apple brand computer is. Likewise, I have friends who have Apple computers, and in order to convince someone that their Apple computer is best, they must also talk about how bad a PC computeris.
Although it may be true that in comparing items, one might be better, it is also possible that both products are good and that their usefulness is determined by the function needed and not by the product itself. It’s possible that one would be better for one project, and the other brand would be better for another project. Thus, both are good and neither is bad.
It’s the same way with faith and hope. Over the years I have met people who are strong in faith who will actually correct and admonish people who are standing in hope. Paul said that we should hold fast to our confession of hope. And remember that 1 Corinthians 13:13 says that we should continue in faith, hope, and love. And although Paul goes on to say that the greatest of these three is love, remember that hope made it to the top three!
Although faith is the spiritual catalyst that fuels the power of God, it takes hope to ignite our faith. Without hope, faith cannot be attained. Remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for.
If we define Bible hope, we could say that it is the intense expectation that God will complete a promise to us. Faith, on the other hand, believes God’s promise so strongly that it believes that the promise has already been completed, even though there is no physical evidence. Faith itself becomes the evidence of the thing hoped for and the proof of the promise that has not been seen.
By reading God’s Word, and finding His promises, we have hope. By making the decision to believe the promises and through meditation and confession of His promises, the hope develops into faith and it’s our faith that moves the mountains in our life.
Remember to continue in faith, continue in hope, and continue in love. Hope ignites the faith, and love creates the environment for faith to work. So when the trials of life are pressing in, look into God’s Word and find His promise. His promise is your hope. Walk in love while meditating and confessing His promise and faith will develop and faith will activate the power of God in your life.
