Faith, Hope, and Trust

This is THE DAY that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! How about you? Yesterday in our morning services, I mentioned that there are TWO enemies that will try to keep you from rejoicing and savoring every moment of TODAY. Enemy #1 is the regrets from the past. Enemy #2 is the fears of tomorrow. There are some that are reading this blog today, and you have a hard time making it through each TODAY because of the things you wished you had done different yesterday. My friend, it is time to move on past those regrets into the joys of TODAY. There are others who are having a hard time enjoying the blessings of today because you are so worried about tomorrow. You have so much fear in your life. Jesus warns us to not even think about tomorrow and what COULD happen. He wants us to enjoy TODAY. But to truly do that, we must have THREE THINGS that are evident in our lives. To show you what these three things are, I want to point you to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Daniel 3.

Daniel 3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. (18) But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Necessity number one if we are going to savor the moments of today…FAITH.

Faith says God can. Listen to the men in our text… "the God we serve is ABLE to save us from it" (Blazing furnace). If you are going to enjoy TODAY, then you must allow your Faith in God to increase. How will it increase? By spending time in God's Word: reading it, studying it, memorizing it, meditating (dwelling) on it, talking about it, listening to it…

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Necessity number two if we are going to savor the moments of today…HOPE.

Hope says God will. Listen again to the men in our text… "and He WILL rescue us from your hand, O king." If you are going to enjoy TODAY, then you must allow Hope to be resurrected in your life once again. I have mentioned several times down through the years that faith is like dynamite, and hope is like the fuse for the dynamite. I do not believe the problem with must Christians is their FAITH, but with their HOPE. The enemy has no problem with us believing that God can do anything, as long as we doubt whether He will or not. Dynamite is ineffective without the fuse, and FAITH is ineffective without HOPE:

Hebrews 11:1 (AMP) NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Faith is the assurance of the things we HOPE for. Please read the following story carefully:

Matthew 9:20-22 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. (21) She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." (22) Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

For twelve years this lady had an issue of blood. She had spent everything that she had on doctors. She heard about a man named Jesus. It was FAITH that got her on the road to where Jesus was. But it was HOPE that got her out of bed. I love verse 21, "she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Faith said, God can, but the hope that she had said, God will!

Necessity number three if we are going to savor the moments of today…TRUST.

Faith says, God can. Hope says, God will. Trust says, I will praise and serve Him STILL. Listen to the men in our text… But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Wow, that is TRUST. I know that God can, and I believe that He will…but even if He doesn't, I'm still going to serve Him. I'm still going to praise Him! Why? Because I TRUST HIM! Last week we discussed Isaiah 26:3, please read it again:

Isaiah 26:3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee: because he trusteth in thee. (4) Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

If you need the peace of God, then you need to fix your mind on Jesus. However, you will never be able to fix your mind on Jesus until you learn that you can TRUST HIM. Regardless what you face in life, trust in the fact that God is a good God. Trust in the fact that He will work ALL THINGS for the good of those who love Him, and those who are called…according to His purpose. Trust in the fact that God will make all things BEAUTIFUL…in HIS time.

The great preacher T.D. Jakes says his mother was a wonderful cook, and he loved to watch her bake. In his book, "Maximize the Moment", he writes, "With my fingers in the bowl and batter smudged across my cheeks, I learned what it later took me years to articulate – that all of life is good. If you want to enjoy it to the fullest, don't wait for what's in the oven, take the bowl now and get something out of every part." What a powerful thought. Why don't you make up your mind to enjoy the "bowl moments" of today and REJOICE in them.

My prayer for you is that you will savor the moments of TODAY by speaking to the enemy of your soul the same way the three Hebrews of our text did: Faith: "I KNOW God can", Hope: "I BELIEVE God will", and Trust: "I will praise and serve Him STILL even if I don't get the answer I'm looking for" then you can SAVOR EACH MOMENT OF TODAY! Blessings!

Pastor Rusty

Today's "Through the Bible in a year" Bible reading: Monday April 14 ,2008: Nehemiah 6:1 – Nehemiah 7:15

This week's memory verse to "Hide in my heart": Hebrews 11:1

(KJVR) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.