Family Friday: Faith is the fruit of Christians

What is faith?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Faith, simply is belief in something you cannot see.

Things that faith offers:
1. Remission of sins.

“To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:43. 

”For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

2. Justification.  

“and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts13:39

3. Freedom from condemnation. 

“He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John3:18

4. Salvation.

 “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John3:16

Some things We are to do by faith:
1.  We are to live by faith.

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17

2. We are to walk by faith.

“And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.” Romans 4:12

3. Pray by faith.

”And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew21:12

4. Overcome the world by faith.

“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  I John 2:13-15

Faith is the core of the Christian walk
“For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” Romans 3:3

Just because one does not believe faith is still faith.
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28

We are saved by faith, not by something we do!
“Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labors; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly”  II Corinthians 10:15

Thoughtful Thursday: Tiffany's Testimony

Written by Tiffany Hazewinkel

It's no secret that I'm a Christian.  I was raised in a Christian home and made a "profession of faith" when I was younger.  All of my life, I've lived a bit of a wishy-washy Christian life. There were times I strayed from the Lord and lived like anything but a Christian.  Here's the thing. I've always held onto a piece of myself and never fully put my trust in Christ that He and He alone could save me.  I know about His love. I know about His forgiveness.  But I couldn't get past me.  Despite knowing that He's the only one who could save me, I kept going back to what I did.

“Did I pray the right prayer?"

“Did I make a change in my life?”

“I certainly don't feel saved.”

So, I would try harder. I would pray more. I would clean up my life a bit and hope that I would find that peace. I even put on a good face and faked it. I could talk the talk and walk the walk and no one (but me and the Lord) would ever know the difference. 

Well, He had been working on me for a few months and I kept putting Him off. I tried to convince myself that I was safe.  But in Sunday School one day, our teacher asked if anyone wanted to give their testimonies. I thought about what I would say if I volunteered and I came up empty.  I was going round and round in circles in my head, trying to think of what I could say that would convince the class that I was positive I was going to spend eternity in Heaven. Can you believe that??  I shouldn't have to convince them (much less, myself!) that I was confident in my salvation.  In that moment, I realized that I had never truly placed all my trust in Jesus. I know the facts, I know the Bible, but I'd never truly believed and trusted Him to save me.  I determined that I was settling it before I left church that day.

And then. . . Wow!  The message that was preached that morning in church was about salvation and it felt like it was tailored just for me. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Everything I know about Jesus and salvation that I've learned all of my life was in that message and it felt like the Lord was speaking directly to me. So, I settled it.  When the preacher invited people to go to the altar, I went. I finally placed all my trust in Him, the One who shed His blood for my sins. I realize it has absolutely nothing to do with me. It's all about Him. For the first time in my life, I had the peace I had been searching for. I've been trying so hard to live the life of a good Christian, so that I could feel that peace. And then, just like that, He gave it to me.

Monday's Message: Victory in Jesus

Heaven is a very real place. What’s more, it is the home of the Lord God.  It is the place of His throne. Because He is holy, heaven is holy. And nothing unholy will be allowed there by Him.

The born again Believer’s spirit and soul have been made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ.  But our bodies have not.

One day, all who are saved will enter this holy place.  And if the time of the calling away, or the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ, is when you and I enter this place, we read in our text, something must happen to our earthly bodies:

I Corinthians 15: 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Our earthly bodies are corruptible; meaning they have and are and will die and decay; will be changed to a Christ like body; which is incorruptible.  This body is also a sinless body, it is our heavenly tabernacle; or body.

Our earthly bodies at the time of the rapture, will also be changed to immortal body; meaning: (exempt from death; having life or being that shall never end)

 We cannot but imagine how great heaven will be!  First, because of the physical presence of Jesus Christ, He Who has made us holy, and is the reason heaven is holy. 

Added to that, the absence of sin and destruction even in our bodies, which will be then inhabiting not only the body, but the home where we will live and be forever and ever.

Our text further states:  vs. 54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The victory Jesus won on Calvary was not only for the will of God, but also for our sakes.  And because of this; the enemy of death is swallowed up by the victory of Jesus Christ’s death on the old rugged cross.

55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Praise the dear Lord, they are and were conquered.

Victory in Jesus!

Family Friday: Be her Protector

Written by Pastor Mark Cannon

Every man wants to be a hero to his girl. Whether it's his wife or daughter or girlfriend, he wants to be the hero. Men want to be the protector. We protect; we provide; we fix what's broken. We are men; it's what we do.

Every man has an obligation to be the protector and provider for his family, particularly for his wife! Men get that for the most part.

But there is one aspect of protection that most men miss when it comes to protecting our wives. The most common attack on a woman comes from the man she is counting on to protect her! Her husband!

I'm not talking about physical abuse. There are good, caring loving husbands who fail to protect their wives from one particular attacker; his emotions. We men don't think about it, but when we let our anger, our fatigue, our frustration spill out to our wives, they bare the fallout, and it takes a toll on them.

We men do not have the luxury of pouring out our frustration to her, or on her. Husband, you would never allow anyone to hurt or tear down your wife. But do you protect her from your emotions? Do you provide her with a safe place in your spirit?

Keep the anger in check. There is nothing manly about showing her your temper. Protect her from your emotions.

We Pray Wednesday: Answer to Prayer - Cheri Endicott

Music is a REALLY big deal in our family. Several months ago our son's trumpet got a hole in the lead pipe right in the middle of his competitions, and we had to wrap duct tape around it until we could get it repaired. His teacher told us that it was time to move him from a student trumpet to a professional trumpet.  We shopped online and saw that this was going to cost $1,000 used or up to $2,600 new. (Way out of our price range....we really enjoy eating on a daily basis.)

When we went to the music store to leave his trumpet for repairs, he played some of the new Bach Stradivarius trumpets.....and yes, this mom and son were coveting. Pressure turned on dad to buy our son a new trumpet, so he could have one to play for the national competition. This mama would have put it on a payment plan in a heartbeat if dad would have allowed it.  What a struggle it was for him to make a decision.  My husband REALLY wanted to give our son a new trumpet, but knew financially that he couldn't. He prayed and then said, "I believe the Lord is going to have to provide for this one. I believe the Lord can give us one that we can afford or He will send us the money to buy a new one."

This mom and son left with our hearts broken and our heads down, and I am sure that dad was begging God for a miracle. As we drove away from the store, we received a phone call from papa telling us that one of our former youth had a Bach Stradivarius for sale at his thrift store on Facebook. No kidding!!!!  The trumpet was 40 years old, had numerous dings, silver was missing and tarnished, and it had a seriously crumpled bell.  It wasn't anything to look at, but it was the kind of trumpet that we needed. We asked if we could take it to a repair shop to see if it could be repaired for a reasonable price. 
To shorten the story, it was repairable, and our former youth deeply discounted the price to make it affordable. We knew it could be repaired to a playable condition, but the outside possibly couldn't be restored.

We just got the trumpet back today, and nearly cried. It is beautiful!!! Not only were they able to restore the dings and the crumpled bell, but the silver was only tarnished and not worn away as it had first appeared! The repairman broke the slide while trying to get the trumpet apart to clean it, and the company paid to have a new slide made at no charge to us!!!! (That was the only part really wrong with the trumpet in the first place!)  God provided what our son needed in a miraculous way by giving us a professional trumpet at a fraction of the cost!  God is good - all the time!