O
olderisgood62
Guest
Romans
(10:8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;*
(10:9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.*
(10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.*
Yesterday's morning message really got me thinking about my personal assurance of my salvation. About how I came to the point of knowing for sure my salvation was and is an absolute. To those that I will share this with my answer is something that they would understand. I simply believe it because through His word God has told me this. But to really believe it, it takes something that many in this world simply can't grasp the concept of. Because it really isn't something that can be explained with mere words. We can attempt to describe it but even there I think we fail. Trying to explain it is like a man blind from birth trying to explain or describe a sunrise or sunset. He can only go by what he has heard described to him.*
Faith
Faith is simply believing. Trusting that what you have heard is the truth. How can that same blind man know that the sun even actually exists? He has never seen it. There are things other than sight that can be proof. You do not need to see or touch something to be able to know that it can be there. You can take that same man outside stand him in the sun light and he will experience the effects of of that sunlight. The warmth and even the extreme heat that is possible. He will know that there is something there causing this effect. Yet he still will be unable to see it physically.*
For me faith is a reality, something that can be felt. Something that can be experienced. Something that will prove to someone that yes there is a God. That he can still work in our lives just as he did in the lives of Noah and Abraham. He will speak to us just as loudly to us as he did to them. All it takes is to first believe that it is possible. That God is a being who exists. That God is a being that can and will interact with us. That through that interaction we can feel His presence, even if we can't see Him.*
For me that moment of realization came *some 25 years ago. Just as vivid as if I were that blind man standing in the sun at high noon. The actual event however was the total opposite.*
In the middle of a cold winter night. On a dark, almost deserted stretch of highway. Alone in my truck just wanting to get home a long week of work behind me. A night no different than many before it. And because of all the things in this world that I was working towards the only thing I had to look forward to was many more nights just like it.*
In the middle of that darkness God opened my eyes to the light of his presence. It was at that moment He taught me what faith was. Oh I knew that God existed. I knew he offered us salvation. I had accepted His salvation but I wasn't living it because I didn't have what it took to fully accept it. It was on that dark lonely stretch of road that he showed his presence so real to me that I knew I would never be alone again. That in reality I had never been alone. That in all those years of wandering around in darkness, I had been ignoring his presence. That the light of his presence had always been there I just refused to really let Him show it to me.*
Looking at that moment in my life, almost humorously, I can see now that I *had set myself up for this. Though really it was more a case of even though I didn't have what it took to realize what all those dark days were teaching me. All that time God was right there giving the lessons. Waiting for that moment when he could give me the lesson that brought it all together. Showing me what faith is.*
Faith is knowing even without physical proof. Proof you can't see or touch. You just feel it. You know it is there. And once you know it is there it takes all those things you stumbled through in the dark and puts them under Gods light and shows you what He wants you to share.*
(10:8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;*
(10:9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.*
(10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.*
Yesterday's morning message really got me thinking about my personal assurance of my salvation. About how I came to the point of knowing for sure my salvation was and is an absolute. To those that I will share this with my answer is something that they would understand. I simply believe it because through His word God has told me this. But to really believe it, it takes something that many in this world simply can't grasp the concept of. Because it really isn't something that can be explained with mere words. We can attempt to describe it but even there I think we fail. Trying to explain it is like a man blind from birth trying to explain or describe a sunrise or sunset. He can only go by what he has heard described to him.*
Faith
Faith is simply believing. Trusting that what you have heard is the truth. How can that same blind man know that the sun even actually exists? He has never seen it. There are things other than sight that can be proof. You do not need to see or touch something to be able to know that it can be there. You can take that same man outside stand him in the sun light and he will experience the effects of of that sunlight. The warmth and even the extreme heat that is possible. He will know that there is something there causing this effect. Yet he still will be unable to see it physically.*
For me faith is a reality, something that can be felt. Something that can be experienced. Something that will prove to someone that yes there is a God. That he can still work in our lives just as he did in the lives of Noah and Abraham. He will speak to us just as loudly to us as he did to them. All it takes is to first believe that it is possible. That God is a being who exists. That God is a being that can and will interact with us. That through that interaction we can feel His presence, even if we can't see Him.*
For me that moment of realization came *some 25 years ago. Just as vivid as if I were that blind man standing in the sun at high noon. The actual event however was the total opposite.*
In the middle of a cold winter night. On a dark, almost deserted stretch of highway. Alone in my truck just wanting to get home a long week of work behind me. A night no different than many before it. And because of all the things in this world that I was working towards the only thing I had to look forward to was many more nights just like it.*
In the middle of that darkness God opened my eyes to the light of his presence. It was at that moment He taught me what faith was. Oh I knew that God existed. I knew he offered us salvation. I had accepted His salvation but I wasn't living it because I didn't have what it took to fully accept it. It was on that dark lonely stretch of road that he showed his presence so real to me that I knew I would never be alone again. That in reality I had never been alone. That in all those years of wandering around in darkness, I had been ignoring his presence. That the light of his presence had always been there I just refused to really let Him show it to me.*
Looking at that moment in my life, almost humorously, I can see now that I *had set myself up for this. Though really it was more a case of even though I didn't have what it took to realize what all those dark days were teaching me. All that time God was right there giving the lessons. Waiting for that moment when he could give me the lesson that brought it all together. Showing me what faith is.*
Faith is knowing even without physical proof. Proof you can't see or touch. You just feel it. You know it is there. And once you know it is there it takes all those things you stumbled through in the dark and puts them under Gods light and shows you what He wants you to share.*