Shade Tree Wisdom 8/14/12 Faith

              “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
               The evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11,1

          Phillips translates this, “Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; it means being certain of things we cannot see.”

          Peterson in his The Message translates: ”The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

          And these early believers gave their lives to defend this truth of Jesus Christ.

          The truth is they believed that Jesus Christ had really lived, suffered, died, and then rose from the dead to pay for their sins. And because that was God’s eternal plan, they were saved for ever. Recall that Jesus had said, “The work of God is this, that you believe in the One He has sent.” John 6,29.

          We live in a troubled time. But then, it is probably no more troubling that any other. But I quote from an article written by Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal (8/11/12 pg A17) titled, “Nation That Believes Nothing”. She writes, “The ad’s cynicism contributes to a phenomenon that increases each year, and that is that we are becoming a nation that believes nothing. Not IN nothing, but nothing we’re told by anyone in supposed authority”.

          And that attitude of unbelief is raising its ugly head in the church. Satan started that when he said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said?” It’s rampant today, this attitude of not believing what we hear, or wanting to make changes in teachings to suit our culture. The list goes on. I say this to alert us, to throw some light into this darkness, and to seek again the faith of our Fathers, that Jesus Christ is the Only Savior there is no one else, and He is the end for salvation.

          St. Peter writes at the end of his second letter, “But grow in grace and knowledge of our lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory." II Peter 3,18

GPD 8/14/12