[Faith-talk] Random thoughts for today

Wed Jun 15 14:07:44 UTC 2011

Very thoughtful Post Joshua. I'm glad you decided to stay.

Yes the Holy Spirit -- Holy Gost, gives us peace, hope, comfort and wisdom.
I certainly agree with you when you say you don't know how we can live
without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

That presence surely makes my life much better.

Here is a little segment from the study I wrote on faith. This segment is
called "Faith is demonstrated through our suffering."

I hope this blesses you.

Romans 5:3-5                And not only so, but we glory in tribulations
also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience;
and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

The New International Version tells us that suffering produces perseverance,
perseverance produces character and character produces hope.

There is one solid message that can be taken from this scripture passage.

We have previously noted that faith is the substance of things hoped for and
the evidence of things not seen.

In the immediate preceding scripture passage we see that hope comes by
tribulation. We see that hope increases as the quality of our character
improves.

The key word is hope.

What gives us hope?

Before we can answer that question, we should discover what hope really is
and where it comes from.

Before we can have real hope, we must understand what real hope is.

What is the foundation of hope?

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of
God. Therefore, if faith is the substance of things hoped for and faith
comes by the word of God, then hope must obviously come from the word of God
as well. For, before we can have faith, we must believe in the substance of
things hoped for.

What is the substance of hope?

Jeremiah 17:7                         Blessed is the man that trusteth in
the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Romans 15:4                           For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Colossians 1:23                       If ye continue in the faith grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven;
whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Psalm 119:74, 81, 147   They that fear thee will be glad when they see me;
because I have hoped in thy word. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I
hope in thy word. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped
in thy word.

Psalm 130:5                             I wait for the LORD, my soul doth
wait, and in his word do I hope. 

Hope, then, is the comfort we obtain from the scriptures. It is the essence
of trust in the infallible word of God.

Romans 8:24-25                      For we are saved by hope: but hope that
is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

It is easy to hope for things when we have evidence to hope. We hope for a
job when we fill out an application at a business that has a "help wanted"
sign posted on the door. We have hope that an antibiotic shot will cure us
of the flu or other treatable ailment. We have hope for a raise when we are
promised one.

This type of hope is based on the evidence of things seen though. It is not
real hope. It is a hope based on positive circumstances.

The hope we're talking about here is based on our response to negative
circumstances. It is based on the belief that God will prevail no matter how
dark and bleak things seem.

It is the hope based on scriptural promises. It is a solid hope because we,
who have not seen, are blessed because we still believe even though there is
no physical evidence supporting our hope.

This hope is a clear demonstration of faith.

-----Original Message-----
From: faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Joshua Lester
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 8:57 AM
To: Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion
Subject: [Faith-talk] Random thoughts for today

Hi, it's Joshua Lester.
I want to start off by saying, that I appreciated the encouragement,
yesterday.
It's because of you that have encouraged me, that I've decided to stay.
Now, as I was meditating this morning, this thought came to me.
Philipians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ, which
strengtheneth me."
I thought before, that Jesus would just strengthen me, which he does.
This: however, is the meaning of the verse.
You see, that contrary to what some denominations teach, Christ is not
Jesus's last name.
Here's a Hebrew lesson.
If you were in those days, your name would be, your first name, "Ben,"
and your father's name.
Jesus's name would have been Yeshua Ben Yoseph, (Jesus Ben Joseph.)
Christ comes from the Greek word, "Christos," which means the
anointing, or anointed one.
This blessed me!
The Bible calls the Holy Ghost, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The anointing comes from the Holy Ghost!
That's how you're strengthened.
I don't see how anyone can truly make it without the Holy Ghost.
I'm not here to debate this, but after seeing this, it makes me wonder.
I lost my grandmother 12 weeks ago today.
Sure, I was sad, but i still had joy.
I stayed strong, because I had the Holy Ghost.
The joy of the Lord, is my strength, and I get that joy through
Christ, (the anointing,) (the Holy Ghost.)

I hope this blessed you, like it has blessed me.
Blessings, Joshua

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