Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.
George Muller
Category Archives: Faith
Live In Faith and Hope …
Live in faith and hope, though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone, for that would be to wrong Him.
John of the Cross
You Must Set The Sail
When Hudson Taylor went to China, he made the voyage on a sailing vessel. As it neared the channel between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, the missionary heard an urgent knock on his stateroom door. He opened it, and there stood the captain of the ship. “Mr. Taylor,” he said, “we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals.” “What can I do?” asked Taylor. “I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind.” “All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail.” “Why that’s ridiculous! There’s not even the slightest breeze. Besides, the sailors will think I’m crazy.” But finally, because of Taylor’s insistence, he agreed. Forty- five minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. “You can stop praying now,” said the captain. “We’ve got more wind than we know what to do with!”
All The Promises Of God
During an especially trying time in the work of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, “We have twenty-five cents–and all the promises of God!
W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 242
Faith And Obedience
The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.
A.W. Tozer
I’ve Got My Word
John Paton, the pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides, was translating the Scriptures into the language of the people of the southern seas. He had great difficulty in securing a word for faith for there seemed to be no equivalent in their language. He made it a matter of special prayer. One day one of his workers came in from a hard day’s work, and leaned back in a lounge chair and said, ‘I am so tired I feel I must lean my whole weight on this chair’
‘Praise God,’ said Paton, ‘I’ve got my word. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever leaneth his whole weight on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Too Foolish To Be Believed
Several years ago, the dazed crew members of a Japanese trawler were plucked out of the Sea of Japan clinging to the wreckage of their sunken ship. Their rescue, however, was followed by immediate imprisonment once authorities questioned the sailors on their ship’s loss. Every single one of them claimed that a cow, falling out of a clear blue sky, had struck the trawler amidships, shattering its hull and sinking the vessel within minutes. Impossible!
They remained in prison for several weeks, until the Russian Air Force reluctantly informed Japanese authorities that the crew of one of its cargo planes had apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a Siberian airfield. They forced the cow into the plane’s hold and hastily took off for home. Unprepared for live cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a rampaging cow within its hold. To save the aircraft and themselves, they shoved the animal out of the cargo hold as they crossed the Sea of Japan at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Some things sound foolish, but turn out to be true. That includes much of what we believe as Christians. “You believe that God somehow caused a virgin to bear a child, a boy who was fully man and yet fully God? You believe that he actually raised people from the dead and walked on water and fed thousands of people with a plateful of food? You believe that, after being crucified and buried, he somehow managed to raise himself from the dead?”
To many people it sounds too foolish to be believed. But it’s all true!
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe…..Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (I Cor. 1:18,21,25)
From The Sermon Fodder Email List
Where’s Your Umbrella?
One summer, a drought threatened the crop in a small town. On a hot and dry Sunday, the village parson told his congregation, “There isn’t anything that will save us except to pray for rain. Go home, pray, believe, and come back next Sunday ready to thank God for sending rain.”
The people did as they were told and returned to church the following Sunday.
But as soon as the parson saw them, he was furious. “We can’t worship today. You do not yet believe,” he said. “But,” they protested, “we prayed, and we do believe.”
“Believe?” he responded. “Then where are your umbrellas?”
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A Man Fell Over A Cliff
A man fell over a cliff and, as he tumbled down the sheer drop, managed to grab on to a scrubby bush growing from the side of the rock. Terrified, he hung in space, his life flashing before him. In desperation, he shouted toward heaven, ‘Is there anyone up there?’
To his astonished delight, a voice floated down: ‘I am the Lord God, and I am here.’
‘What should I do?’ called the man.
The voice replied, ‘Let go of the branch and, with my protection, you will float harmlessly down to the beach below.’
The man glanced under his feet to the jagged rocks at the foot of the cliff, hundreds of metres below. He gulped, and looked back toward heaven.
‘Well… is there anyone else up there?’
Ready Salted, Peter Graystone, p35
Two Words And One Faith
A story is told about Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, a Hasidic leader during the early days of Russian Communism. The rabbi spent much time in jail, persecuted for his faith.
One morning in 1927, as he prayed in a Leningrad synagogue, secret police rushed in and arrested him. They took him to a police station and worked him over, demanding that he give up his religious activities. He refused. The interrogator brandished a gun in his face and said, “This little toy has made many a man change his mind.”
Rabbi Schneerson answered, “This little toy can intimidate only that kind of man who has many gods and but one world. Because I have only one God and two worlds, I am not impressed by this little toy.”
Citation: Philip Yancey, in The NIV Student Bible (Zondervan, 1996)
I Must Live!
In the second century, a Christian businessman went to Tertullian and explained his problem. He had been contracted to provide materials for a pagan temple. The man ended his story by saying to Tertullian, “What can I do? I must live!”
Tertullian replied “Must you?”
Graham Twelvetree in Drive The Point Home p42
Too Foolish To Be Believed
Several years ago, the dazed crew members of a Japanese trawler were plucked out of the Sea of Japan clinging to the wreckage of their sunken ship. Their rescue, however, was followed by immediate imprisonment once authorities questioned the sailors on their ship’s loss. Every single one of them claimed that a cow, falling out of a clear blue sky, had struck the trawler amidships, shattering its hull and sinking the vessel within minutes. Impossible!
They remained in prison for several weeks, until the Russian Air Force reluctantly informed Japanese authorities that the crew of one of its cargo planes had apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a Siberian airfield. They forced the cow into the plane’s hold and hastily took off for home. Unprepared for live cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a rampaging cow within its hold. To save the aircraft and themselves, they shoved the animal out of the cargo hold as they crossed the Sea of Japan at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Some things sound foolish, but turn out to be true. That includes much of what we believe as Christians. “You believe that God somehow caused a virgin to bear a child, a boy who was fully man and yet fully God? You believe that he actually raised people from the dead and walked on water and fed thousands of people with a plateful of food? You believe that, after being crucified and buried, he somehow managed to raise himself from the dead?”
To many people it sounds too foolish to be believed. But it’s all true!
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe…..Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (I Cor. 1:18,21,25)
From The Sermon Fodder Email List
The Tightrope Walker
There was a tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats. All over Paris, he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then he had succeeding acts; he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across the tightrope, blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow. An American promoter read about this in the papers and wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, “Tightrope, I don’t believe you can do it, but I’m willing to make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls.” Now, Tightrope wrote back, “Sir, although I’ve never been to America and seen the Falls, I’d love to come.” Well, after a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event. Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American side. Drums roll, and he comes across the rope which is suspended over the treacherous part of the falls — blindfolded!! And he makes it across easily. The crowds go wild, and he comes to the promoter and says, “Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can do it?” “Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it.” “No,” said Tightrope, “do you really believe I can do it?” “Well of course I do, you just did it.” “No, no, no,” said Tightrope, “do you believe I can do it?” “Yes,” said Mr. Promoter, “I believe you can do it.” “Good,” said Tightrope, “then you get in the wheel barrow.”