Daily Bread – January 15, 2024 (The Second Day – Genesis 1:6-8) Luke 17:5 – And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” What is faith? It is easy to recognize what faith can do, for both the Gospels and the Book of Acts are full of the glorious demonstration of the power of faith. When we read the Epistles of Paul, we come to understand how faith works as he reveals how it is a fruit as well as a gift of the Spirit – thus we learn we must yield to the Holy Spirit if faith is going to work (Galatians 5:22; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11). We know how faith comes to us, as time and again, we hear the announcement of the faith that is by Jesus Christ (Acts 3:16; Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 3:9; 2 Peter 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:3; and Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16,20, 3:23). Yet, to understand what faith is we must look a little closer at the Scriptures. As we look back into the Old Testament, we discover very quickly how faith is comparable to trust. The first man highlighted in the Bible for having moved in faith is Abraham. He believed God! Why? Because he had come to trust Him. Abraham had become a friend of God (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23; Romans 4). Throughout the pilgrimage of Abraham’s children, we discover how God led them on a journey to teach them to trust Him even as their father Abraham did. When the link is made between the trust of the Old Testament and the faith of the New, we discover once again a call for mankind to come into a relationship with God and discover life is far more than the things we concern ourselves with on a daily basis (Matthew 6:25-33). In a word, we discover faith is a bond of relationship that is an expression of God’s own love. This bond of relationship could not be expressed or defined in a greater way than the relationship which existed between Jesus and His Father. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 1/15/2024
