All that Remains

All That Remains

Something that when all things are set and done, we know we can still hold on to.

I feel it is relatively safe to say that most of us if not all of us have struggled with the constant changes in this world. So much is taking place all day every day that it can be disorienting. We know what we believe and we know the difference between sin and Holiness, but we are still affected by the never ending movement towards complete chaos.

We find ourselves reflecting on that thing that is unmovable and unshakable. Let’s look at 1st Corinthians 13:13. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love,”

I’m sure I could get a hardy “AMEN!” When I say that it takes great faith to live in this world! Thanks or no thanks to social media we have real time exposure to every little thing happening around our country and even the world.

We obviously need hope as well. If we didn’t have hope of being with our Heavenly Father in Heaven, we would be racked with fear as those who don’t trust Jesus are. As wonderful as faith and hope are to us, we will only need them until we go to our Heavenly Home. Love however, now that is not going anywhere. After all God IS love.

Let’s discuss another aspect of faith. When putting faith into action, the best end result is prayer. When you pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and to cleanse you of sin…you are putting faith into action with prayer.

There is an awesome story in the Bible in Acts 10 and it’s about a Roman centurion named Cornelias. This man was a gentile yet he prayed fervently to God. He was visited by an angel who told him in verse 4, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” This meant that Cornelius was serious about his prayers.

It’s a great story and the reality is that our prayers don’t just float around and if not immediately answered they don’t just disappear. Our prayers have no shelf-life either. The prayers that were prayed by those before us remain even after they have passed on to Heaven.

If anyone ever told you that a life lived for Jesus is an easy one, they were blowing smoke. The Christian life is a blessed life, one filled with faith, hope and love, but definitely not easy. You do sometimes learn lessons the hard way in life. There’s times where you’re going to suffer at the hands of others. You’re going to be a victim. Sometimes you do everything right, but somebody else will come along and mistreat you just because they’re a terrible person. Its a fact. We read the stories of God delivering Daniel in the lion’s den and the three Hebrew men in the fire that were completely unharmed? Well, let’s just remember that Daniel still spent the night with ferocious lions and the three men still spent the night in a pit of fire. The deliverance happened because of the situation they were already in.

I’m Hebrews 11 we find the chapter that deals with what is called “The heroes of the faith.” These are the folks that prayed like their life depended on it because it did. They are considered heroes because of their faith, their prayers and their perseverance.

There is yet another great story in the Bible about the Prodigal Son. This young man wanted his inheritance from his father while he was still alive. This is wildly inappropriate because he is basically waiting for his dad to die to have his money. His dad gave him his inheritance and the son left. He went and lived it up by total and complete debauchery. When the money ran out and all the “friends” left him to find another fool to leech off of, he was in a desperate situation. He was so hungry he was wanting the food the pigs were eating. It occurred to him that he could return to his father’s house not as a son, but a servant. As he came walking up the road his father saw him and he told the servants to prepare a feast for him. He welcomed him home with open arms.

This is a picture of our Heavenly Father and if you have walked away for any reason He is ready to receive you back and to have fellowship with you.

Soon, in Heaven we will no longer need faith or hope, but thank God we have it now. You can put your hope in Jesus and by faith ask Him into your heart. He will pour out His love on you and with His help we can navigate this life.