Hence, it is connected with the future. It could be health, success, a good career, a happy relationship, inner freedom, unity, prosperity, liberation for the oppressed and peace among nations. In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love. It is inseparable.
We place our faith, hope and love in God who cannot let us down because He loves us unconditionally unless we reject Him and unrepentant.
We may be unfaithful but he is always faithful,
for he cannot disown his own self. - 2Tim. 1:13 -
God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. - Titus 1:2 -
In the same way when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have a strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us. - Heb. 6:17-18 -
For Christians, there is an additional ground for our hope. Through his resurrection Jesus conquers death, sin and evil; the very moment of what appeared defeat and failure is transformed into triumph and glory. Like faith and love, hope is not something personal, to be cultivated in our hearts; it has to come out and affect our relationships and our surroundings. Faith, hope and love is a constant challenge. Though we know that God will always be faithful to his promises, we also know that we are weak and prone to waver. God's promises of salvation always take the form of invitation, never of compulsion...He invites, persuades and coaxes but he never forces...
Though it seemed Abraham's hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and through doing so he did become 'the father of many nations' exactly as he had been promised: 'Your descendants will be as many as the stars'. Even the thought that his was past fatherhood - he was about a hundred years old - and Sarah too old to become a mother, did he not shake his belief. Since God had promised it, Abraham refused either to deny it or even doubt it but drew strength from faith and gave glory to God, convinced that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is the faith that was 'considered justifying him'. Scripture however, does not refer only to him but to us as well when it says that his faith was thus 'considered'; our faith too will be 'considered' if we believed in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Jesus who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us. - Rom. 4:18-25 -
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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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