{"id":23947,"date":"2015-01-16T00:20:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T05:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=23947"},"modified":"2015-01-16T09:48:49","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T14:48:49","slug":"week-beginning-series-faith-matthew-823-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/16\/week-beginning-series-faith-matthew-823-27\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week…Beginning a Series on FAITH (Matthew 8:23-27)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. <\/span>
\nSuddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. <\/span>
\nBut Jesus was sleeping. <\/span>
\nThe disciples went and woke Him, saying, \u201cLord, save us! We\u2019re going to drown!\u201d<\/span>
\nHe replied, \u201cYou of little faith, why are you so afraid?\u201d <\/span>
\nThen He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.<\/span>
\nThe men were amazed and asked, \u201cWhat kind of man is this? <\/span>
\nEven the winds and the waves obey Him!\u201d<\/span>
\nMatthew 8:23-27<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This week, here on the Seeking Him<\/strong><\/em><\/span> devotional blog, we\u2019ve begun a series on Jesus\u2019 words on FAITH<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0There are quite a few accounts recorded in the Gospels where Jesus taught His disciples the value and the importance—the requirement<\/em><\/span>—of having faith. \u00a0I believe that having faith is something we grow in as we mature in our Christian walk.<\/p>\n

Listen to just a bit of what our sisters have shared this week…<\/p>\n

In No Denial,<\/strong><\/em> Laura<\/strong><\/span> shared a story from just a few years ago of a woman who gave her life for her faith…and did not deny her Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n

I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:
\n2 Timothy 4:7<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman kept her faith even though she probably knew she was fixing to die. \u00a0She was not afraid to tell the gunmen that she was a Christian and followed Christ. \u00a0She had great faith\u2014a faith that carried her home as she admitted she followed Christ. \u00a0She was probably afraid, but she had faith. \u00a0She obeyed her Lord and did not deny Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2764 <\/span><\/p>\n

Tina<\/strong> <\/span>reminded us, in Free<\/strong><\/em>, of the account in Mark chapter 5<\/a> where a woman who suffered for twelve years with a debilitating bleeding disease had faith to approach Jesus for healing.<\/p>\n

And He said to her, Daughter, your faith (your trust and confidence in Me,
\nspringing from faith in God) has restored you to health.
\nGo in (into) peace and be continually healed and freed
\nfrom your [distressing bodily] disease.
\nMark 5:34<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman had heard of Jesus\u2019 miraculous healing power and out of her desperation, she knew she would probably die if she did not find someone to cure her…Getting the courage to touch His robe in the crowd, she knew she could get into trouble if found out. \u00a0Women were and are still thought of as property. \u00a0But Jesus did not rebuff her. \u00a0He wanted her to have faith in telling her story to everyone that she was healed just by touching His robe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2764 <\/span><\/p>\n

In God Said It. So Be It. Fear Not.<\/strong><\/em>, Ahmee<\/strong> <\/span>encouraged us with the record of Joshua and the Israelites and their seven day walk around the walls of Jericho.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israelites did nothing but march around the walls of Jericho to make them fall. That was simple. Should it have worked? No. Not at all. If I go outside right now and march around my house, I\u2019m certain it will still be standing when I\u2019m done. The reason it worked is because God<\/em> said so<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

God will call us to do some <for lack of a better word> crazy things. However, it doesn\u2019t matter what we think we are capable of and it doesn\u2019t matter what is supposed to be possible. All that matters, in the end, is Who<\/em> said it<\/span><\/strong> was supposed to happen. When the Creator of the world says, \u201cLet it be so<\/span><\/strong>,\u201d believe me, it will be so<\/strong><\/span>, regardless of what opposition we face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2764 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ann<\/span> <\/strong>laid out two great points, in Faith Jumps<\/em><\/strong>, about how faith and God\u2019s Word go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaith<\/strong><\/span> is a raw material for a product we are going to have.<\/em> As Hebrews 11:6 explicitly says without this raw material\u2014faith\u2014we cannot please God. For us to have our hearts\u2019 desires we need to have faith in the Giver and believe His word with no doubt at all.
\nThe disciples forgot that Jesus was everything and started doubting\u2026hence Jesus\u2019 question (Matthew 8:25). Jesus called Peter to walk on the sea toward Him. At first Peter did\u2026and was not drowning but he started doubting and focused on the waters THEN he started drowning. The Bible records Jesus confronting Peter: \u201cYou of little faith, why did you doubt?\u201d (Read this record here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

So little<\/strong> faith<\/strong> <\/span>can be a raw material for us to have a product<\/em> that is not attractive and leads to not having a product at all. We need to build our faith always. So, how do we build our faith? By hearing the Word of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faith<\/span><\/strong> comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
\nRomans 10:17<\/p>\n

\u2764 <\/span><\/p>\n

And in Why Are You Afraid<\/strong><\/em>, Cynda<\/span><\/strong> spoke a difficult truth to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Christian doesn\u2019t mean bad things won\u2019t happen. Storms will come at us, tossing us to and fro. But those storms are much easily weathered when we cling to our Rock. The second part of Matthew 8:26 (HCSB) reminds us \u201cThen He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look at 2 Samuel 22:3 AMP:<\/p>\n

My God, my Rock, in Him will I take refuge;
\nmy Shield and the Horn of my salvation;
\nmy Stronghold and my Refuge, my Savior\u2014You save me from violence.<\/p>\n

With God as our Rock, we have no reason to be afraid.<\/span><\/strong>
\n All it takes is placing our faith in Him alone<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2764 <\/span><\/p>\n

I so appreciate the encouragement given through these devotionals written by Tina, Laura, Cynda, Ann, and Ahmee. \u00a0Having consistent faith is among the more difficult requirements of our Christian walk. \u00a0Have you found this to be true yourself? Nevertheless, we must pursue every day believing God and His Word and placing our complete trust in it. \u00a0Remember,<\/p>\n

Faith<\/span> comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.<\/strong>
\n Romans 10:17<\/strong><\/p>\n

The time will come when each of us will stand before our Lord and there will be a reckoning of\u00a0our lives and our obedience. \u00a0No doubt each of us wants to hear the words that Jesus spoke in the parable of the ten talents (Matthew chapter 25<\/a>)…<\/p>\n

\u2018Well done, good and faithful<\/span> servant!\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, \u201cLord, save us! We\u2019re going to drown!\u201d He replied, \u201cYou of little faith, why are you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[235,3367,1287,425,8241,7834,8242,1290,7879],"class_list":["post-23947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jesus-requires-faith","tag-matthew-823-27","tag-parable-of-ten-talents","tag-seeking-him","tag-weekly-recap","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6ef","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23958,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23947\/revisions\/23958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}