112. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. If not for faith, he is good as dead.
14 February 2021
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Hebrews 11
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Let me share my 18 October 2017 reflection which I have updated.
"Faith. If not for it, I am as good as dead.
I had my failures and went through adversity years back; for period of 5 years, I was not earning for half that period in gaps, at a time our children were starting college. I became sick of my self and severely physically. I came to know the Lord in a personal way; I survived, by the grace of God; I became a Christian at age 44. I recovered my life and my health, able to be gainfully employed.
I would then come about a passage that spoke to my innermost being.
Psalm 118:18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done (Psalm 118:17).
After some years later, I went through testing of faith. I suffered severe allergy to antibiotics, when I contracted urinary tract infection in the course of prostate biosy. My condition was Steven Johnson's Syndrome, my kidney and liver were affected, I had hepatitis C due to drug overload and developed anxiety. I could have been dead the second time around, I survived, by the grace of God. The second time around, I will say: I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done (Psalm 118:17).
"Lord, again I will say, "I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done" (Psalm 118:17). Therefore, Lord, strengthen my feeble arms and weak knees (Hebrews 12:12). I shall persevere in the faith "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). Therefore, Lord, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let me be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.""
To see is to believe.
John 20
Jesus Appears to Thomas
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
To believe is to see.
Faithful Abraham
Hebrews 11 NKJV
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
Faith in Jesus Christ.
John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Death. Eternal life.
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
Romans 6
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The choice is ours, death or eternal life.
Our choice spells our eternity.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
John 11
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Do you believe this?
The foregoing verse, this is the most important question we will answer.
Do we believe that when we died with Christ in baptism through faith, that we died the significant death and that our physical death will not separate us from Jesus? All of life, even all of eternity for us indeed hangs on this one question.
"Wala ka sa Lolo ko. If not for faith, he is good as dead." This my children's children one day will say.
May you be blessed with God's Word.
Maraming salamat.
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