What is faith? How is faith related to hope?

Faith never gives up in face of obstacle but find ways to fulfill its hope.

What is faith? How is faith related to hope?

I have been troubled by this:

Mat 15:26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
Mat 15:27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 
Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Most of us will think that Jesus was being nasty to the woman. But it is a story to show the meaning of faith.

Faith never gives up in face of obstacle but find ways to fulfill its hope.

Jesus was leading and triggering the woman's faith to break the normal norms of blessings to the Jews first.

Have you given up lately because of some objections or obstacles? 
Keep the goal but find new ways to achieve it.

Now can we see the meaning of this famous quote of Hebrew 11:1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Faith insists that the Hope is realized!

Lim Liat (c) 30 Nov 17

Word Alone is Insufficient - The Process of Faith

Believers today had the Word of God, but many are just like the Old Testament people, they are not fruitful. How come? Because they believe not and obey not the Word. So having the Word alone is insufficient. There need complete it with the process of faith.

The Old Testament gave us some very sad stories of unbelief, disobedience, idolatry, rebellion, and destructions. They had the Law of God. They even had God's prophets. But the outcomes were not pleasing to God. They clearly show that God's Word alone is insufficient. They are other important things that must be tied in with the Word of God. What are these?

Let take one successful example of Joshua and his people that entered, conquered, and inherited the promised land. The instructions for victory and success are clearly given by God at the very start. The key verses are:

• Joshua 1:8-9 (NKJV)
  8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The key words are:

1. The Word - this Book of Law
2. Read and Speak the Word.
3. Meditate on it all the time.
4. Obey - do according to the Word.
5. Outcome - Success over a period of obeying in action.
6. A reminder - to courageous to do and obey the Word.

A mind-map incorporate the parable of the Sower are shown below:

The key to success and victory is to complete the Word with the act of faith. The hearing of the Word is just received in the mind. It must be meditated on day and night for it to enter into our heart as faith. The desire of the heart, enriched by the Word, will cause to want to act on it. Acting on the received Word is called obedience. It is the expression of our faith. Acted faith will bring forth the good success of increase and abundance and our own growth in faith.

Lim Liat (c) 12 Nov 2017

How do you know which Religions or Worldviews is the right one?

Which one is right is only possible when we have a set of tests to discover and validate them. We look at the worldview test proposed by Ravi Zacharias.

People may ask you, "With so many religions in the world, how do you know yours is the right one?",  "How do you know there is a God?" etc. The famous Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias asked us to define our worldview and gave us some tests to validate them. Here is a mind-map that captures his various posts on this worldview topic.

The mind-map on Worldview and its validation:



The references:

1. ASK Group Leader Introduction | RZIM
2. Think Again – Deep Questions | RZIM
3. How Should We Analyze a Worldview?

Now is your turn to fill in the answers and validate them to find out.

Lim Liat (c) 5 Nov 2017