Faith-musings

Thanks for sparking a bit of thought and thinking about faith Chris. I have been on a bit of a crusade myself regarding faith and being full of faith. Biblically, there are a few different ways in which the word faith is used. The most Holy Faith would be the set of doctrinal truths, as we would say it today our Statement of Faith. Then there is faith used as the broad sense, the way of faith, we would say today the Christian faith. Then there is faith that is described in Hebrews 11:1 the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. The essence of this faith is assurance and conviction. It is full of life, it is full of hope, it is full of love and it is full of the eternal. It is full of God as God is completely faith-full.
My Christmas message this year focused on the supernatural aspect of the Christmas story. Why did God pull back the curtain so we could read of the supernatural goings on of the angels, of dreams, of the Holy Spirit "overshadowing", of Prophecies, worshippers and prayers. Because the whole story must be believed by faith. Not just faith because we weren't there but faith that any one part of the entire story could somehow be true! Zechariah's silenced voice from disbelief, Mary's servant obedience because she believed by faith in the word of the angel regarding "nothing being impossible with God", The shepherds angelic visitation, Joseph's consistent obedience to his spiritual dreams, Simeons Holy Spirit promise of actually seeing the Lord's salvation, Anna's prophetic utterance, Wise men following a star that disappeared and then reappeared directly above the place where Jesus was and then going home a different way because of a spiritual dream. The whole story comes off so NON-WESTERN, by that I mean so mystical and that it must be accompanied with faith to believe it.
My prayer these days is that I would be a man full of faith; that I would full of assurance that God with me all the time, fully convinced that God can do the impossible in my life, my family, my relationships and my church. Full of faith that is growing day by day until I see him face to face and faith becomes sight.
God is Good- All the Time!