A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Monday,
September 10, 2018
Listen
to
our message on your audio player.
We
had another very rainy weekend
here in rural Pennsylvania and it
continues to rain even this
morning. On Saturday morning
Brooksyne left for choir practice
and faced a flooded Donegal
Springs Road. She took this photo
and wisely turned around to
another route.
Trifecta is a relatively recent addition to the English language. It first appeared in the early 1970s as a term for a horse-racing bet in which the first, second, and third place finishers are chosen in the correct order.
The word has since broadened in meaning: it can now refer to a group of three, usually desirable, things (such as “the trifecta of curing cancer, ending hunger, and putting an end to war").
Daily
prayer: Jesus,
we place our faith in You because
we believe Your Word to be true
and because the Holy Spirit has
drawn us to Yourself, convicting
us of our sins. We are made right
through repentance and placing our
faith in You. We want to persevere
like the saints of old and keep
Your commandments as a testimony
of our new life that began when we
forsook our old nature and took on
the nature of Christ. We seek to
please You and to do so we must be
people of faith, for without faith
it is impossible to please You.
Amen.
Lancaster
County Sunset
Photo
taken by Ester
Click
on photo for larger view without Scripture text
"The
Ever-Enduring Trifecta"
Faith
Message
summary:
Have you placed your faith
in Jesus Christ and are you keeping it
there?
Listen
to
our message on your audio player."And
now these three remain: faith,
hope and love" (1 Corinthians
13:13). "Abram put his faith in
the Lord, who attributed it to
him as an act of righteousness"
(Genesis 15:6). "And without
faith it is impossible to please
God" (Hebrews 11:6).
I'm
undone by the mercy of Jesus
I'm undone by the goodness of the Lord
I'm restored and made right
He got a hold of my life
I've got Jesus
How could I want more
I'm undone by the goodness of the Lord
I'm restored and made right
He got a hold of my life
I've got Jesus
How could I want more
We
had another very rainy weekend
here in rural Pennsylvania and it
continues to rain even this
morning. On Saturday morning
Brooksyne left for choir practice
and faced a flooded Donegal
Springs Road. She took this photo
and wisely turned around to
another route.
According to our home rain gauge
as of 8:00 AM Monday morning we
have accumulated 8" inches through
the weekend and it looks like
another rainy day today!
Brooksyne
heard an interesting description
of the weather pattern as a
"trifecta" although she didn't
hear what the meteorologist meant
in this case! In regards to
weather we see the term trifecta
meaning various things depending
on the season. In the summer we
often hear "hot,
hazy, and humid' and in winter "cold,
rainy, and windy".
Trifecta is a relatively recent addition to the English language. It first appeared in the early 1970s as a term for a horse-racing bet in which the first, second, and third place finishers are chosen in the correct order.
The word has since broadened in meaning: it can now refer to a group of three, usually desirable, things (such as “the trifecta of curing cancer, ending hunger, and putting an end to war").
Trifecta
combines the prefix tri- (meaning
"three") with the last element in
perfecta, a word of American
Spanish origin. My most memorable
time of ever hearing the word
"perfecta" was when I preached 25
years ago in a church in
Fusagasugá Colombia using a
translator. When I finished the
national pastor of the church
stood up and said "perfecta" which
was pretty encouraging, though I'm
sure the message was far from
perfect!
Last
year we wrote a message about "Christ's
Glorious Trifecta"; His
death, burial and resurrection. Let
us consider for the next three
days another trifecta in Scripture
based on a fairly familiar passage
from 1 Corinthians 13, often
referred to as The Love Chapter.
The chapter concludes with the
first daily text, which describes
an ever-enduring trifecta; "faith,
hope and love".
Over
the next three days let's consider
each of these three words which
are foundational to Christianity
beginning with faith in today's
message.
Faith
and belief are essentially
synonymous when used in the Bible
(both use the same root Greek
word). In John 3:16 "believe" is
translated from "pisteuōn" and in
Hebrews 11:6 "faith" is translated
from "pisteōs".
The
first reference to faith/belief in
the Bible is our second daily
text. "Abram
put his faith in the Lord, who
attributed it to him as an act
of righteousness". Other
versions render "Abram believed
the Lord", or "Abram trusted the
Lord". Years ago I recall
hearing a teaching by the late
theologian RC Sproul asserting
that this is a foundational verse
for all of Scripture and our
understanding of God's plan of
salvation.
This
verse is quoted three
times in the New Testament. "Even
so Abraham believed God, and it was
reckoned to him as righteousness.
Therefore, be sure that it is those
who are of faith who are sons of
Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand
to Abraham, saying, 'All the nations
will be blessed in you.' So then those
who are of faith are blessed with
Abraham, the believer" (Galatians
3:6-9).*
Nelson’s
Bible Dictionary defines faith as
a belief in or confident attitude
toward God, involving commitment
to His will for one’s life. Nelson
also says belief is to place one’s
trust in God’s truth. A person who
believes or has faith is one who
takes God at His Word and trusts
in Him for salvation.
Perhaps
the best known New Testament verse
on faith is Hebrews 11:6, "And
without faith it is impossible
to please God".
Have
you placed your faith in Jesus
Christ and are you keeping it
there?
Be
encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Jesus,
we place our faith in You because
we believe Your Word to be true
and because the Holy Spirit has
drawn us to Yourself, convicting
us of our sins. We are made right
through repentance and placing our
faith in You. We want to persevere
like the saints of old and keep
Your commandments as a testimony
of our new life that began when we
forsook our old nature and took on
the nature of Christ. We seek to
please You and to do so we must be
people of faith, for without faith
it is impossible to please You.
Amen.*Genesis
15:6 is also quoted in Romans 4:3 and
James 2:23
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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