FAITH BELIEVES, TRUST RESTS – Part 1 of 2

What is faith? John Patten (1824 -1907) traveled to New Hebrides (a group of islands in the Southwest Pacific) to tell the tribal people about Jesus. The islanders were cannibals and his life was in constant danger. Patten decided to work on a translation of John’s Gospel, but found that there was no word in their language for “belief” or “trust.” Nobody trusted anybody else.

Eventually, Patten hit upon the way to find the word he was looking for. One day, when his native servant came in, Patten sat back in his chair, raised both feet off the floor, and asked, “What am I doing now?” In reply, the servant used a word which means “to lean your whole weight upon.” This was the expression Patten used. Faith is leaning our whole weight upon Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross.

It all starts with God’s love for us: “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.” (John 3:16)  [As a result of our sin,] we all deserve to “perish.” God, in His love for us, saw the mess we were in and gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us. As a result of His death, everlasting life is offered to all who believe. 

-- Nicky Gumbel in Alpha’s “Questions of Life: A Practical Introduction to the Christian Faith”

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A PLACE IN GOD’S HEART

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  (John 3:16-18 NKJV)

Augustine wrote (in “Confessions”): "Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee."

Could it be true that there is a place in God's heart that only you can fill, that only I can fill -- that God is restless until we rest in Him?

What a thought -- that there is a place in God's heart that only you can fill! That's more than a thought; it's a truth verified in the most dramatic and convincing way: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)

Think about that for a moment. I don't know of a more exhilarating truth. If you love someone, you need that someone to return that love, don't you? Sure you do! So it is with God. God loves you and needs your love. God will not allow death to destroy you. If you are forever separated from God, it will be your choice, not God's. In God's heart there is a place that only you can fill.

-- Maxie Dunnam in “Living the Psalms: A Confidence for All Seasons” 

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