January 8, 2008 7:44 AM
Sam wrote:
1 Thes 1 Faith, Love and Hope.....the essence of Christianity. (And the greatest is Love---according to a Country song and the Bible). What about Faith and Hope. What's the difference? Without doing the old Webster thing, I believe faith to be an extra strong belief in something in the future. I don't think knowing that it snowed in New England yesterday was faith. If I planned a ski trip to Stowe, Vermont and believed strongly that it is going to snow during that trip, based upon watching weather forecasts, then I believe that to be faith. Now, I could also Hope that it snowed during that upcoming trip, but that hope would probably be based on emotion, not forecasts. Bringing this back into our lives with Christ, I believe that we all have faith that God exists, Jesus died to take care of our sins, and that we are going to Heaven. Why is this faith, and not hope? Well, I believe that our faith developed over time based upon forecasted events coming true. And during those events, we became a stronger believer in what the Bible says. Everyone can hope that they go to Heaven, but not everyone has the faith that they will. Where do you fall? Are the beliefs you have been taught and learned through preaching, discipling and prayer, strong enough to give you that faith? Or are you simply gliding along in this life with a hope of eternal bliss. Definitely something to think about. Paul said this church had all three elements I mentioned which produced work; or in other words, demonstrations of gratitude. I believe that the church in Thessolonica was a mixture of people, some having stonger faith than others, some demonstrating stronger love than others, and some just hoping for things. BUT, all together, they made up a church in which, when they all worked together, could build each other up in faith and love, and replace some of that hope with faith and knowledge. Same with us today. We should be building each other up by learning, sharing and loving. I hope you all have a great day...off to start another day with Jesus here in Virginia. Reply to this
January 8, 2008 10:08 AM
rik wrote:
Faith can be seen through the work that one does for God (see vs 3 and 8). Then we have hope, and I think I have to disagree with your thought on hope Sam. Vs 3b states "and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ". I think emotions are one of the last things that aid in endurance. Take the LSU Ohio State game last night. The coach for Ohio played a video for the team showing all the people that did not think they deserved to be in the national championship game. This video charged there emotions up and they played like warriors for the first ten minutes, then reality set in and they proceeded to get there buts whooped. Emotion could not carry them to endure for all 60 minutes. Hope (in our Lord Jesus Christ) is what keeps us going, when we feel out numbered and over matched that hope(in our Lord Jesus Christ) is what helps us stand firm, when we are sad and overwhelmed that hope(in our Lord Jesus Christ) in His return brightens our day. I do not think hope turns into faith; I think faith and hope (in our Lord Jesus Christ) are both hugely important in our daily Christian walk. Also take in account this “hope” the writer is referring to is not regular hope. This “hope” is quite specific, it is in Jesus Christ. If your hope in JC was to have it snow it would snow because our Hope in HIS return charges our faith and that faith can move mountains. Reply to this
January 9, 2008 10:15 AM
tony wrote:
I think faith is believing in what you think is true and right. Hope is wishful thinking. I hope I do well at work, I hope my kid do well in school. I hope that God will forgive me and continue to love me. We hope to stay on the good side of God because we have faith that He exists. Reply to this
1 Thes 1
Faith, Love and Hope.....the essence of Christianity. (And the greatest is Love---according to a Country song and the Bible). What about Faith and Hope. What's the difference? Without doing the old Webster thing, I believe faith to be an extra strong belief in something in the future. I don't think knowing that it snowed in New England yesterday was faith. If I planned a ski trip to Stowe, Vermont and believed strongly that it is going to snow during that trip, based upon watching weather forecasts, then I believe that to be faith. Now, I could also Hope that it snowed during that upcoming trip, but that hope would probably be based on emotion, not forecasts. Bringing this back into our lives with Christ, I believe that we all have faith that God exists, Jesus died to take care of our sins, and that we are going to Heaven. Why is this faith, and not hope? Well, I believe that our faith developed over time based upon forecasted events coming true. And during those events, we became a stronger believer in what the Bible says. Everyone can hope that they go to Heaven, but not everyone has the faith that they will. Where do you fall? Are the beliefs you have been taught and learned through preaching, discipling and prayer, strong enough to give you that faith? Or are you simply gliding along in this life with a hope of eternal bliss. Definitely something to think about. Paul said this church had all three elements I mentioned which produced work; or in other words, demonstrations of gratitude. I believe that the church in Thessolonica was a mixture of people, some having stonger faith than others, some demonstrating stronger love than others, and some just hoping for things. BUT, all together, they made up a church in which, when they all worked together, could build each other up in faith and love, and replace some of that hope with faith and knowledge. Same with us today. We should be building each other up by learning, sharing and loving. I hope you all have a great day...off to start another day with Jesus here in Virginia.
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why did wh skip colossians 4?
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Faith can be seen through the work that one does for God (see vs 3 and 8). Then we have hope, and I think I have to disagree with your thought on hope Sam. Vs 3b states "and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ". I think emotions are one of the last things that aid in endurance. Take the LSU Ohio State game last night. The coach for Ohio played a video for the team showing all the people that did not think they deserved to be in the national championship game. This video charged there emotions up and they played like warriors for the first ten minutes, then reality set in and they proceeded to get there buts whooped. Emotion could not carry them to endure for all 60 minutes. Hope (in our Lord Jesus Christ) is what keeps us going, when we feel out numbered and over matched that hope(in our Lord Jesus Christ) is what helps us stand firm, when we are sad and overwhelmed that hope(in our Lord Jesus Christ) in His return brightens our day. I do not think hope turns into faith; I think faith and hope (in our Lord Jesus Christ) are both hugely important in our daily Christian walk. Also take in account this “hope” the writer is referring to is not regular hope. This “hope” is quite specific, it is in Jesus Christ. If your hope in JC was to have it snow it would snow because our Hope in HIS return charges our faith and that faith can move mountains.
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I think faith is believing in what you think is true and right. Hope is wishful thinking. I hope I do well at work, I hope my kid do well in school. I hope that God will forgive me and continue to love me. We hope to stay on the good side of God because we have faith that He exists.
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