The way to salvation

 ^"If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save." 2 Chronicles 20.9

The Temple of the Lord is the Church where the name in evidence is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the place where we will all cry out in one faith, one spirit and one heart, and He will hear us and deliver us. It happened to Jehoshaphat and his entire kingdom, including their wives and children.
And the answer came immediately, saying: the battle is not yours but of the Lord your God.

Abound in hope

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15.13

Our hope is that one day our tears, fears, sorrows, worries and all sorts of trouble that we have suffered in this world will be transformed into joy, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So let us stand firm in this faith until the day of our departure to be with our Lord Jesus Christ.

All things consist

"And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." Colossians 1.17

It is painful know of people who, until recently, seemed to be firm in their faith and are now fallen. I was wondering, why Lord? His response was immediate: Those who really are in Jesus do not remain for a time only, but for eternity. Those who were in the faith and have fallen is because they were never in Jesus in the first place. Because neither life, nor death, nor the world, or family problems, or sickness, or disease, or loved ones, that is, nothing in this world has the power to separate those who are in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Confidence

"Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward." Hebrews 10.35

Not to cast away the confidence means keeping the faith. Many have given up, are discouraged or even abandoned the Christian faith for not seeing their wishes done in their time. They forget that the virtue of trust has great reward before God.

Hatred

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." John 15.18

The feeling of hatred from the children of this world towards the children of God is part of carrying the cross. The Lord Jesus warned His disciples about it. It is waste of time trying to please God and the children of the world. It is more comfortable to keep the cross and take its sacrifices than trying to reconcile faith with the world.

How?

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He." Deuteronomy 32.4

How wonderful is the Lord our God! Everything in Him is perfect, glorious and majestic! As the bear minimum Perfect imperfection? How would the Perfect put up with a minimum of impurity? And the Most Holy bear the profane? But by faith, practiced in the Word of His Son Jesus, we are justified. Justified to be perfect, pure and holy... How can we understand such greatness?

Taking Christian faith lightly

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked..." Nahum 1.3

That word is addressed to those who are take the Christian faith lightly. Especially for those who, claiming that God is love, are deliberately living in sin, as if the love of God would make Him tolerate sin or injustice.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in mercy and love, but never clears the guilty.

The love God wants

"He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'do you love Me?'And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.'Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'" John 21.17

Why did Jesus ask Peter if he loved Him? From my understanding, he wanted to teach about pure and true love. Just as faith requires attitude, love also requires action. Those who think that pure love is a feeling are completely wrong. It is not. Just as  and faith, it also requires sacrifices.

Test your faith

 “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11.40

Do you believe in God? Yes, I believe.
You have faith in God? Yes, I have.
Belief, or faith, in God, means belief, or faith, in His Word.
Do you believe in God's Word? Yes, I do.
Do you obey the Word of God? Hmmm, more or less...
If you obey more or less, then your faith, or your belief, in God is more or less. This is the reason why many who believe in Jesus do not see the glory of God.
Obedience to God's Word shows the kind of faith we have.

Privilege of a few

"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Isaiah 53.1

It's true... Faith is not for everyone.
Everyone has the natural faith, but few have the supernatural faith.
The natural faith entitles you to sow whatever you want and reap what you have sown. But the supernatural faith,which is revealed to the poor in spirit, the faith that believes in the impossible, that brings into existence what does not exist, that makes things happen, and so on, that is the privilege of the few. Few are those who manage to enter through the narrow gate.

Revolt

 “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?" Judges 6.13

In the darkest hours, a cry cannot be silenced: if the Lord is with me, why  is there so much suffering? I believe that He allows it so that we react with the revolt of faith. Gideon was not a saint or a religious person, but he was chosen to lead his people to freedom because of the holy revolt he had against that situation. And this is the faith that makes a difference.

The weapons of our warfare

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10.4

When Gideon went into combat, he did not take any weapons of war. He only had trumpets and empty pitchers with torches. But when he blew the trumpets (cried out to God) and broke the pitchers with torches (manifested a living faith in the Living God), his enemies destroyed themselves.
The weapons of faith are more powerful than the weapons of men.

Life by faith

"Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10.38

The cancellation of any and all sin is only possible through faith. Not heartfelt faith, but faith practiced through obedience to the Word of God. The Lord shows this condition as the only way a person can be considered righteous before Him. However, if they go backwards, or turn away from the faith, then there will be no forgiveness, no salvation.

Fear in obedience

"And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'" Genesis 22.12

Abraham's faith had already been tried several times. He passed the tests, but when the sacrifice of his son was required, he got to his limit. His unconditional obedience proved his FEAR to the Lord God. Today, for far less, many are not able to demonstrate the least bit of FEAR IN OBEDIENCE to God's Word.

Listen

"But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” Proverbs 1.33

Listening means to obey. When we obey God's Word, faith is pure and does not allow room for doubts or fears of evil. That's a fact. Difficult is to use faith to obey. Difficult is to sacrifice the desires of the flesh. But who said that the road to salvation would be easy?

A living sacrifice

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12.1

The new converts lived an unholy life because of the idolatry reigning in Rome. By the Holy Spirit, Paul exhorts them to sacrifice their immoralities in the form of a spiritual worship pleasing to God. This is the faith that pleases God and ensures the salvation of the soul.

Do not fear

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41.10

Throughout the Bible we find the the advice not to fear 366 times. One for each day of the year, including the leap year. But if the Spirit of God used His servants to stimulate the fearlessness and courage as our daily bread, then let us live in this faith. He promises to be with us, strengthen us and sustain us regardless of the circumstances.

Obedience

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called..." Hebrews 11.8

The entire Bible is summed up in a single message: obedience. Abraham was the greatest example of this. His relationship and friendship with God were marked by his obedience. Faith is obedience.

Death was overcome

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 1 Corinthians 15.55

To those who are obedient to the Word of the Lord Jesus, death has lost its power. Rather, it is profit to those who live by faith. However, for the religious and unbelieving, it continues to terrorize them since the original sin. Even worse, filling the depths of hell.

Revenge

"...in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thessalonians 1.8

The Divine revenge is not just against those who do not know the Lord God, but also against those who are disobedient to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. That is, those who have occupied a church pew every week, listen and learn the teachings of Jesus and yet, still do not practice them. What good is it to have faith in Jesus but not obey His Word? Would such faith be able to save him?