This week, I'll be following up the message from Sunday on THE AWESOME POWER OF FAITH. Hebrews 11:6 was our key verse - it says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The only way you can get God's approval is by faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. You may be a great person but without faith it’s impossible to please God. You may do all kinds of great things in your life but without faith it’s impossible to please God. Let's build on that...
The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Roman 10:17says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Faith comes from the Bible – and the more you get into this book, God's word, the Bible – the more your faith will develop.
Faith is the key that unlocks the door to heaven. It is very important that you grow, develop, you strengthen your faith. Matthew 9:29 says “According to your faith will it be done to you." What does that mean? God will bless you, give to you according to the faith you display!
The next few days, we are going to talk about expecting the best when it comes to your faith. Here is my definition of what expecting the best means in relation to your faith. Expecting the best is the confident assurance that God is in control of the future and that He plans what is best for my life because He loves me.
That definition is based on Psalm 32:8 - “I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I'll advise you and I'll watch over you.” God says if you’ll trust Me, (faith) if you’ll get to know Me (faith) then you can expect the best because I will guide you in the path that is best for you.”
Why should I expect the best in life when so many things go wrong? Why should I expect the best when so many heartaches have happened to me already? We learn the answer to that question in a very famous story in the Bible.
It’s the story of David and Goliath. The armies of Israel were fighting the armies of Philistia. The Philistines had a giant of a man. This guy literally was the tallest man ever recorded in history. His name was Goliath. He was nearly nine feet tall. This guy was a giant of a man. Everybody was intimidated by him. He’d come out and stand at the front of the army and say, “I'll take any of you on, one-one-one or one-on-ten.
Everybody was cowering, everybody was intimidated. He was terrorizing the Israeli army except for one little shepherd boy. David says, “I’ll fight him! I'll take him on!” From that story of David fighting Goliath we learn three things about how David expected the best and what it does to us. (1 Samuel 7:1-52)
WHY EXPECT THE BEST? Why is it a big deal?
#1. When you expect the best IT HONORS GOD!
When you expect God to help you it’s the highest compliment that you can pay to God. When you expect the best, it says something about your faith and about God! Listen to what David’s attitude was in 1 Samuel 17 “This day the Lord will hand you over to me and I’ll strike you down and the whole world will know that there is a God.”
Dads, if you overhear one of your kids saying, “My dad can do anything!” how does that make you feel? We have a God who really can do anything. When we expect Him to do those things in our lives it is an incredible honor to Him. William Carey, a missionary, who changed the world in his days because of his faith had a phrase that really governed his life. He used to say, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” That’s what your faith can do for you. Expect God to work in your life. Expect God to work on your behalf. Expect God to display His power in through you.
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!
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