Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
THE THIRD “NOW” OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST - CHRISTIANITY IN A NUTSHELL
1 Corinthians 13:13: “And NOW abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
The word NOW speaks of our present span of life while living on this earth.
1. Right NOW we are to be looking at the image of Christ revealed in the words of Scripture as well as in the unveiled faces of our fellow-believers (2 Corinthians 3:18).
2. Right NOW, at this present time, we are to be always increasing our knowledge of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Pearl of Great Price. He is the inexhaustible treasure of wisdom and knowledge. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). We must never, ever stop seeking more knowledge of Him. We must have an insatiable desire and appetite to know Him more (Philippians 3:10-14).
3. And NOW abideth faith hope and love. These three truths are the real essence of true Christianity. They are the three most important abiding truths that will never be done away with or superseded. These three truths are abiding both now and forever.
Faith is eternal. Hope is eternal. And love is eternal These are three everlasting truths that we must pay full attention to. We must be strong in them and grow stronger in them. We must live in these three truths and allow them to live daily in and through us. Faith, hope, and love are Christianity in a nutshell.
The Greek word for faith is “pistis” meaning “persuasion, credence, convictions of religious truth, especially reliance and trust upon
Christ for salvation, constancy in such profession, the system of the gospel truth itself, assurance, belief, faith, and fidelity.”
Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Surely, we all want to please God. Faith that is genuine takes hold of the promises of God and will not let them go until God gives the breakthrough. Faith believes in the heart and confesses with the mouth (Romans 10:9, 10).
Faith is very powerful and can move mountains, and God only knows how many mountains need removing mountains—mountains of trouble, mountains of fear, sickness, disease, and financial mountains, etc. One should never underestimate the importance of faith.
Jesus spoke a lot about faith and exercised faith in every miracle that He performed. The words “believe” and “have faith in God” are synonymous terms.
Faith is such a great subject and tremendous books have been written on the subject by such authors as Kenyon, Bosworth and T. L. Osborn, etc.
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
