Ghost Storiesਨਮੂਨਾ

Have you ever had a friend or family member ask you to do something that you were unsure about but their response to your uncertainty was “trust me.”? Depending on the person and the situation, you might not have trusted them enough to do what they asked. Let’s be real, it can be hard to trust people sometimes. Perhaps you’ve been in a situation when you thought you could trust someone and they betrayed your trust by lying to you or hurting you by not doing what they said they were going to do. While the common phrase we always hear is “trust has to be earned” and while that sometimes is true for our earthly relationships, God wants us to trust Him because He’s proven His faithfulness. You may be new to your walk with Jesus and are still having a hesitancy to go all in with trusting the Lord. Maybe you’re not new to walking with Jesus but some things have taken place over the past weeks, months, or years that have made you begin to doubt God’s promises and faithfulness. Whatever it may be, God’s character and who He is does not change so we can trust Him. We can have faith.

As believers, we hear a lot of talk about faith but what is it? What is faith? According to Merriam-Webster faith is an allegiance to a duty or person or belief and trust in and loyalty to God. Faith requires belief. So ask yourself, do I believe in God? Do I believe in Jesus, that He was the Son of God? Do I believe God is real and how am I showing that in my everyday life? Faith is lived out. When we believe in something or someone, it is evident in our actions. Like Paul says in Ephesians 2, we are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH, not by good works. How can we be saved if we don’t have belief, if we don’t have faith? It can be difficult at times to have strong faith because of distractions and getting wrapped up in things of this world. Which leads us to our topic for this week.

This week, we are looking at several instances where faith was required by others in the Bible. This is based on the real events of Peter stepping out of the boat and walking on water to Jesus. Many think of this story as Peter lacking in faith because he began sinking after stepping out of the boat, when in reality his faith was shown in action by getting out of the boat in the first place while all the other disciples were still in the boat convinced that what they were seeing was a ghost and not their friend and leader, Jesus. When following Jesus, stepping out in faith is required often, if not daily. As you continue reading this week, challenge yourself by reflecting on the faith that you have and choosing to step out of your boat in order to faithfully obey what Jesus is calling you to do.