Join host Rick Hughes on this enlightening 30-minute journey exploring the pivotal concept of faith and its indispensable role in living a life pleasing to God. This episode delves into the biblical definition of faith, contrasting it with everyday hopes and exploring the Greek roots of its meaning. You’ll discover the evidence of faith as explained in Hebrews, and the act of trusting God even without physical proof.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes… You have an invitation to stick around. It’s just a short show, about 30 minutes, motivation, inspiration, some education, and never any type of manipulation because we don’t con you. We’re not trying to solicit money. We’re not offering to sell you anything or ask you to join anything. We just want to give you information. Hopefully, the information will help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life, and if that’s possible, then you have the choice to orient and adjust to the plan if you’d like to do that. But I’m so very grateful that you let me have a few minutes of your time this Sunday morning, wherever you may be, from California to Maine. We broadcast every Sunday over 100 radio stations across this great country. Our website is always rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org. There you find the many books that we offer free of charge that we’ve written. And especially our latest book, God’s Grace in Aging, which deals with getting older and what God gives you in those years as you begin to approach the older age. Hope you’ll enjoy that book. And a lot of other books as well. Christian Problem Solving. We have all sorts of books on Crash Course in Christianity. Biblical Promises and Principles available, as well as transcripts of our radio shows that we’ve done in the past. All those transcripts are available on podcasts. We do podcasts as radio show on Spotify, on Apple iPod. If you know about podcasting, you can go there and just type in The Flotline and you will find our radio show right there as well as you can print the transcripts from there as well. Okay? All right. Well, thank you for listening this morning. Enough with all the preliminaries. Let’s get right into the message because we don’t have a whole lot of time. We want to talk about the importance of faith in your life. The importance of faith, F-A-I-T-H, in your life. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse six, without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Notice without faith, impossible to please God. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. So my first question to you today is how is your faith? Do you have enough faith to stand alone and trust God to handle the details of your current situation? Or do you, like many others, seek out someone of faith to prop you up with their prayers and their encouragement? Do you? Can you please God with your faith? Do you have enough faith to please God? Because that’s what that verse says in Hebrews 11, 6. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. Do you have enough faith to please God? Well, what exactly is the definition of faith? Hebrews 12, one tells us, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Things hoped for and things not seen. Things not seen means you have to trust God to provide. But the Greek word for hope is an interesting word. It doesn’t carry the same thought as our word. You know, like I hope it rains today. Where I live, we need a lot of rain. We hadn’t rained in about four or five weeks. So my wife and I may say, I hope it rains today. But the Greek word for hope is different. It’s the word elpis, E-L-P-I-S. Elpis, and that translates faith in the English. But it carries a different meaning. It’s a meaning of absolute trust. You might say, I know it will rain today because God is expecting us to trust him 100%. For example, you absolutely trust God to provide a home for you in heaven, don’t you? but you have not seen it yet, but you trust him. Jesus our Lord said this in John 14, 3, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, yet there you may be also. These words that he spoke to the disciples required absolute trust, not just a hope. They didn’t hope he would come back. They knew he would come back. They knew he would do what he said he would do. What a confidence builder absolute trust is. So faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Hebrews 12.1. Having mature believers as close friends is a good thing for you and me, but they cannot live our lives for us because we are evaluated by God based on our own individual decisions and our own individual actions. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 tells us that, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith, the importance of faith again, not by sight. Remember this, the true test of your faith is can you go it alone when things get tough? Will you trust God to handle the situation? Or will you get self-absorbed and fall into the fear-panic ploy? You remember what the psalmist said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The mature believer’s faith is much greater than the attack of adverse circumstances, up to and even including death. Your faith has to be much greater than circumstances. So before we go much further, let’s look at the original Greek word for faith. That word is a noun pronounced pistis, P-I-S-T-I-S. That’s the Greek word translated faith in the English. There is a verb that says pistou. It’s the same word, but it’s a verb. And the verb pistou is the word believing. Believing is the actual act of you using your faith. Do you believe God? When he tells you something, then that’s faith. For example, in Matthew 9, 28, when Jesus was coming to the house, the blind man came up to him and Jesus said unto them, do you believe I’m able to do this? And they said, yes, Lord. This event I just read to you in Matthew 9, 28 occurred as Jesus continued to demonstrate his deity, to those who were observing him in the public. He had just left the house of Jairus where he healed the man’s daughter who was at the point of death. And during his travels, he was followed by these two blind men who wanted their sight restored. Our Lord healed many, many, many people during his earthly ministry. And these miracles were done for the purpose of authenticating his claim to be the true Messiah. So make a note of this. Your act of salvation is accomplished through your faith. That’s your first faith decision when you enter the plan of God. Do you believe that Jesus is the anointed son of God? That’s why the Bible says, this is the will of God that you believe in me whom he has sent. He that believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life, the Bible says. So the act of salvation is an act of faith. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 tells you that. For by grace you’ve been saved through faith, by faith. Faith in what? and that not of yourselves it’s a gift from god not of worksless anyone should boast so you have faith in the fact that jesus christ is the anointed son of god and that he paid your the price for your sins on that cross and then he resurrected out of that grave that he’s alive today and he guarantees you eternal life as well so this verse in ephesians 2 8 9 simply means you have believed in the true identity of christ as the anointed son of God. It’s his work that justifies and satisfies God’s justice. That’s what does it, not our pitiful attempt to justify our own self. We can’t justify ourselves. It is the work of Christ. That’s why it says, he who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God by means of him. In John 6, 40, this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and has faith in him, that’s not what it says, it says believes in him, pistou, faith and believe. Whoever believes in him may have everlasting life. and I will raise him up at the last day. Again, this is the will of the one that sent me. And this is Jesus speaking. Everyone who sees his son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. That’s your faith. You heard the word believe in him. That’s your faith being expressed by trusting his claim and demonstrated by his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Son of God who provides redemption for all who believe. And that simply means redemption for all who will put their faith in him, all who will trust him to do what he said he would do. If salvation is the greatest work Christ could do for us and we trust him to do that, that he would do what he promised to do, that he would save us, then does it make sense that your daily needs and daily protection can also be under his control as well? Does that make sense to you? In Philippians 4.19, let me show you how faith works in the everyday life of the believer. And Paul wrote it this way, and my God will supply, that’s trust right there, will supply every need of yours according to the riches of glory in Christ Jesus. Not might supply, hopefully supply, will supply. In Matthew 6, 31, therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. So he knows you need it. He knows what you need. And your faith is required in these two simple verses. I mean, do you absolutely believe that God will do what he says he’ll do? Or do you just hope that he will do what he says he will do? Are you just a hoper, not a truster? I mean, is there some condition tied to these two verses? Like if we are good and if we don’t do bad things and he will meet our needs? No, there’s no conditions there. And Paul didn’t say if you’re good, he will supply your need. That’s not what it says. He will supply the need of every believer, yours, mine, and anyone else who’s a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. So living faith, living faith, faith that you use every day requires you to believe that God has unconditionally promised to provide your logistical needs since you are what? His child. You are his child. I am his child. And what parent would abandon their child? Do you understand that? You are a child of God. He will supply every need of yours. Trust him. Don’t be anxious, the Bible says. Trust him. That’s your faith. Can you make faith stronger? Someone asked me one time, my faith is kind of weak, can I make it stronger? Well, Romans 10, 17 says, so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Yes, you can make your faith stronger, but only as you acquire information in your soul. The more you know, the more you trust. The more you know, the more you trust. So as you learn God’s Word, cycle it into your soul, store it in your frame of reference, it builds your faith. The Scriptures, the Bible doctrine in the Word of God, that’s our confidence builder. Listen to Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. There’s a promise right there for you. that the word of God will direct your life. The word of God will keep you from stumbling in the darkness. The word of God will light your way to your life. Do you trust God with that? Do you believe God with that? Do you have faith about that? Because as you learn God’s word, it will direct your feet and be a light to your path. So you don’t stumble in the darkness, so you don’t make a mistake. Most people make mistakes because they’re impetuous, because they don’t understand what the will of God even is for their life. And so they go off half-cocked saying, you know, that famous statement, oh, I prayed about it. No, that prayer probably wasn’t even answered. Oh, I prayed about it. Yeah, okay. So then you jumped off and did it and you were impetuous. So scripture is the confidence builder. The only way you can increase your faith is to build your biblical inventory of divine provisions and divine promises. That’s the only way you can increase your faith. So the more you learn, the more you apply, the more you trust. That’s why it’s essential for you to have a well-qualified pastor to teach you these things. You can’t teach it all to yourself. You can read the Bible, sure you can, but God equipped men who have the gift to pastor, teacher, to instruct you and teach you and guide you and shepherd you. That’s what Ephesians 4 says. The only way you’re going to increase your faith, as I said, is to build your biblical inventory of divine provisions and promises. Those are the backbone to your faith. I mean, come on now, faith has to have an object. And in our case, in the believer’s case, what is the object of our faith? It is the inerrancy of God’s Word preserved for us by means of God the Holy Spirit. That is the object of our faith. So, for example, in order to use effective prayer, you must have faith. Did you realize that? In Matthew 21, 22, and whatever things you ask for in prayer, believing you will receive. There’s faith, trust, there it is. Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing you will receive. You heard those three words, believing you will receive. When you pray intercessory prayer for others, Do you actually believe that God will provide what you request? Or are you just hoping that he will consider your request? I have an advice for you, and that advice is to go ahead and thank him in advance, believing that he absolutely will. Of course, unless it’s some kind of foolish request. We’ve all done stupid prayers, and I’ve done a few of those myself that were not in his will, and they didn’t get answered. So if we pray a prayer of petition, that’s praying for ourself, do you really believe God will answer that? Do you really believe God will provide what you’re requesting from him? I can tell you from experience that believing is, in fact, expecting. That’s what believing is. It’s expecting. And that is the final step to trust. You trust and you expect. Faith in action is believing, and believing is the act of trusting. So, do you trust God with your most intimate details of your life? The faith rest drill is what we call problem-solving device number three on the flat line of your soul. You cannot rest if you don’t trust, and you cannot trust without knowing who or whom to trust. In Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, listen to this. Trust in the Lord. There’s faith. Have faith in the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. And what, do not lean to your own understanding. In all of your ways, acknowledge him, and I say first and foremost, and then he will direct your paths. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Have faith, believe, expect, and he will direct your path. In Psalm 37 five, commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. That’s the confident expectation of your prayer and petition. So when you go to the Father and when you pray, do you have trust that he’s gonna do what you ask him to do? Do you believe he will do what you’ve asked him to do? Do you expect that to happen? You should. Because both of these verses say what? He shall direct your path. He shall bring it to pass. He shall, he shall. I mean, how many more times do you need to hear it? Not he might, he shall. Both of these verses are conditional. Both of them say trust in him and he shall. This is the act of spiritual confidence. That’s the mindset of the mature believer like you should be. Faith rest starts with a divine promise. And this allows you to stabilize a situation in your life so you can orient to the circumstances and adjust your thinking from fear to what? To faith. And as we say, to trust. So faith rest must be you adjusting your circumstances from fear to trust or faith. So let me ask you a question, okay? If you had an unexpected difficulty, what verse would you claim in order to control your emotions? Because the inability to think clearly under duress is where most of us get into self-pity, leading to what? Anxiety, leading to stress overload. You know, I know there are thousands of verses in the scripture where God promises that that he will not abandon you and he will provide for you even during those tough times simply because what? He loves you. After all, you’re his child. Listen to Isaiah 41 10. Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be anxious. Look about you. For I am your God and I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Do you hear that? Do you believe that? Do you expect that? Do you have that confident expectation? Do you have the faith to trust what God said there? I will uphold you. I will help you. I will strengthen you. Not I might. Here’s another good verse to claim in those tough times you go through in your life. Proverbs 3, 25 and 26. Listen, do not be afraid of sudden terror nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will, absolutely will be your confidence and he will keep your foot from being caught. There it is again. He promised he would do it. Do you believe that? Do you have enough faith to trust God in those areas of difficulty in your life? Or do you like getting into the fear, panic, ploy, and running around all full of self-pity? Here’s your answer. He will provide for you. He’s not going to abandon you. He will keep your foot from being caught. The Lord will be your confidence, it says in Proverbs 3, 25 and 26. These divine verses and promises are what gives us the ability to maintain what I call a relaxed mental attitude. Having a relaxed mental attitude, an RMA. My pastor taught me that years ago, to have a relaxed mental attitude due to the fact that faith in his provision gives us that strength. So don’t be afraid of sudden terror. Listen to the verse again in Proverbs 3.25. Do not be afraid of sudden terror. Do not be afraid of sudden terror. You hear it? Nor of the trouble from the wicked when it comes. He will be your confidence. He will keep your foot from being caught. Do you have the ability to trust him? Because trusting God is faith expressed. And without this attitude of faith expressed, which we call believing, you will absolutely never be able to fully glorify God with your life. You will always be complaining about bad things that happen to you. You’ll always be whining to someone else about the raw deal, the unfair circumstances you’ve got in your life. But the faith rest drill, problem solving device number three, on the flat line of your soul, Hopefully you know that. That’s our 10 unique problem-solving devices. Rebound, one. Filling of the Holy Spirit, two. Faith Rest Drill, three. Do you know those? If not, get in touch with me. We have a bookmark that will give you, put it in your Bible. It’s got all 10 of them listed. And we have a book called Christian Problem Solving that will explain each one of those 10. unique problem-solving devices that make up the flight line of your soul. So trusting God is your faith expressed. And without an attitude of faith, you will never be able to glorify God with your life. The faith rest drill, as I just said, uses doctrinal rationales. You might wonder what’s a rationale. It’s a fundamental reason for something. The faith rest drill uses doctrinal rationales. For example, do you know the essence of God rationale? If so, you might be able to conclude that the strange things that happened to you didn’t catch God by surprise. Did you know that? He’s sovereignty. He’s absolutely king, God. He’s righteous. He’s justice. He’s love. He’s immutable. He’s veracity. He’s omniscient. He’s omnipotent. He’s omnipresent. And of course, he’s eternal life. If you have something unexpected happen in your life that’s a terrible difficulty, the first thing you do is you go to a promise. And what do you do? Isaiah 41 10, do not fear, I am with you. Do not look anxiously around. I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand. So you claim a promise to stabilize your thinking. So your mind doesn’t get like a dog’s tail wagon when the master comes home. You want to stabilize your thinking. You have to trust God, and that’s faith. So once you stabilize your thinking, don’t let your emotions take over, then you back up in your mind and go to the biblical rationale. If God is sovereign, did he know this? Yes, he did. if God is righteous did he treat me fairly yes he did does God love me yes he does does God change his mind about anything no he doesn’t he’s immutable is he telling me the truth yes he’s absolute veracity is he with me yes he’s omnipresent can he make it go away yes he’s omnipotent he can make anything go away Is he omniscient? Did he know this was going to happen in eternity past? Yes, he did. If you understand these things, then you can trust God that he is in control. And this, whatever happened to you, is nothing to be afraid of. Again, Proverbs 3.25, don’t be afraid of sudden terror nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes. The Lord will be your confidence and he will keep your foot from being caught. Knowing these central doctrines like the essence of God rationale, allows you to relax and come to a biblical conclusion as to why you experience these difficulties. Listen to 2 Timothy 1, 7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That verse is a description of a mature believer’s lifestyle when he lives by faith. No fear, no fear. You know, trouble knocked at the door and faith answered and said, nobody’s home, no fear. You’re not supposed to live in fear. And what did the verse say? God has not given us a spirit of fear. Well, what did he give us? Power, love, and sound mind. What’s the power? Well, the two power options in your life are the filling of the Holy Spirit and the word of God metabolized and cycled into your soul. That’s your two power options. The word of God is alive and powerful, the Bible says. So God gives you power from the filling of the Holy Spirit and from the complete trust in his word. And what else? He is giving you love. He is not a God of fear, but of power and of love. Virtue of love is a great, tremendous problem-solving device for us. Personal love for God, and personal love for others. Personal love for God is your motivational virtue, and then personal love for others is your functional virtue. You can love even a jerk. I mean, God loves you, didn’t he? That proves it. And then a sound mind is the word here. The original word in the Greek language for a sound mind is , and it means to have self-control. And what that means is it has the ability to contain your emotions so they don’t get out of control. So these divine assets are yours. No fear, power, coming from the two resources, the filling of the Holy Spirit and scripture, virtue, love, and the ability to control your emotions, or self-control, a sound mind. How’s that for a great promise from God? These assets are yours, and they’re part of your faith, rest, drill. So, you gonna live by faith? You understand what faith is? Then operate in faith. Trust God, believe God, and expect that he will answer. All right, until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for being with me here on the Flatline this morning.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
