双语灵修（葛培理牧师） ：1月29日 所望之事

1月29日

所望之事

“信就是所望之事的实底，是未见之事的确据。”希伯来书11:1

信心应该是实实在在的。空谈信心没有意义。没有证据和原因，让一个人相信一件事，如同叫他相信月亮是绿色奶酪做的。

上帝叫我们看见了一些实事，从而让我们对他有信心，并仰赖他。小孩子不会反复问父母，饿了有没有饭吃、病了要不要去看医生（至少在美国）。他之所以不问，因为父母已经一次又一次地证明他们多么疼爱他，完全可以照顾他。​

上帝也是如此。祂让我们知道他爱我们，甚至在我们还是罪人的时候，祂就将祂的独生儿子耶稣赐给我们，为我们而死。他是如此爱我们，因为他持续不断地供应我们日用的饮食，满足我们的需要，。

上帝也要我们信靠祂对我们的供应。这就是信心。如果孩子不断质疑父母是否会满足他的需要，父母会是什么感受？父母会感到沮丧和悲哀，也许会生气。

圣经中有很多地方提到信心。我们的信心让神喜悦。罗马士兵的百夫长跟主耶稣说，“只要你说一句话，我的仆人就必好了”，耶稣听到都很稀奇他如此大的信心。他的仆人就真的好了。耶稣还对一个瞎眼的人和一个患血漏的妇人说：“你的信救了你。”

上帝最看重的是信心，最看重基督徒对祂的信靠，胜过其他的品格。我们怎样培养信心呢？我们要多花时间在上帝面前祷告，要在每天的生活中活出祂的话语和应许。这样，我们信心就会增长，蒙神喜悦。​神喜悦了，我们也大得喜乐。

今日祷告：

天父，我们仰望你，愿你赐给我们更多的信心。我们只要蒙你喜悦！求你让我们满有信心，讨你喜悦。奉耶稣的名，阿们。

January 29

WHAT IS FAITH?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for……Hebrews 11:1

Faith must have an object.Faith in faith is meaningless.Telling a person to believe without giving him any evidence or reason for belief is like asking a person to believe that the moon is made of green cheese.

God wants us to know certain facts about Him so that we will have faith in Him and trust Him for the rest.

A child does not repeatedly ask his parents whether he will be taken to a doctor if he becomes ill or whether there will be another meal to eat(at least,not very often in our culture).The reason he does not ask such questions is that his parents have proved to him over and over again that they love him enough to take care of his needs.

It is the same with God.God has proven His love for us in that even while we were yet sinners,He sent Christ to die for us.And He continually proves how much He loves us by providing for our daily needs.

God also wants us to trust that He will continue to provide for us.This is faith.How happy would a parent be if his child constantly questioned him as to whether his needs would be met?The parent would feel frustrated and sad,perhaps angry that the child did not trust him.

There are scores of references to faith about what it can do for us and how much it please God.Jesus was amazed that the Roman soldier expressed great faith when he told Jesus just to“say the word”and his servant would be healed.Christ also told a blind man and a sick woman,“Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

God values faith,our trust in Him,above every other character quality that a Christian can develop.And how do we develop faith?We do it by spending time in the presence of God through prayer and by applying His Word and His promises to our everyday lives.That way,our faith grows and God is well pleased.And when God is pleased,so are we.

Pray for the day:

Father,we offer up to You our faith.Fill us with more faith.We only want to please You.We pray,fill us with faith so that we can please You,in Jesus’Name,Amen.