School Blog Bible study

Again I want to talk about faith, but this time the promise that God gives when we have faith. Hebrews 11:1 says,
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
     Faith is a sure hope. It's not, "Oh, I hope I get pizza for dinner," or "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow." That kind of hope is unsure. You don't genuinely know if your gonna have pizza for dinner or that it won't rain tomorrow. The faith shown in the verse is a hope in God's promises that you do know will happen. It's because God never fails. The cool thing about faith is that when we put our faith in God, we no longer have to try to see everything. God sees what is about to happen. He sees everything we don't, and he guides us through life's obstacles when we listen to Him closely. This is sometimes a problem for me! I like to try to see things for myself sometimes. Sometimes, I forget about my faith in God and kind-of leave it behind. Usually God lets me. I learn a lesson every time I bump into something that only God could have seen in my life. God allows this so that I can remember that things don't work out well when I make myself "God." So I fully restore my faith, pray, and put my trust in God again to have a sure hope. Faith is a daily thing, I think. As a child of God, I always have the goal in mind. However, dieing to sin like the Bible says is hard. Christ however, is running right beside me and He picks me up when I stumble, so I have to accept Him every day even after I've accepted Him for life. I guess it just helps remind me constantly even though my choices don't lose their value, 'cause humans forget things easily. Does that make any sense at all?
     The world is falling apart because they do not have a sure hope. I say 'they are falling apart' as in the world because though we are in the world, as Christians, we are not of the world. The world is falling apart, Christ is holding us up. John 15:19
     Anyway, one of my favorite examples of faith is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Here are the most powerful words from it that the three Hebrews said:
     ¹⁶ "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.'"
     This verse shows that God not only watches over His children, but he also protects them. I like how they say that God may choose to bring them to heaven, but that's still protecting them, right?
Another great example of faith: Luke 21:1-4:
     "As He looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'I tell you the truth,' He said, 'This poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
     This humble woman knew that God would not forget her and even in her poverty, she trusted the Lord. She knew that He would provide for her, so out of the love of the Lord that she had in her heart, she gave to Him her last cents. This brings the third good point: God provides for us. When we humbly give our all, He returns to us everything we need to live on. That woman probably never knew that Jesus had noticed her on earth; instead, she has been an amazing example of faith to me because of this. It reminds me to be a humble slave to God like I wrote about the first time. I love Him and He will give me all I need because He loves me.
 
     To summarize this whole study thingy (I don't know what to call it.) God watches over us day and night. Psalm 121 He protects us like he protected Shadrach and his friends. (Even if we are harmed or killed he has protected us from the Evil One.) He provides for us and cares for us as dearly loved children. Don't we worship an awesome God?