Tag Archives: Hebrews 11

Thoughts for the Week: The Blessing of Faith

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My Thoughts this week have been about storms. As if we haven’t had enough with Lockdown and rules and regulations, Storm Bella hit the country causing floods for many people. This led me to think about one of the parables that Jesus used to teach people. With poetic licence: Jesus got into a fishing boat followed by his twelve disciples. Without warning a furious storm swept over the boat; well, not just their boat because the sea of Galilee was not a huge amount of water and according to Josephus, an ancient historian, there was usually 300 fishing boats on the water at any time. With so many there could have been a panic as the fishermen tried to pull the sails down for safety and, at the same time, keep rowing with the oars. Before they had set off, Jesus had been teaching and healing, after which He would go away into the countryside to pray but on this occasion, he had decided to cross the sea with His disciples, so it was no wonder that He had taken some time to have a short nap.
The storm got worse and worse until the waves were breaking over the boat and his sleep was broken by one of his disciples shouting out to him, “Lord save us, we are going to die!” To which Jesus reply might have seemed a bit sharp, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” We’ll look at that another time.
Just as I got up this morning, the news came from Oxford University that another vaccine had been approved which would be enough for the whole world. I suggest that COVID-19 was like a sudden storm to our lives and that some of us have said, “Lord save us” or “Lord help us” or “Where were you Lord?” In the Old Testament, God speaks through Isaiah about the future Redeemer who will take all our infirmities and carry all our sorrows and all our diseases. We could call it a response to prayer but again we would have to have faith that the whole world had been praying in the words of the disciples.
WHAT HAS JESUS BEEN SHOWING US ABOUT FAITH? Faith is an action based on belief in Jesus.
Faith is belief in the invisible God. Faith believes in God’s promises.
Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you afraid?” to his disciples because they had been quite recently chosen to be his disciples and they would eventually be His Apostles and would carry on His mission when He would leave the earth. To understand more about faith, turn to Hebrews 11. By the time you receive these notes it will be New Year 2021.
Thank you for my Christmas cards and for your support through the difficult year now over, and my prayers will be for you and your families. The future is in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ but…

Words to remember by Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582)

Christ has no body but yours
No hands, no feet, on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which he blesses this world
Yours are the feet, yours are the hands,
yours are the eyes, yours are his body
Christ has no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.