Faith of Our Mothers

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Passing Down a Godly Heritage

2 Timothy 1:5 NLT
5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

The greatest gift God has given to mothers is the power of influence

The greatest gift God has given to mothers is the power of influence… to influence their children by their godly example and to pass on to them their faith.
Lois and Eunice were a mother daughter team that raised up a man of God. Timothy, who was the Apostle Paul’s most trusted companion and disciple.
2 Timothy 3:15 NLT
15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
We learn from Scripture that Eunice married a Greek man, a Gentile, therefor an unbeliever. To them was born a son, Timothy.
Acts 16:1 NLT
1 Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek.
Nothing else is said about Timothy’s father.
It’s apparent that these two godly women trained him up so that he knew and loved God’s Word. The name “Timothy” means one who fears God. The record of Timothy demonstrates the value of the positive Christian Training in the home.
Passing on a faith that was genuine, these two women took the responsibility very seriously. The result - they raised a young man to become a servant of Christ… a spiritual son to the apostle Paul. Timothy became the pastor for the large church of Ephesus.

What does a sincere and genuine faith look like?

Why strive to achieve it?
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
You cannot please God except through faith. Not by working hard, trying hard, not by being your best, not by living perfect. The only way to please God is by loving and trusting hHIm.
1. Receive the salvation that comes from trusting Jesus Christ.
John 3:3 NLT
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
It’s more than choosing a religion. It’s trusting in a Savior… it’s personal.
Some get this backwards. The old saying, “it’s not personal, it’s just business” could not be further from the truth.
Religion, for many, is business but a relationship with Christ is personal. His death and resurrection - personal.
ILL - I went to church all my life - sang in a choir, taught children’s church at 12 years old… It was business, but one night it became personal. - God if you are real...
I had seen the sincere faith of my mother and my dad. Nights of family devotions, Bible trivia games, nightly family prayer time around my parent’s bed… All of those experiences les up to the night a sincere, genuine faith was born in my heart.
2. To develop a genuine faith we must develop a love for the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Psalm 119:105 NLT
105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:11 NLT
11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
At the age for 14 the Living Bible was published. It was the first easy to read Bible I had read. That Summer, I began reading the Bible for myself. Proverbs - Book of Wisdom… Heb 11 it opened up a whole new world.
Matthew 24:35 NLT
35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
3. Develop our Spiritual muscles.
In Bible college I began hanging out with friends who wanted to grow in their faith - believing God for the miraculous.
In order to develop Radical Faith, Let’s look at Heb 11, the Hall of Fame for the Heroes of the Faith.
In order to develop Radical Faith, let’s look at Heb. 11, the Hall of Fame for the Heroes of the Faith.

What is Faith?

1. Faith is believing when I don’t See it

Hebrews 11:1 NIV
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Faith is visualizing the future in the present! ...seeing it in advance.
Faith trusts God to turn dreams into reality.
Think of an architect designing a building… artists creating a sculpture…athlete dreaming of the Olympics… Scientist trying to put a man on the moon…
Seeing it in the mind’s eye.
There’s never been any great achievement in history w/o faith.” Von Braun
He was the mastermind if NASA and was a Christian.

2. Faith is Obeying when I don’t understand it.

God gives us two examples in his hall of fame… Noah and Abraham.
Noah
Hebrews 11:7 NLT
7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
Can you imagine the circumstance? It had never rained. there was condensation before the flood. God told him to build a ship. Noah lived in the middle of Iraq… in the middle of the Desert. It had to be embarrassing for his kids. What’s your dad doing? But Noah did it. He obeyed God even though when he didn’t understand it.
Glad he did. We are all here as a result.
Abraham obeyed when he didn’t understand.
Hebrews 11:8 GNB
8 It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going.
God told him that he would make him into a great nation. Sarah the mother of a great nation… Israel.
Leave everything and go. He left retirement at 75 years old and went.
Abraham became the father of faith and the father of a nation because he obeyed when he didn’t understand.
Obedience always involves risk.
Some people want to obey God when there is a guarantee …
eg: River Church
Some say, “I can’t start a new business, move to a new location, enroll in school. I’ll go after my dreams if you will guarantee that they will work out.
God wants you to live by faith.
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Daniel 11:32 NKJV
32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
If you get lost, he will find you.

3. Faith is persisting when I don’t feel like it.

Our culture says base all of your decisions on your feelings. Feels good - do it. don’t. The result: we are manipulated by our own moods.
Truth:
1. We don’t always feel like being nice to people.
2. We don’t always feel like helping our spouse or kids.
3. We don’t always feel like reading the Bible.
God wants us to live a life of faith not just a life of feeling.
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE: do the things that others don’t “feel” like doing!
- Olympic athletes - hrs of exercise
- Master musicians - hrs of practice
- Supersalesman - makes extra calls
- Godly man/woman - pays the price/habits
If you want to deepen your relationship with Him, you spend time with God even when you don’t feel like it.
The bible talks about how you & I can develop a persistence in our lives through the example of Moses.
Hebrews 11:27 NLT
27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.
That’s how you persist. You begin to see the invisible. You see who God is and what he can do in your life. Only those who see who god really is can persist in the most difficult times of life. Really seeing God present in your life.
Have faith to believe that God loves you.
He loves you no matter what… no matter how you have messed up your life. He is with you… He is for you.
When you persist in your faith, it’s not just to benefit you, but it benefits everyone around you. Moses led a nation of slaves out of slavery & reintroduced them to the Living God.
Don’t you think your family isn’t noticing as you persist to follow God & stay committed to your relationship.
eg: every morning when I got up, I saw my dad reading his bible. When I came home, my mother would be on the couch reading her Bible or watching Christian TV.
They continued and persisted in pursuing as relationship with God.

4. Faith is calling things that are not as though they were.

Romans 4:17 NKJV
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
It is speaking faith. It is announcing in order to experience it.
If you lost that loving feeling for your spouse, begin declaring … I love you. Feelings will return.
What about God? Do you sometimes doubt your love for God? Start telling Him.
Hebrews 11:22 NLT
22 It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.
He said take my bones with you when you leave. It hadn’t happened, but by faith he announced it was going to happen.
What do you need to announce & proclaim over your life? your situation? your children? your marriage?
eg: Joyce Meyers daughter’s messy room
In Gen God spoke the world into existence. Let there be… light… bam there was light.
Proverbs 18:21 NKJV
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
A visiting minister wen to dinner at the pastors house. Child called tiger. Parents decided to call he lamb. she responded by acting calm. Her behavior changed.
You can slice people kill people with our words. OR you can add life and vitality to them with your words.
People have had their lives ruined by a single sentence… too skinny… too fat.
Let us determine to bless and not curse people with our words.
eg: Melissa - Eat cake and be brave.
God changed the names of people.
Jacob to Israel -
Abram to Abraham - father of many nations… problem was that he had no kids. What’s your name? Father of many nations! How many kids do you have? None! How old are you? 99 Kind of embarrassing.
What was God doing? He was announcing it by faith in order for it to come to pass.
Help others through words of encouragement. It will motivate people to change. Tell it like it could be.

5. Faith is thanking God before I receive it.

eg: Of someone gave you $1,000 after church would you rejoice or would you wait until after it cleared the bank? It depends on the source … right?
God’s promises are better than any of our promises… than any of our checks.
Before we receive it we can say, thank you God that what you said is going to happen.
Mark 11:24 GNB
24 For this reason I tell you: when you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.
story in 2 Chron 20
The people of Israel were being invaded. The king brought everyone together to fast and pray… God sent a word to them through a prophet. I’m going to give you the victory in this battle. (Bad day to be a soprano) The choir led the way with songs of worship, praise and thanksgiving. God gave them great victory.
I find in life that if I let my thanksgiving lead the way, that lets me live a life of faith. If I can begin my day with thanksgiving God for what he’s going to do, it’s usually a day of faith.
If I begin the day waiting for God to do something that I can thank him for, it’s usually a day filled with myself.
So the question of faith is are you letting thanksgiving lead the way? Are you thanking God in advance?
Mark 11:24 TEV
24 For this reason I tell you: when you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.
When we pray, be humble enough that God may have to teach me to pray something different… something more in line with his will.
Sometimes God doesn’t remove a problem. Sometimes God lets us go through the problem because he wants to strengthen us. He’s more interested in building character than making us comfortable because you are taking your character to heaven with you.
If this life was all there is, that would be a pretty lousy life, if God doesn’t protect us from all the things that are bad in the world. But God says, “No, the reward is coming later. This is not all there is. There’s more to life than just here and now. And yeah, you’re going to go through problems and difficulties and probably go through some suffering. But that’s all to build your faith too, because your faith is like pure gold.”
Job 23:10 NLT
10 “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
Hebrews 5:8 NLT
8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
Jonah 2:9 NLT
9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”
1 Corinthians 4:13 NLT
13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.
Whats coming out of your mouth?
Are you talking about how big your problems are or how big your God is.
Switch over to Praise! If you’re going to live in victor, You’re going to have to know how to praise in pain.
When you praise, chains are broken, new doors open… angels go to work.
Shake off self pity and turn up your praise. Joshua and the Israelites were on the way to the promised land and had to get past Jericho. They marched in silence for 7 days, but on the last day, God said blow the trumpets, and give a shout of praise!
The walls shook and came crashing down.
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