Bare Essentials Faith

Me

Hey everyone! How are you guys today? Who loves movies? I know I do! My go-to movie genre is action & adventure or a comedy. My favourite moves/series of all time would probably have to be lord of the rings, anything marvel, star wars, war movies or some rush hour with Jackie chan! But sometimes I end up watching movies that I grew up watching when I was a kid. One of the ones I just watched was Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe. Watching that was a real blast from the past and this really reminded me how much this movie had to do with the bible. for example, Aslan sacrificed himself for someone else and died on a stone table and rose back to life, and Jesus sacrificed himself for us upon a cross and then was laid in a tomb and rose three days later. Another thing that I actually found that was fairly interesting, the people of Narnia put so much faith and trust in these kids, their entire future rested on the shoulders of two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve. They have been waiting for this day for over a hundred years, they waited for the prophecy to come true, that four children from the descendants of Adam and Eve would lead the Narnians against the evil that was keeping them hostage. There had to have been some individuals who were really second-guessing their choices to join the army once they saw that a group of kids were going to lead them into battle. If I were in the Narnian's shoes I would have questioned if these were really the people the prophecy spoke about simply because they were only children, what could they possibly do against a powerful witch? I have personally struggled with trust sometimes. I have had people hurt me, I have had people lead me astray, and I have had people desert me without a just cause. Sometimes when it is someone I am supposed to look up to, such as a pastor, I still have trouble having faith in them. Let alone people, I still have trouble having faith and trust in God that he knows what he is doing sometimes.

Hey everyone! How are you guys today? Who loves movies? I know I do! My go-to movie genre is action & adventure or a comedy. My favourite moves/series of all time would probably have to be lord of the rings, anything marvel, star wars, war movies or some rush hour with Jackie chan! But sometimes I end up watching movies that I grew up watching when I was a kid. One of the ones I just watched was Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe. Watching that was a real blast from the past and this really reminded me why I liked it so much as a kid! All of the magic, adventure and war. But it also reminded me how much this movie had to do with the bible. for example, Aslan sacrificed himself for someone else and died on a stone table and rose back to life, and Jesus sacrificed himself for us upon a cross and then was laid in a tomb and rose three days later. Another thing that I actually found that was fairly interesting, the people of Narnia put so much faith and trust in these kids, their entire future rested on the shoulders of two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve. They have been waiting for this day for over a hundred years, they waited for the prophecy to come true, that four children from the descendants of Adam and Eve would lead the Narnians against the evil that was keeping them hostage. There had to have been some individuals who were really second-guessing their choices to join the army once they saw that a group of kids were going to lead them into battle. I have personally struggled with trust sometimes. I have had people hurt me, I have had people lead me astray, and I have had people desert me without a just cause. Sometimes when it is someone I am supposed to look up to, such as a pastor, I still have trouble having faith in them. Let alone people, I still have trouble having faith and trust in God that he knows what he is doing sometimes.

We

So let me ask you, do you sometimes struggle to have faith in and trusting people or even God that they would deliver on what someone said? I cannot be alone on this, maybe you have lost someone close to you even when you prayed that God would heal them, I’ve experienced that. An event like this could rock someone's world for years or maybe even their life, things such as that do not go away easily. If you look into prominent atheists around the world, current and past, you could see that a good majority of them actually grew up in the church and then something happened in their lives where they did not see the point in believing anymore. So looking at this, let me tell you a story of a guy that had to have faith in God as he led Israel into battle...

God

One time there was this guy named Gideon, he was a judge in Israel, and people may have even called him the greatest judge of Israel. This was during a time when Israel was under the power and oppression of the Midianites for 7 years due to Israel's Evil that they did in the eyes of the Lord. An angel of the Lord came to him to say that the Lord is with him then called him a “mighty warrior”. God called Gideon to save Israel from the Midian's hands. There, he went took an army and went to face their enemies, but something interesting happened after this point. One morning, Gideon got up to finally fight them but God had a different plan. He said this...

“You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Gideon thought they were ready to go not but it did not end there. God said again they have too many men. He said...

Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. Now, this looks like it just getting ridiculous, only 300 out of the 32,000 remains. How could anyone win a war with only three hundred but Gideon had faith and trusted in God with his life. But imagine how these three hundred people are feeling, they must have felt like they were being led into a battle to be killed, not to come out victorious. Once they were all ready to go, they broke up into three different companies or teams to surround the Midianite base. Gideon gave his men instructions that when they reach the edge of the camp that they must follow his lead and do as he does.

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

They came out victorious, just as the Lord had promised! They were free once again! Thought it may have been hard, Gideon and his men had faith in God that he would do as he had said.

You

So I ask you again, what are some of the things that you struggle with to have faith and trust in people or even God that they would deliver on what someone said? Maybe it is that you prayed for someone to get healed and nothing happened, maybe a pastor you looked up to left, or even that you think with all the evil happening around the world, how could there be a good God letting this happen.

We

We

So let me ask you, do you sometimes struggle to have faith in and trusting people or even God that they would deliver on what someone said? I cannot be alone on this, maybe you have lost someone close to you even when you prayed that God would heal them, I’ve experienced that. An event like this could rock someone's world for years or maybe even their life, things such as that do not go away easily. If you look into prominent atheists around the world, current and past, you could see that a good majority of them actually grew up in the church and then something happened in their lives where they did not see the point in believing anymore. So looking at this, let me tell you a story of a guy named Gideon...

Sometimes we have to go through a few things first before we get to the final goal. Just like the Narnians, they waited a hundred years for the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve for something to happen. They had enough faith to wait that long! Then with the Israelites, as Gideon was making the army smaller and smaller, they have to have faith that he was not leading them to their death. They also had enough faith to believe that God would deliver then from the oppression they had been in for 7 years. Not only did they have faith in God they had to have faith and trust in Gideon, a man who considered himself the least of his family. A leader doesn’t always mean the boldest and most extroverted. God often works through believers who come from the least of the least, like Gideon. You may not think you are not much but God has made you for a purpose and has a calling on each of your lives. You may have to go through some things first, you may have to go through some tests to get to the point God has called you to. But remember that God is good and even if things don’t look they will get better any time soon, they will at some point. Jesus tells us this in

A leader doesn’t always mean the boldest and most extroverted. God often works through believers who come from the least of the least, like Gideon. When we’re hiding from what scares us most, God compels us to tackle it head-on.

they had enough faith to believe that God would deliver then from the oppression they had been in for 7 years. Not only did they have faith in God they had to have faith and trust in Gideon, a man who considered himself the least of his family. A leader doesn’t always mean the boldest and most extroverted. God often works through believers who come from the least of the least, like Gideon. You may not think you are much but God has made you for a purpose and has a calling on each of your lives.

“Truly l you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

It may take time, sometimes years for you to see any positive outcome to that faith but God is always listening and will answer your prayers. We just have to have enough faith to walk into battle with our bare essentials and trust and have faith in God that he will do the rest.

God

One time there was this guy named Gideon, he was a judge in Israel, and may have even called him the greatest judge of Israel. This was during a time when Israel was under the power and oppression of the Midianites for 7 years due to Israel's Evil that they did in the eyes of the Lord. An angel of the Lord came to him to say that the Lord is with him then called him a “mighty warrior”. God called Gideon to save Israel from the Midian's hands. There, he went took an army and went to face their enemies, but something interesting happened after this point. One morning, Gideon got up to finally fight them but God had a different plan. He said this...

“You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Gideon thought they were ready to go not but it did not end there. God said again they have too many men. He said...

Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

You

We