Rich in Faith

Scripture Texts: James 2:5; II Corinthians 8:9; Hebrews 11:1

Have any of you kids ever played opposite day?  You say opposite things like you hate ice cream or chocolate, you say goodbye when you greet someone, you put your shirt on backwards?

When you read your Bible it sometimes sounds like God likes to play opposite day.  He likes to turn things upside down and backwards.

The meek shall inherit the earth.

Whoever wants to be leader must be servant.

Whoever humbles himself will be exalted, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled

Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

The first shall be last and the last shall be first.

God chose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and those who are rich are often poor toward God.

Our God is an upside-down God who rules over an upside-down kingdom.

God says to be anxious about nothing, to not worry about tomorrow, to not have doubts.

This is opposite of the world we live in and opposite of most of our lives.  Think about the things you think about the most, what you worry about, what you are afraid of.  Will God answer, will God provide, will God come through, where is God, what is He doing?

These are all questions that are addressed by the phrase be rich in faith.

If you are wondering why I am using this text, it is because the GLOW girls this year studied the book of James and this was one of their themes, one of their lessons, that seem especially helpful and applicable to all of us.

To be a Christian is to live life by faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.