The Treasure That Is Within Our Reach
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http://www.abidingjoyministries.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/treasure-chest.jpg
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Faith
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by Connie Campbell Bratcher
http://faithpoetry.com/faith2/faith.shtml
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Faith is the key that unlocks the gate
Where spiritual treasures we glean.
It is “the substance of things hoped for
The evidence of things not seen.”
As we enter the gate through faith,
Our blinded eyes can see…
That substance for which we’d hoped-
The evidence of eternity.
Behold! At last it all unfolds
Those things which satisfy our souls.
Such wonderful treasures
We now have found;
For through Faith we’ve entered
A higher ground.
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What kind of person are you? Are you someone who is perfectly content sitting back and relaxing as you wait for things to come to you? You all know at least one person in this group. Now I don’t know about you, but I have always thought of these people as the select few for which blessings somehow always seem to drop right into their laps. I am not nor have I ever been one of those individuals and I expect many of you reading this are not either. I suspect you are more like I am! I am the person who can never just sit and wait for life to happen. No, people like us HAVE to go out and make sure the things we want or need happen! Or at least we try to create the environment that will allow them to take root and grow! Now once upon a time I looked a bit more negatively on this trait that seems to have been programmed into the very fibers of my DNA by the hand of the Almighty. I always saw those relaxed, blessed few seeming to get the things they wanted and yet I rarely saw the toil that led them to taste the sweetness of the fruit of success. And yet for me, it always seemed necessary that I invest a lot more sweat equity to achieve the same sweet taste of success. I always envied those others that I, a bit “catty” I must admit, tended to classify as the world’s haves! But are they really?
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In life, the ability and, more importantly, the willingness to work hard to achieve an outcome is akin to being the key that fits the lock and opens the treasure chest full of the wonders that is life! And as surprising as it may seem, often the harder and deeper you dig and toil, the bigger and more full that chest is. My mother proclaimed it so often when I was a child, I often expected to find the words tattooed on my forehead if I but looked closely enough in the mirror. “You reap what you sow”! And yet sowing is hard. Then I realized that there are few things in life that really are easy, when we think about the matter! Maintaining a healthy (or at least a functioning) body is work. No one of sound mind would ever doubt for a single moment that raising children and staying married is very hard work. Making the right choices and then living with the consequences of the choices you have made is hard work. Living a happy life is hard work. And yet I doubt that any of you would, for a single minute, want to sacrifice a single one of the treasures that are to be found in that locked chest your endeavors opened for you. And the same can be said of Faith.
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“Faith is the key that unlocks the unexpected treasures that are hidden among the problems of everyday life.” according to Henry Fernandez, who was a noted speaker, accomplished author and entrepreneur, and was also a man who found himself called to the ministry in 1988. Pastor Fernandez now heads an 8,000 member congregation as part of his ministry in Florida. He was directed onto a new path and, rather than sitting back, taking the easy way through life, he chose to heed that nudge of God’s hand, and he has accomplished amazing things as a result. It was not an easy endeavor, but I suspect his mother proffered the same advice to him that my mother did to me. “You reap what you sow”! Indeed, he has. And so can we all when we remember to heed the gentle nudge of the hand of God on our very own backs! And that nudge is not rare nor fleeting. In fact, it happens to each of us nearly every day of our lives. We just have to want to feel it when it happens and then we have to act on the direction it seems to be guiding us on. But if we do, and we add a bit of our own sweat equity to the mix, what an amazing treasure we will discover!
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1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 KJV
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15) Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of Manasses 1:15 KJVA
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