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CURRENT RADIO SERIES Songs of Encouragement   CURRENT TV SERIES Songs of Encouragement

“Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered…” —Luke 12:7 Has your life been reduced to an account number? Just look in your purse, billfold, or phone—card after card, app after app bears a number that represents you and your relationship with some corporation with whom you do business. You’re just one of a million faceless numbers. And that does very little for one’s need for significance.     Every person wants to able to say, “I am a somebody, I’m not just a number.” But we live in a fast-paced world run by machines acting like men and men acting like machines. And we are a mobile generation—the average person moves 14 times throughout his lifetime. Just as a rolling stone gathers no moss, mobile people are hard to get to know. This is a sign of the times. The book of Daniel states that in the last days people will be moving to and fro throughout the earth. It makes relationship—and a sense of significance—difficult to maintain. But God has no trouble finding you. He has his eye on you! You are so special to him, that he keeps track of each hair on your head! Now that is significant! “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). GOD HAS YOU ON HIS GPS!

The Substance of Faith

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Hebrews 11:1–3

I came across a beautiful story of a little three-year-old boy named Todd who lived in Rhode Island. His father decided to take him to the beach to fly a kite. Never having flown a kite before, Todd had obvious doubts. His father assured him that all was well, and the kite would go up as planned. As Todd unraveled the string, and watched the kite go up into the sky, he was heard to say, “I knew it would fly, Daddy. You said it would.”
So many times we fail to trust God because we do not see Him working. Like Peter walking on the water, we make progress for a time, but then the circumstances catch our attention and lead us to doubt—and sink. The tendency of human nature is to want evidence before we believe. But God’s plan is for us to not only trust Him, but to regard our faith as the evidence itself. Faith is not imaginary, just because it is not seen. It is real and it has substance, and when we act in faith, we see God work.
Our faith in action brings honor and glory to God. Writing about the life of Abraham, Paul reminds us that even though he was almost one hundred years old, Abraham still believed God would give him a son. “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Romans 4:20). The lack of faith is what causes us to stagger and fail rather than the circumstances that we face.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

It is impossible for God’s promises to fail—but it is possible for us to miss them because of a lack of faith.