Title: Faith with a Dream
(Hebrews 11:7-12)
What a person needs is and.
To have this is the will to live that much, and for those who have the will to live, dreams always accompany them.
On the other hand, for those who are alive but without dreams, there is no way to get through reality.
Instead, they will be those who are content with reality, lose their minds to the pursuit of sensual pleasures, or wander in frustration.
Even under the tyranny of the Nazi regime in Germany, those who did not give up survived, but there are records that all those who gave up on themselves died.
People with this kind of courage have the courage to overcome reality.
The Christian faith is always accompanied by .
As has already been shown in the definition of belief, “faith is a reality, not an illusion of what is hoped for, that is, not a vague prediction of what is not seen, that is, unconfirmed things, but a sure evidence. He said (證據).
Therefore, it means living in a future that has already been confirmed as a reality, rather than being vague.
Communists say that the Christian faith is the opium that deceives people.
It is said that Christianity is a cowardly theory aimed at exploiting workers and peasants by the ruling class, telling us to believe that what we cannot enjoy in reality is the afterlife. That's why they call religion the opium. They said that the enemies of the communist revolution were Christians, and they used all kinds of pretexts to punish them as traitors to the nation and execute them.
Christian faith is by no means the opium that makes people hazy.
Christian faith means living in reality.
Therefore, it is a fact that faith must always be accompanied by . So faith without this is dead faith.
Only when we become people of faith who have dreams, we can break out of reality and rise.
So, more specifically, how does faith with dreams mean faith?
We learn this through the characters of the Bible.
1. Faith with a dream is faith that prepares 'even without seeing'.
“Noah was warned of things he had not yet seen, and in reverence he prepared the ark.” When God said, 'Build an ark, for I will judge the world with a flood,' and nothing was shown to him. But he obeyed. This is faith. They could not see how the promise would come out, but they believed it and built the ark. Faith with dreams is just such a belief.
Looking at the life of Noah in Genesis, when he was 480 years old, it was foretold that he would be destroyed by a flood, and when he was 600 years old, it was fulfilled and the world was judged with a flood, so the conclusion is that the ark was prepared for 120 years.
It is truly amazing. It means that Noah did not give up on that dream for 120 years. How long is 120 years? This means a lifetime.
It is the fact that they believed and obeyed as if they were seeing God's promises even though they had not seen it for a lifetime.
Everyone! Please imagine for a moment.
How would Noah be treated during this time?
, , must have been ridiculed by people. However, Noah did not forsake his love for God out of the fear of God.
What do we need today?
It is necessary to believe and live as if seeing what you have not seen.
Isn't the content of our faith not like that, but material prosperity, a healthy body, and an elite course that no one else can enjoy?
Of course it can. But it's all visible.
However, preparing the ark is not something you see.
The word of God must be prepared by faith.
Because there will be a day when judgment will come before us.
The promises of the Word are not seen, but we will obey them by faith.
This is faith with dreams.
2. Faith with a dream is a faith that goes out without 'knowing' where you are going.
“Abraham obeyed when he was called and went out to a land that he would receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
If the faith he believed without seeing was Noah's faith, then the faith that went out without knowing it was Abraham's faith.
People try to make up their own path and go their own way.
Then, even when there is a little difficulty, I get frustrated.
So I'm good at temptation.
How often do you fall for the temptation of money, the temptation of reason, the temptation of power, the temptation of fame, and so on?
I have already seen a lot of people fall into these temptations before they turn 40, the temptation to seek a fortune, the temptation to take someone else's things and make it their own.
Of course, they would say that it is possible because they are weak humans, but if they knew that they were weak humans, then it is necessary to have faith with .
What did God say to you?
“I will bless you,” he said, “and you will be a blessing.”
I looked at that dream, "You will be a source of blessings."
Having him, I was able to leave the mainland, relatives, and my father's house.
This is a great decision, a great courage.
Even now, God shows us and tells us to leave the place.
This is because God's blessings begin only when you leave.
We are told to leave the place of habitual sin (罪).
I'm telling you to leave the place of covetousness.
They are told to leave the seats of and
But whether we are still ignorant.... We should reflect deeply.
The faith with which you must depart from where you are leaving.
You must have such courage. Otherwise, that dream cannot come true.
There can be no discouragement or fear for a person with a dream.
In Greek, a person is called 'Anthropos'.
It means an animal that looks up.
Looking up means living with .
It means not looking at the frustrations of reality, but seeing God above.
It means looking at the promises of God and trusting and acting on Him.
This was Abraham's faith.
This was faith with a dream.
3. Faith with a dream is a belief that sees the possibility 'in the midst of the impossible'.
“Sarah herself was also old and fertile, but she gained the strength to conceive, knowing that the One who promised is faithful.” What a great belief.
They believed that the God who made the promise was not a God who was empty, but a faithful God who would faithfully keep his promise. In other words, it is impossible when we look at our own body, but we did not give up looking at God who made it possible.
So, in the book of Romans, Paul writes that he hoped and believed this faith in the midst of hopelessness. What happened in the end? I got Isaac according to my dream.
I have seen the fulfillment of the promise.
This was also true of Joseph.
Among his many trials, he did not become discouraged and accepted the reality as it was. Where did that power come from? It was because he believed in God and did not lose heart. That's what's important.
A true believer is a person who acts and lives.
I am not a person who sits up and lies down in discouragement. I am not someone who gives up easily.
That's why "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17).
What does it mean to have no works?
It means that you do not have faith with dreams.
If a person does not have a dream, he droops. can't do anything.
Some of you may be lying on your back with discouragement these days.
But even among them, courageous people rise again.
What does that courageous mean? It means you have a dream.
Having a dream gives you confidence. There is the spirit of being able to do anything. Don't hesitate.
The special feature of this January issue was "Fulfill Your Dreams".
Among them, I was moved by reading the article of Chairman Kim Dong-soo of Korea Ceramics Co., Ltd. who wrote 'There is no failure'. In other words, during the pottery business inherited from the family business, the debt increased and had to pay 40% of the sales in interest, so the debentures grew like a snowball. Even if it was disposed of, it reached a point where only 20% of the debt could be paid off.
Finally, he risked his life to make a vow.
"God! If you let me pay off my debt, I will give my life."
The night he finally paid off his debt in 1973, he slept not knowing what to expect the next morning, and the next morning he felt like he was reborn, and it is said that life became a bonus.
In 1967, he changed the company name to Korean porcelain, established a second business, and introduced technology from advanced countries to improve quality. In 1978, he exhibited the bone china set, which he worked hard to achieve, and ranked 200th out of 200 companies. do. He said he was too shy to raise his head. With tears in his eyes, he remembered his father-in-law's saying, "Christians never fail," and started over. Six years later, he entered the same show at the same venue and ranked #20 in the world.
However, it is said to have ranked first in the world in terms of contract prices due to its low price and quality. In the end, whenever it was difficult, he said that he overcame it with the words of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.”
Result Now, Korean ceramics has become one of the world's 5 largest ceramics manufacturers, and
Seo is the world's third-largest company, the first to receive a fee, and is said to have become a solid company with 0% debt.
Everyone! What does this say!
is the faith that does not lose heart amidst the impossible.
I hope that all of us can become holders of faith with dreams during this year. ♣