TEXT- II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
TEXT- Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

George Muller said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.”
Oswald Chambers said in "My Utmost For His Highest" for December 1st, "When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us with all His almighty power."

A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF FAITH.
Faith and discouragement are opposites. Faith is taking God at His Word no matter how bleak the circumstances appear to be. Discouragement is focusing on distressing circumstances in spite of what God has said. Learn to trust God. Believe when you cannot see, hear, or feel. Then you will know you are pleasing God.


ONLY GOD CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE.
There are some things money will do; there are some things human effort will do; there are some things that human ingenuity will do, but there are some things that only God can do. And He will not do them until someone prays.
If only one sermon could be preached to all of God's people everywhere in the world, I believe it would have to be "Have Faith in God." This is probably the greatest need of everyone in the family of God.


CRISES FORCE US TO TRUST GOD.
There are times when God seems to be unreasonable as we experience pain, pressure and loneliness. But, remember, God will never put more on you than He puts in you to bear it up. About the time you think that you have trusted God all you can; you have prayed all you know how; you have cried the last teardrop; you are about to give up; there is not an ounce of strength left in you; God will take you into an oasis named Elim, and He will pump new life into you. He will give you a new truth out of the Book, and He will bring a new friend into your life. Never doubt His love and care.


FAITH MAKES US A BLESSING TO OTHERS.
Our faith must be an active faith. We not only need faith toward God to provide our needs, but to provide the needs of others.
The will of God is not grievous to be understood nor is it always a difficult thing to do. But only still and obedient souls who wait on God can hear and know His perfect will.

HUMAN FAILURE CREATES MEN OF FAITH.
Failure doesn't mean you are a failure. It means you have not succeeded.

Failure doesn't mean you have accomplished nothing. It means you have learned something.

Failure doesn't mean that you have been a fool. It means you had a lot of faith

Failure doesn't mean you've been disgraced. It means you were willing to try.

Failure doesn't mean you don't have it. It means you may have to do something in a different way.

Failure doesn't mean you are inferior. It means you are not perfect.

Failure doesn't mean you've wasted your life. It means you have a reason to start afresh.

Failure doesn't mean you should give up. It means you must try harder.

Failure doesn't mean you'll never make it. It means it will take a little longer.

Failure doesn't mean God has abandoned you. It means God has a better way for you.

GODLY PERSONS ARE OPTIMISTIC.
Living by faith helps us to look at tomorrow with blessed assurance and encouragement. Faith for the future depends upon three key elements:

1. Remember the Past.
In the Old Testament the people of God were always reminded to consider what God had done for them in the past. By looking at the hand of God in the past events of your life, you gain greater confidence to trust Him to be at work in your life in the future. When we consider what God has done in our behalf, we ought to have confidence in the future! He loved us. He saved us. He forgave us. And He has given us an inheritance in Christ that is beyond anything we could ever imagine.

2. Understand the Present.
Scripture is filled with divine principles for knowing the will of God. You don’t need a palm reader, stargazer, or a crystal ball to know the will of God. The divine plan of God for your life is laid out in Scripture principle by principle.
Sometimes it is easier to see the hand of God in the past more easily than it is to see it in the present. But we all need to learn to look for the touch of God’s grace in our lives every single day. Time and time again, God is moving on our behalf. Don’t overlook His daily providential care for your life. Remember, you’re not alone. God is with you every step of the way.

3. Trust God for the Future.
I once knew a boy who always read the end of the book before the beginning. When his mother asked him, “Son, why do you do that?’’ the boy replied, “Mom, it’s better that way. No matter how much trouble the hero gets into, I don’t worry because I know how it’s going to turn out in the end.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
One of the greatest assurances of the Scripture is that it tells us how things are going to turn out in the end. We may have troubles, hardships, and difficulties along the way, but in the midst of them all, we can believe that the best is yet to come. Most of us are willing to trust God with our eternal destiny, but our struggle comes in trusting Him with our immediate future. The same God who can take you on to heaven can get you through life here below as well.
Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.

FOCUS ON THE PROMISES, NOT THE PROBLEMS.
There are more than 3,000 promises in the Word of God. Once we begin to understand the nature of these promises and our own potential to see them fulfilled, we will begin to mature in our walk of faith. These promises are designed to activate our confidence in God. Once we realize that He has made abundant personal promises to us, our minds will be enlightened, and we will catch sight of what God is doing in this world. At that point, nothing else will matter. All the things that we have put before the Lordship of Christ will fade into insignificance. Once you taste of the great things that God has for you, you will never want to go back to a mediocre spiritual walk with Him.


LEARN TO STAY ON MESSAGE AND MISSION.
Habakkuk 2:2-3, “And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
Once we catch sight of the promise, we must continually keep the promise in view. One of the truths which is taught in the Old Testament is that our focus and attention must be on God and not on man. That is why the priests carried the ark into the water first, so the people could see it before them. That is also why the people obediently and confidently followed. As we keep the promises of God continually before us, we will be motivated to activate those promises in our lives.


FAITH KEEPS US POSITIVE.
Personal worth and value are not things which can merely be attributed to our income, possessions, or status in life. In the ultimate sense, our own personal worth can only be determined in light of the death of Christ for us. If God were willing to do that for us, then how much more can we trust Him with every detail of our lives? Just as the Israelites focused straight ahead on the Ark of the Covenant as the waters of the Jordan divided, so must we do the same. When the storms of life billow against you, keep your eyes on the Promiser and not the circumstances.

TROUBLE IS PART OF LIFE.
Remember being a Christian will not make you immune to the problems of life. But the exciting news for believers is that God's promises are greater than our problems.
When the problems become the toughest, God's promises become the dearest. It is only in light of the great tragedies and necessities of life that we really begin to fully understand and appreciate the depth and significance of God's promises to us. As we begin to claim those promises and see them beautifully fulfilled in our lives, we understand that God is the One who alone can bring us through the difficulties and set us on solid ground.