Another Religion Assignment!!!!

Yup Yup - you guessed it! Another Religion Assignment!!!! This week I had some really interesting experiences that kind of rocked my faith. I know I've written about and talked about, and thought about the concept of faith a lot - but this week - it was almost shattered. The details are not mine to share, but they are heart wrenching. After a few longs nights of tearful prayers I resolved, as I always do, that nothing would ever make me abandon God. I would always believe, always hope, always have faith, that things would work out for the best. So, both of my assignments this week were on faith, and about how in the end - everything turns out alright. 

Unit One: Choice Two: Hebrews 11–12. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

In Hebrews 11, Paul recounted the faith of many ancient men and women. Read Hebrews 11 and fill in the chart below listing eight other people and how each person demonstrated his or her faith and what blessings the Lord gave each of them.

Name	Verse	How They Demonstrated Faith	Blessings They Received
Abel	4	Offered a “more excellent sacrifice”	A witness from God that he was righteous
Enoch	5	Had a testimony of God	Was translated, not tasting death
Noah	7	Prepared an ark!!!	Became an heir of righteousness
Abraham	8-10 17-19	Obeyed when he was called, later when sacrificing Isaac	Abrahamic Covenant blessings
Sara	11-13	received strength to conceive	Innumerable offspring
Jacob	21	Blessed both sons on his death bed	Righteous children
Joseph	22	Made prophecy on his deathbed	Was given a proper burial
Moses	23-29	Led the children of Israel out of Eygpt	Supported by God
Samuel	32-33	Lived God's Commandments	Stopped the mouth of lions

Some key examples of faith that were not made mention here would be Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As a young girl she had faith that the message of the angel was true. She had faith in her espoused Joseph, to deal with her justly and kindly. She had faith that things would be alright in the end. Because of her faith in the midst of so much unknown, she was the mother of Jesus Christ. It's almost a magical concept. 

Enos, in the Book of Mormon, had incredible faith. He had faith in the words of his father, and acted on his faith. As a result, he came to know the power of the Atonement in his own life and was then able to extend it to others. 

I also like to think of Emma, the wife of Joseph Smith. Although we do not know her full story, we do know that she stood by Joseph during everything. She did not have the knowledge Joseph had, but she had absolute faith that he was a prophet, and supported him through it all.

In Hebrews 12:1-2 Paul encourages us to "run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith." It's an interesting concept - Run with patience. It seems like "walk with patience" would be better. But we are to RUN, put our whole body and effort into reaching Jesus Christ. When we run, we move forward with great effort and coordinated care to a specific goal. As we move towards Christ in faith, believing that he means what he says, we can win the price of salvation from Him, who will finish (or make perfect) our faith. He will change it from Faith to Knowledge. 

p.s. - a Note on Belief VS. Faith

Belief is like "yeah yeah I believe that there is a god" 

Faith is like "I have confidence that there is a God, and I live my life accordingly" Faith is Active, belief is usually passive. Faith makes us move!