our daily bread
Dexu Xia
Fresh Faith
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
When our son was struggling with heroin addiction, if you had told me God would one day use our experience to encourage other families who face these kinds of battles, I would have had trouble believing it. God has a way of bringing good out of difficult circumstances that isn’t always easy to see when you are going through them.
The apostle Thomas also didn’t expect God to bring good out of the greatest challenge of his faith—Jesus’s crucifixion. Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples when Jesus came to them after the resurrection, and in his deep grief he insisted, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were . . . I will not believe” (John 20:25). But later, when Jesus appeared to all the disciples together, out of the dust of Thomas’s doubts God’s Spirit would inspire a striking statement of faith. When Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28), he was grasping the truth that Jesus was actually God in the flesh, standing right in front of him. It was a bold confession of faith that would encourage and inspire believers in every century that followed.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Our God is able to inspire fresh faith in our hearts, even in moments when we least expect it. We can always look forward to His faithfulness. Nothing is too hard for Him!
Thank You, Lord, that Your love is stronger than our greatest difficulties—even our worst doubts or fears!
God can change our doubts into bold statement of faith
重燃信心
也要坚守我们所承认的指望，不至摇动，因为那应许我们的是信实的。-希伯来书10章23节
当我们的儿子在与海洛因毒瘾搏斗时，如果你跟我说，有一天上帝会使用我们的经历，来鼓励其他与毒品争战的家庭，我应该很难相信这话。虽然我知道上帝能从困境中带出祝福，但当你在经历那些困难时，却不容易看得明白。
使徒多马也没想到，当耶稣被钉十字架，他的信心面对最大的挑战时，上帝竟能藉此重燃他的信心。当耶稣复活之后向门徒显现时，多马并没有和他们在一起。在深深的悲伤中，他坚持地说：“我非看见祂手上的钉痕，用指头探入那钉痕，……我总不信”（约翰福音20章25节）。但后来，当所有的门徒聚在一起，耶稣出现在他们眼前，驱散了多马心头的疑云，上帝的灵启发他做了引人注目的信心声明。当多马高声喊着说：“我的主，我的上帝！”（28节）他正阐述一个事实，耶稣的确是上帝成为肉身，就站在他面前。这是大胆的信仰告白，鼓励并激励着后续世世代代的信徒。
即使是在我们最意想不到的时刻，上帝仍能重燃我们心中的信心。我们能倚靠祂的信实，在祂没有难成的事！
主啊，感谢祢。祢的爱远胜过我们最大的难处，
甚至胜于我们心中最深的怀疑和恐惧！