A clear, focused hope - rooted in God's written and spoken Word - planted in our hearts and minds, will give us the fuel for Godly faith and change. Without clarity of vision, faith becomes an exercise without direction. With an incorrect vision, faith becomes a misguided exercise. But when we are firmly rooted in the truth, and full of hope - faith will give substance to God's clearly seen and rightly divided Word.

Jesus said in in John 17:22 "The glory which thou gave me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." We know that he was speaking not only for the disciples present, but also all "which shall believe on me through their word." What is the glory that Jesus gave you and I? I believe that answer has the power to change our life.

We have a new spirit within us because of Christ's finished work on the cross. We have the living law etched in our heart and we have been made in God's image once again. Because of Christ, we have a fit temple on the inside of us that the Holy Spirit can occupy, teach, lead, and guide. Let the Holy Spirit become your best friend as you learn to let His Spirit lead your spirit.

When Peter told Jesus he would rather die than deny him, I believe he thought he meant it. At that moment, Peter thought he knew himself, but Jesus knew where his heart was truly at. Many times we aspire to do great things for God. We know the right words, we can pray the right prayers, but ultimately God knows our heart even when we may not. However, that's not the end of the story. God has given us a way to expose the hidden unbelief in our hearts that robs us from following him.

The work of the cross is final and sure. We cannot earn it or add to it by our works. So what IS our responsibility? Jesus was asked this question in John 6:28 - "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." In this message we explore our work. It's our job to believe, and to drive out any unbelief we find in our heart. This is how we labor to enter into rest (Heb. 4:11).

God "calls those things that be not, as though they were." He calls each one of us forward to a new arena of growth, change, and freedom. We may think we're free, until He shows us something we didn't know existed. So how do we get from A to B? We take God's word and go to war with the way things are, so we can have what God says we should have.

Eph. 5:18-19 says, "be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

For Paul, this wasn't some theological nicety or quaint spiritual theory. This was something he practiced - it was at the core of his relationship with God. When Paul and Silas were cast into the innermost prison after being beaten with many stripes, the scripture says that everyone in the prison could hear them worship before God shook it with an earthquake. Let faith and hope flourish in Worship!

Challenges have a way of exposing what is already in our heart. Is our heart a treasure-house of faith, truth and trust in God, or is it full of natural reasoning and fear? Whatever is in your heart (not your mind) in abundance is the determining factor for living a walk of faith.