FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE REMAIN

Among The Virtuous Of Virtues - Poems

Norman Hicks III

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781642580280
• eBook ISBN: 9781642580297
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Religious Poetry
• Index: Literature

Often we lose sight of the enormity of everything around us: the stars, the galaxies, nebulae, and the vastness of space in general. We need to appreciate the sobering beauty and magnificence that we have been afforded, as well as the experience of existing. Though we may not consider how all of these came about, we need to look beyond ourselves. Surely, something or someone is majestic enough to have brought this about. Many humans believe in a supreme force or being called God. We also attempt to honor Him through various religions. This book's focus is on Christianity.Christian virtues cover a lot of positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors considered morally and spiritually correct for enhancing one's development. It may be debatable as to whether faith, hope, and love are virtues. Yet they are very significant in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ. These three attributes remain just as important in the lives of people today as they were to people of past generations, and to the existence of people in subsequent generations. They complement human existence. It is hard to imagine their exclusion in the daily activities of human life.The poems in Faith, Hope, and Love Remain attempt to emphasize the importance of faith, hope, and love in coping with life as it relates to interacting with other people and with the fluctuating experiences of daily living, and the spiritual enhancement of the human-God relationship. I have included my own good and bad life experiences as testimony and my personal understanding of those experiences in a spiritual context. I pray that these poems bring you enjoyment, as well as peace and a degree of discernment. I hope they will motivate the desire to read The Holy Bible more and meditate on those scriptures.

Chapter 1

Faith and Hope

Faith is one of many great virtues about which Jesus Christ expressed high significance. It requires believing strongly in someone or something. In fact, most people have faith, though it is expressed in varying degrees. Faith is a mechanism that people use in their daily activities. Scripture calls upon us to exercise faith by asserting that we should believe in someone that we have never seen, and in some place where we have never been. We are encouraged to believe in an omnipotent and omnipresent God who has a Son, Jesus Christ. This Son is delegated the power and authority of God, the Father, due to His proven obedience and suffering in fulfilling God’s plan of atonement of sins for mankind. Faith must be used to believe that the Father and the Son live in a spiritual domain that is serene and everlasting, known as heaven. Faith must also accept the Scripture’s description of an adversary of God and man, called Satan. Scripture continues its teachings by noting that Satan has a designated place created for him for eternal separation from God. That place is called hell. Those people that choose to live spiritually separated from God through acts of defiance and by not acknowledging Him will join Satan in that eternal abyss.

The New International Webster’s Standard Dictionary defines faith as “an unflagging trust; belief without firm proof; belief in a supreme being; a religion; fidelity.”

According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Therefore, our inability to see God does not determine whether or not He exists. We must trust that He exists by exercising faith. Comparably, we can’t see air. Yet we know it exists; we can feel it and breathe it. Without it, we will die. Many things exist that we cannot see. Simply because we cannot see them does not erase their existence. Faith is used to trust in things we cannot see, including God.

It is very trying to use faith in an applicable form, since its main distinction is to believe and trust without doubting. The amoun...

Table of contents

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3