After reading Courageous Faith: Life Lessons from Old Testament Heroes, the biblical hero I most relate to is Joshua. Joshua succeeded Moses as the leader to lead the Israelites into the promise land. The promise land was prosperous but filled with many strong cities and armies. Joshua had to place his faith in God and His promise that the Israelites will conquer the land. Joshua and the new generation of Israelites had faith in God and they went into the promise land even without a battle plan. They placed faith in God before their fears and concerns. “God was telling Joshua to put Him first, and then he would be prosperous and successful” (Hindson, 77). Joshua obeyed God’s battle plan instead of being afraid and make his own battle plan. The …show more content…
Israelites followed through God’s battle plan and the walls of Jericho fell! By having faith in God, the conquered the city of Jericho. When conflicts happen, we often are confused about God’s plan in our lives. Sometimes we may turn to other things to find comfort from the conflicts instead of turning to God. God has shown me time after time that turning to other things for comfort will not satisfy me.
Whenever I learned to trust and turn to God, I found His comfort to satisfy my soul. Almost two years ago, one of my best friends became extremely ill and had to leave home and go to a treatment clinic. (For her privacy, I will not say the illness). She had to immediately leave for she was due to die in two weeks if she did not find help. Whenever she told me the news, my whole world flipped upside down. My life had been pretty okay before this, just a few ups and downs. This was the first major trial in my life and I was not prepared. Of course, I prayed for her but I did not grasp the fact that God was going to save her. I was extremely emotionally unstable and I tried to fix myself on my own. This never worked, I may have had temporarily relief but the fear came back. One day I finally gave up trying to fix myself and turned to God. I asked Him to forgive me for not turning to Him first and I allowed him to fix me. I placed my trust in him and ran to him for comfort. Even when it was difficult, I knew I had to trust in Him. Once I placed my faith in Him, my comfort came. I had faith that He would heal her and she will not
die. Now two years later, she is alive, healthy, and happy. God will work everything out, we just need to trust in Him. This trial made me have more faith in God and prepared me for the next trial in my life. So when the next trial occurred, I turned to God and not to other things. I never once doubted God through my illness and now God is healing my stomach and improving my life. Ed Hindson summarizes this perfectly when he says, “when you check out the options in life, it does not take long to realize that God has the best deal to offer. All other options are empty and and meaningless by comparison. When you realize what you have in Christ, you realize He is all you need. Everything else pales in comparison” (79).
Finding a way in life can be difficult. Following that way can be even more difficult, especially when it goes against someone's origin. In Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel tells his story of what it was like to struggle through finding himself. Patel asks the question of "How can I create a society of religious pluralism?" throughout the book, and raises implications about what our children are being taught in different societies throughout the world.
The movie Glory is the story of the first African American military unit which fought during the Civil War. This powerful story is told through the eyes of the unit’s leader, Colonel Robert Shaw. The director, Edward Zwick, uses a number of important scenes expressing growth, patriotism and leadership. Whenever there was an obstacle that the 54th regiment needed to overcome faith seemed to be the answer. Faith in their fellow man, faith in their country and faith in God.
Long ago, in the desert of Egypt, Hebrew slaves known as Israelites escaped from the tyranny of the pharaoh. This story has a common theme that an unlikely hero leads people out of a wasteland and into a place of new life. The Israelites heroes' name was Moses. There are several attributes that his quest shares with Joseph Campbell's theme of the journey of the spiritual hero, found in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Departure, initiation, and return are all part of the journey. Moses' journey will take him away from his familiar surroundings, separating him from all that he knows, so that he can return to perform the tasks God commanded him to complete.
The word hero as defined as an “individual who has the courage of conviction to perform feats that benefit the general populace, acts as a soldier of virtue, and has an altruistic spirit that urges him or her to act against evil and defend the greater good at all costs, even sacrificing his own well-being or life.” (Harrison 2). Although heroes can come in any shape and size they are commonly found in stories we read, movies we watch, or people we look up to. We do not think about it much but even our own life is made up of many hero’s journeys. We never realize that our hardships and how we overcome them is exactly what a Hero’s Journey is about and why we relate to and enjoy these stories so much. I will be going into the depths of a Hero’s
Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ” (Moyers 1). The Hero’s Journey consists of three major parts: the separation, the initiation and the return. Throughout a character’s journey, they must complete a physical or spiritual deed. A physical deed involves performing a daunting and courageous act that preserves the well-being of another person. A spiritual deed calls for action that improves another individual’s state of mind. While fulfilling their journey, a hero must undergo a psychological change that involves experiencing a transformation from immaturity into independence and sophistication.Campbell states that these events are what ultimately guides a hero into completing
As my friend poured her heart out to me and ask questions I didn't really have answers to, as I sat there listening: I prayed. I prayed for my friend. That God would guide her and comfort her. I asked God to give me the words to say to bring encouragement and comfort to her.
God has become angry with his people. He complains in the fifteenth century English play Everyman about humans and their obsession with material items, riches, and wealth. Men and women, he feels, have taken for granted their blessings. God wants to reprimand Everyman for his sinful life and sends Death to summon him. At the beginning of the allegorical work where figures and actions symbolize general truths, a messenger shares God’s concerns. The messenger tells the audience to watch and listen closely to the morality play so they can learn a lesson about life. Everyman fears Death, and he desires to know what one must do to earn salvation and enter heaven. The writer then implies that the way to achieve salvation is by doing good works. Through positive deeds, a man has the capability of enjoying communion with Christ (McRae 306-307). Everyman’s author wrote the play before the Protestant Reformation, so the piece of literature shares the view of Roman Catholicism during that period. Roman Catholics often rely on a spiritual leader’s interpretation of the Scriptures and some additional texts, while Protestants believe the Bible alone should studied by each individual believer. Biblical Christianity teaches something different from what Everyman does. The Bible stresses that salvation occurs through faith and belief in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for humankind’s sins on Calvary’s cross. St. Paul in the book of Ephesians writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (2.8-10). When Christians...
There have been many individuals who could be considered leaders, but some stand out among the others. An example of a superb leader is Moses. Moses is viewed as a righteous man in God's eyes and is chosen to lead the Hebrews out of oppression in Egypt. Contained in the story of Exodus are many examples of Moses' sacrifices and the hardships he endured while freeing the Hebrews. The faith of Moses was tested numerous times throughout the story, and, in some instances, it seemed that Moses had lost faith, however, being the "righteous" man that he was, he stuck it out until the end. Moses is a "pillar of faith" for surviving his tests and for being the perfect tool for God's plans.
It wasn’t until my late teens that I made a personal decision to become a Christian. I made the choice and got baptize. Not because I felt obligated, but because, I felt the need to have a relationship with God. My experience has help me understand that not everyone who is born and raise in a Christian home is a believer. Feeling the need to communicate with God, having the certainty that He is there to listen when you call him is simply inexplicable. During my journey of faith, I have felt the hand of God moving in my life in different circumstances, his faithfulness is always there. There was a time when I was grieving and I thought God had abandon me. But understanding that He does not leaves us takes a while, is our choice to listen to Him or not, and as I was grieving I was becoming more distant of Him. Until one day I felt his presence, and I just cried, I couldn’t talk, even if I wanted to. But I felt his hand, the heavy burden I had was gone in an instant, and I felt peace in my heart like never before. In the moment I understood that He was always there, it was me resisting to have a communication with him. I am grateful that God has allow me to serve him, also has provided me with the opportunity to study to know more about him. Being able to get tools to better serve in the ministry is something that I would never before would thing of doing. But He knows better, we just need to learn to listen to his
This semester we learned about the path of the hero and his journey to over come adversity. There are stages and cycles that each hero goes through and has to over come. They progress through simplest to the most difficult. Over the course of the semester we went through a few of things. The creation, fall, redemption, and heroic journey; which includes, the call, supernatural aid, crossing the threshold, mentors, challenges, the climax(the top), the transformation, and then the return.
In terms of leadership, Abraham was a noble leader. Although he grew up in a camp where the notion of one God was not accepted, he eventually manages to become the leader of a tribe and make the people believe in his faith. He leads them around endlessly from Ur to Canaan, to Egypt, then back to Canaan. His tribe followed him around without much questions. They just followed his leadership. Moses was also a great leader. When he led the Hebrews out of Egypt to the Red Sea, some people questioned Moses saying, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert” (Exodus14:12). Moses being a calm leader replied, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13-14). In the mist of his people doubting him and the Egyptians on the chase, Moses reassures his people to put their faith in God. This shows Moses courageous leadership in a time of eminent danger. After they cross the Red Sea, with the help of the Lord parting it, the Red Sea closes on the Egyptians and Moses and his people are safe. After all this, Moses and his people encounter many struggles such as thirst, hunger, attacks from enemies, however Moses always manages somehow to renew the faith of his people and lead them to the promise land. Just like Abraham, Moses was a worthy leader. They both managed to keep the faith of their people in God and they lead the people to the places they were destined to go. The only difference is that Moses faced more doubt from his people then Abraham did.
Throughout the years, Jesus has been my rock. No matter what is happening in life, I have always been able to rely on Christ. Jesus gives peace in the midst of any situation. I have confidence that in any situation, Christ will provide for all my needs. My relationship with Jesus has given me hope for the future. I don’t have to live in fear, because I believe with all my heart that he has everything under control. The peace and comfort Jesus provides has been the biggest change since the moment that I began to follow Christ. These are aspects that were not evident in my life before becoming a Christ follower. These attributes that Jesus provides have influenced my actions and attitude in a countless amount of
The biggest thing that I’ve been dealing with and at this time still struggle with is in finding my self-worth. Some may also call it self-confidence. I feel that I have tended to confuse God’s love for me as primarily traveling through vessels, i.e. other people in the body of Christ. I all too often can look back on my past and see the points where I felt the most apart from God and tie them in with instances where I had torn relationships with past friends in the church. Throughout this struggle though, I have continued to feel the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit, comforting me and guiding me on this spi...
Just a few simple words can always change your perspective on so many different things. From that point on, I found God in most of my day-to-day activities. I talk to Him like a close personal friend, I confide in Him in my times of need and thank Him for all the wonderful things He has blessed me with, including just life itself. He showed me how to live life to the fullest, or “grab life by the horns” and “live for the now, for today. Not for tomorrow.”
What does it mean to be saved? To be saved is the conscious acceptance of Christ as the propitiation for your sins. Because Jesus, who was holy and without sin took the punishment of death for our sins, we can ask him to take away and forgive our sins. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins” (KJV, 1 John 1:9). Jesus died for everyone’s sins; however, not everyone chooses to accept His gift of “eternal life” (KJV, John 3:16). I have accepted this amazing and gracious gift.