We can see clearly, the evil that surrounds us on all sides, yet we cannot forget as believers, that our mission, which we have been given, to point all who will listen, that there is GOOD NEWS, for all who believe, that this world will one day be restored, by the one who holds all things in his power. That person…..is Jesus Christ! Amen.
Click on the link to hear the song, by Christy Nockels.
This was written by a Pastor friend of mine and I thought you might enjoy it.
EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH – Sept. 2025
Southview Bible Church * 135 Bennett Ave. * Council Bluffs, IA. 51503
Phone: (712) 322-5743 E-mail: pastor@southviewbible.org * Web Site: www.southviewbible.org
FAITH TESTED AND TRUE
TRUE faith NEVER fails! In the end, it ALWAYS proves true! Yes, as people of faith, we often fail in our walk of faith. As James says, “we all stumble in many things.” (Ja. 3:2) However, human weakness does not nullify true faith. As Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt. 26:41) Every believer knows this reality!
When Peter denied the Lord three times, did he lose his faith? Absolutely NOT! Jesus said to Peter prior to his fall, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Lk. 22:31). Yes, Peter failed miserably in his faith walk, but his faith did NOT fail. One look from Jesus, and Peter went out and wept bitterly (Lk. 22:61-62). He HATED his sin because he really did believe in Jesus!
Abraham is the premier example of saving faith in all the Bible (Gen. 15:6). Abraham’s walk of faith was characterized by occasional stumbles. He repeatedly was deceptive about Sarah being his wife (cf. Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18). He heeded his wife’s counsel and bore an “illegitimate” child through Hagar (Gen. 16). Abraham stumbled at times in his faith journey, but he never lost his faith. And God used everything he went through to build his faith and to make him stronger. We learn through failures, and our faith is actually strengthened. This is the nature of having a true faith. God, who has begun a good work in us, will complete it (Phil. 1:6).
By the time Abraham was an old man, he had grown strong in his faith, being convinced that God would fulfill His promise of a son through Sarah (Rom. 4:19-22). And then, as the promised son, Isaac, came of age, a major TEST was presented to Abraham (cf. Gen. 22).
Hebrews 11:17–19 (NKJV)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
The faith of Abraham was TESTED and proven TRUE! This is true for every true believer. In the end, they have a FAITH that proves true! At core, every true believer has an enduring faith. This is true through thick and thin, through failure and weakness. We are God’s “workmanship” and through it all He is shaping us into the people of faith He wants us to be (cf. Eph. 2:10).
Peter brings out that trials in the life of the believer serve TWO purposes. They serve to PROVE the reality of our faith, and they serve to REFINE our faith.
1 Peter 1:7 (NKJV)
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
A true faith when TESTED is FOUND. Hard times are TESTING times, but they serve to PROVE the genuineness of our faith. Yes, in our human weakness, we often falter and fail, but if we have true faith, God uses these things to further REFINE our sincere faith. Even in failure, genuine faith is demonstrated in how the true believer responds. We hate our failures. We learn from them. We go on even stronger because of them. GENUINE faith is tested and found TRUE!
Thot: True faith has an abiding reality that when TESTED proves TRUE!
Earnestly Contending, Pastor Dwight J. Oswald
The 59 “One Anothers” of the New Testament
1. “…Be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50)
2. “…Wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
3. “…Love one another…” (John 13:34)
4. “…Love one another…” (John 13:34)
5. “…Love one another…” (John 13:35)
6. “…Love one another…” (John 15:12)
7. “…Love one another” (John 15:17)
8. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love…” (Romans 12:10)
9. “…Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)
10. “Live in harmony with one another…” (Romans 12:16)
11. “…Love one another…” (Romans 13:8)
12. “…Stop passing judgment on one another.” (Romans 14:13)
13. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…” (Romans 15:7)
14. “…Instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14)
15. “Greet one another with a holy kiss…” (Romans 16:16)
16. “…When you come together to eat, wait for each other.” (I Cor. 11:33)
17. “…Have equal concern for each other.” (I Corinthians 12:25)
18. “…Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (I Corinthians 16:20)
19. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (II Corinthians 13:12)
20. “…Serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)
21. “If you keep on biting and devouring each other…you will be destroyed by each other.”
(Galatians 5:15)
22. “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:26)
23. “Carry each other’s burdens…” (Galatians 6:2)
24. “…Be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
25. “Be kind and compassionate to one another…” (Ephesians 4:32)
26. “…Forgiving each other…” (Ephesians 4:32)
27. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19)
28. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)
29. “…In humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
30. “Do not lie to each other…” (Colossians 3:9)
31. “Bear with each other…” (Colossians 3:13)
32. “…Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” (Colossians 3:13)
33. “Teach…[one another]” (Colossians 3:16)
34. “…Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
35. “…Make your love increase and overflow for each other.” (I Thessalonians 3:12)
36. “…Love each other.” (I Thessalonians 4:9)
37. “…Encourage each other…”(I Thessalonians 4:18)
38. “…Encourage each other…” I Thessalonians 5:11)
39. “…Build each other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11)
40. “Encourage one another daily…” Hebrews 3:13)
41. “…Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)
42. “…Encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10:25)
43. “…Do not slander one another.” (James 4:11)
44. “Don’t grumble against each other…” (James 5:9)
45. “Confess your sins to each other…” (James 5:16)
46. “…Pray for each other.” (James 5:16)
47. “…Love one another deeply, from the heart.” (I Peter 3:8)
48. “…Live in harmony with one another…” (I Peter 3:8)
49. “…Love each other deeply…” (I Peter 4:8)
50. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (I Peter 4:9)
51. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others…” (I Peter 4:10)
52. “…Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…”(I Peter 5:5)
53. “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” (I Peter 5:14)
54. “…Love one another.” (I John 3:11)
55. “…Love one another.” (I John 3:23)
56. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:7)
57. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:11)
58. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:12)
59. “…Love one another.” (II John 5)
*From Carl F. George, Prepare Your Church for the Future (Tarrytown: Revell, 1991), 129-131.
EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH – August 2025
Southview Bible Church * 135 Bennett Ave. * Council Bluffs, IA. 51503
Phone: (712) 322-5743 E-mail: pastor@southviewbible.org * Web Site: www.southviewbible.org
FAITH WAITS
Faith is taking God at His Word. A biblical faith is always connected to the Word of God. True faith is not a matter of subjective feelings, mysticism, or intuition. Rather it is always in response to God’s Word. Faith takes God at His promises. What God has promised may yet be future, but faith believes that God will bring it to pass just as He said. This is where HOPE comes in as it is the certain expectation that God will bring to pass what He has promised. Thus, “faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1).
Abraham is the premier example of saving faith in all of the Bible. In the Hall of Faith Chapter of Hebrews 11, he is given the longest treatment (Heb. 11:8-19). Abraham was promised by God a special land called “The Promised Land”. He was also promised innumerable descendants. Both of these involved a LOT of WAITING, and in fact, Abraham never saw the fulfillment of these promises during his lifetime. He saw the land, but he never possessed it. All he ever really owned was a burial plot (Gen. 23). Yes, he saw a few children born (most significantly the promised child Isaac), but he never saw the fulfillment of innumerable descendants.
The covenant promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:18; 17:21; 22:16-18) were then passed along to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4), and then to Jacob (Gen. 28:13-14). But it was “by faith” that Abraham dwelt in the land of promise living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, “heirs with him of the same promise” (Heb. 11:9). In doing so Abraham WAITED for a permanent dwelling place – “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10).
At the age of 75 Abraham had already been told he would be made “a great nation” (Gen. 12:2, 4) and shortly thereafter he was told the number of his descendants would be “as the dust of the earth” (Gen. 13:16, cf. 15:5). Through his seventies, then eighties, then nineties, he continued to WAIT! Finally, when Abraham turned 99 God appeared to him and in effect said, “NOW it’s baby time!” (Gen. 17). In the birth of Isaac, Abraham finally tasted the beginnings of what God had promised, but he never saw the fulfillment of a great multitude of descendants.
In fact, NONE of the patriarchs saw the fulfillment of either the land promise or that of innumerable descendants. Hebrews 11:13 says, “These all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off were assured of them…”. They were assured of the promises, but they never saw the fulfillment in this life. Their faith was “the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). They WAITED and WAITED and died in faith. They confessed that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13) with the testimony that they were seeking a homeland that would be fulfilled beyond this life (Heb. 11:14-16).
In keeping with the nature of a true saving faith, they never even considered it an option to go back to the old country (Heb. 11:15). True faith does not apostatize (cf. Heb. 10:38-39). Instead, they continued to look forward to a “better, that is a heavenly country” (Heb. 11:16; cf. 2 Pet. 3:13). This is God-honoring FAITH! True faith does not revert back to a pre-conversion state. Faith does not go back; rather, it looks forward. It looks forward to what God has promised and will not go back!
This is the nature of a true saving faith that pleases God (Heb. 11:6). The patriarchs WAITED, and WAITED, and WAITED, and eventually died in FAITH awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises. And because of this, “God is not ashamed to be called their God” (Heb. 11:16). A core designation for the one true God is “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (cf. Ex. 3:6, etc.). God identifies with the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the mark of the truly saved!
Thot: True faith will die in faith believing that God will yet fulfill ALL His promises!
Earnestly Contending, Pastor Dwight J. Oswald
How often are we running around, trying to do everything ourselves, whether in our ministry, business, or our job. We were not meant to build something, that God had called to, without the help of others. Take a breath, seek God’s wisdom(James 1), look for people you can trust, and will give you wise counsel, to accomplish the goals set before you. Listen to the counsel from Mose’s father-in-law from Exodus 18 and a verse from Ecclesiastics.
Ecclesiastics 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Exodus 18: 13-26
“The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?” Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.” “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives. But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.” Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions. He chose capable men from all over Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people. He put them in charge of groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. These men were always available to solve the people’s common disputes. They brought the major cases to Moses, but they took care of the smaller matters themselves. Soon after this, Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law, who returned to his own land.”
Exodus 18:13-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/exo.18.13-27.NLT
Living Waters 