September 10, 2018
Hebrews 11:29-40 The Message (MSG)
It is good to be back from vacation; I must admit I truly rested and enjoyed myself. I did miss connecting with you through God’s Word, so let’s talk a bit about faith, today.
I recently had a conversation with someone dear to me about the essential work of faith in every Christ follower’s life. To many people faith is simply a word Christians throw around to sound spiritual. Yet, the Bible teaches without faith it is impossible to please God and faith is actually the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen (or in other words things yet to be manifest). To walk by faith is a choice we make each day. We can either think our faith is superficial and isn’t really required to walk in victory each day or we can grow in our understanding of the “bigness of God” and realize every day God is looking to bring his power to our measure of faith.
Your faith and my faith is put together with the biblical heroes of the faith in order to make a whole. In our passage today, we will review the faith of some of these heroes. God has a plan for you and for me and we walk it out by faith. We are people of faith who believe in a merciful, loving and all-powerful God who delights in blessing his children by manifesting the work of faith. How will you walk by faith today? It really depends on your perspective of God. How big is your God? Some of these heroes in our lesson served a big God. Is God big enough to make you victorious in the plan He has for your life? If so, live today with purpose and faith. I will be on the faith walk with you…
Hebrews 11:29-40
29 By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.
30 By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.
31 By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.
32-38 I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
39-40 Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of Grace, today, and help me apply faith to each step I make. I know you have a plan for me and by faith I intend to manifest it. Thank you for always being with me and encouraging me along the way. My confidence is in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.