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Thursday, September 15, 2016

 

When you read the stories of the heroes in the Bible, you can appreciate that they were men and women who were commended because of their faith. They were men and women to whom God had made specific promises, and although their circumstances were contrary, nonetheless, they decided to trust God and to walk in faith. They were not commended because they themselves initiated something, it was because God initiated something and they decided to deposit their trust in Him.

 

Hebrews 11: 1-40 NIV

Key verses 1&2

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

 

Following these first two verses from the Book of Hebrews, the author dedicates the remainder of the chapter to listing some of the commended heroes of faith. What we discover is that they are not commended because they prayed and caused something to happen, they were commended because they believed that something that had not yet happened was going to happen. Moreover, although often times it seemed impossible, they took God at His word and proceeded to act by faith. Most of the time, the only thing they had to go by was the word of God.

 

The reason Moses became the liberator of the Hebrew people in Egypt, was not because he decided to become their liberator. In fact, his one attempt to help the Hebrew people did not go well for him. The reason Moses became their liberator was because God gave him a promise and He acted on that word.

 

The reason Joshua marched around the city of Jericho, was not because he woke up one day, and decided that he would do this until the walls crumbled. No, the reason Joshua did so was because as crazy as that strategy was, God gave Joshua His word and Joshua decided to walk in faith.

 

Noah built an ark because God told him that something was going to happen that had never happened before; rain was going to fall from heaven and inundate the planet. Therefore, by faith Noah built an ark in the middle of the desert to save himself and his family.

 

This is the pattern the men and women of faith followed, God would give them a promise, He would tell them that something was going to happen that had not previously happened, and they decided to live their lives by walking in commitment to God’s word. They understood just as we should understand today, that faith is always subject to God’s word. Throughout the Bible, when you read of people that are walking by faith, it is because they are holding on to a promise God has given them.

 

Here are just a couple of the many promises God has made to us: He who perseveres until the end will be saved. Here is another: Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. It is one thing to know God’s promises and an entirely different thing to walk in those promises; this is what we call walking by faith.