The passage I read
was Hebrews 11:1-12
You can find that passage here:
The verse that most
stood out to me:
1 Now
faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
&
6 And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
As I reflect:
I picked those two
verses above as having stood out most because they are memory verses of most
Christians and have been used and heard many times in a believer’s walk. I probably could have also chosen verse 10 (10 For
he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and
builder is God.) because that really defines the application of faith I
think.
Often referred to as
the “Faith Hall of Fame”, this section of scripture depicts a short list of men
of faith who by their faith received grace from God who worked great wonders
through them. Great and famous as these
stories may be, they apply to each one of us and the same power is offered in
our lives. The author uses these
examples to encourage us to persevere in faith (just as those before us
did). Not a single person spoken of knew
that we would be reading about them today.
That had no impact on what they did.
They did what they did and said what they said because they had faith in
God. And though one day any of us may be
written and read about from the view of what God did in and through our lives
as a people of faith, this isn’t what drives us to hold to our faith in
God. We hold to our faith because God
is sovereign and we trust in Him. We
hold to faith, because we have seen what trying to do it alone gets us. We hold to faith because it is the only way
to please our just King. We hold to our faith because at some point in
our life we looked at creation and the proof was too overwhelming to ignore
that this design had to in fact have a designer. Some of us hold to faith because we have
seen, been part of, or heard about stories of miracles while others have sought
out a way to disprove the Biblical account of mankind and have ended up proving
that the Bible is in fact one of the most historically accurate writings of all
time. Whatever our story is, it is one
that includes a decision at some point to not only believe, but by that belief
be changed.
We are a people of
faith in Jesus Christ and because of that faith, His Holy Spirit is given power
in our lives. When we pray, angels are
activated and miracles are done. When
we read the Word of God mysteries are revealed to us. When we meditate, revelation occurs. When we step forward without knowing where we
are going, we are given guidance and protection because of our faithfulness. We can have our lives counted as
righteousness because of faith. We may
even find ourselves taken from our bodies before they die because of
faith. The Lord could move us to start
a movement that is world changing, and if we are faithful we will answer the
calling. Because of our faith, we may
end up in trying times and circumstances less than comfortable, but by that
same faith we will persevere and rise out of those same valleys being lifted to
great peaks in life. The importance of
faith in God is monumental. Without this
key link, everything we do in life is for nothing. All the knowledge in the Bible is useless
without the faith to put it into action.
All the praying in the world won’t change a thing, without the faith
that our prayers are heard and will be answered by the person receiving
them.
My response to the
Lord:
Lord, I chose faith.
I know that when I pray to you, you hear me and will answer. I have faith that when you tell me to walk
through an open door, you go through it with me. I have faith that no matter what valley you
let me go through, you will get me through it.
I have faith that what you’ve said is true and so daily I ask you to
help me apply your great wisdom in my life and the lives of those I come into
contact with. May you be glorified in my
unending faith Lord.
All the knowledge in the Bible is useless without the faith to put it into action. All the praying in the world won’t change a thing, without the faith that our prayers are heard and will be answered by the person receiving them.
ReplyDeleteWhatever our story is, it is one that includes a decision at some point to not only believe, but by that belief be changed.
Lord, show & direct me how to apply what I learn into daily life. I don't want to just know your words: I want to live them.
Thank you. I've been reading posts backwards today to get caught up.