Good morning, all!

Father, we know that without faith we can’t please You so increase our faith, Lord. Give us an increase to hold onto Your word and live by all that is true and right when everything around us makes NO sense. Let us know that we are Your children, that we have inheritance NOT found in this world that far exceeds all its riches, Amen.

Hebrews 11

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
By FAITH Noah heard God talk about things NOT seen yet and he MOVED and prepared the ark to save his family, and God gave him the riches of heaven which comes with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By FAITH Abraham was asked to leave everything he knew for his inheritance, and he OBEYED even though he had NO idea where he was going or what would happen.

27 By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
By FAITH Moses forsook the world and its ideas and endured the king’s hardship because he chose to look to the INVISIBLE One instead.

31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
By FAITH, the harlot Rahab did NOT die with the rest of the gentiles that didn’t believe when she received the spies with PEACE.

Bottom line

Okay so Hebrews 11 is also known as the heroes of faith, are you a hero? Well, let’s unpack this before we answer that question. There are several more examples in this chapter. but I pulled these four to help us understand the life God has not only called us to but also prepared us for as well. Notice what precedes all their names? BY FAITH! Does your name begin with By faith? What I find interesting is they all have such different life stories and backgrounds and with the inclusion of Rahab…a Canaanite woman…and yet they all have one thing in common…BY FAITH. Also notice that they all received a new life, makes sense right? If we live by faith shouldn’t our life look new? Look different? Look at Noah, it absolutely took faith to build that ark. Why? First, he was a farmer NOT an engineer, so he had NO idea how to build a ship. Second, the world had NOT yet seen rain so the idea of water dropping from the sky flooding the earth was completely foreign. No wonder the world thought he was crazy; I probably would have thought the same thing. What about Abraham? He was just like the world, he and his family worshipped Ur the god of fire a Canaanite god. And yet he left everything he knew even though he had NO idea where God was taking him and his wife and scripture calls him a friend of God, are you a friend of God? Moses of course, born a Jew but raised an Egyptian and brought to power and wealth but he rejected it all of it and endured much hardship, why? He instead looked to the INVISIBLE, what will we look at? The world or the invisible? My favorite hero is Rahab the harlot, she knew NOTHING about God or faith and yet God chose to save her. I imagine the world didn’t think much of her and perhaps she didn’t feel very worthy herself, can you blame her? And yet here she is listed with absolute giants when it comes to faith, so I guess that makes her one too, with her name forever etched in history. What was her act of faith? She RECEIVED the spies with PEACE…the enemy…she showed them kindness and protected them from the men of Canaan. Again, all very different stories and with very different backgrounds and yet the common factor for becoming a hero…FAITH! Faith does NOT make sense; you can’t get it through reason and logic because it defies all of that kind of thinking and yet we can’t become a hero without it. And this is faith, when we hear the voice of God and we MOVE based on our heart and NOT our head. What else did they all have in common? They totally abandoned the WORLD, they all walked away from it so they could live by faith. Faith is OBEDIENT even when you can’t see or understand the outcome…that’s called FAITH. They all endured hardship, ridicule, doubt, fear, but their faith caused them to do what was NOT common to man. And while the appearance of their actions may have seemed crazy in the eyes of the world it was absolute joy in the eyes of God. It really comes down to who we choose to please, the world or God? But notice when these heroes chose faith God blessed all of them and NOT only them but their families, it only takes one in the eyes of God. [Jos 6:25 NIV] But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her. Our faith is far greater than we understand, it has power to exceed all expectations because we serve a God with absolute authority Who is limitless, timeless, and relentless. That’s right He will leave the 99 just to go after YOU…crazy and faith both at the same time.

Point to Ponder

Is it faith? It ain’t faith until we abandon the world, it ain’t faith until we endure hardships, it ain’t faith until we start seeing the invisible One, and it ain’t faith until we’re changed and start living a new life BY FAITH!

Let’s all change our first name to By faith, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends