Heb 11:1-2 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (2) For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Hebrews 11 is commonly called “the faith chapter of the Bible”. In this chapter, the Lord gives us many different examples of Old Testament individuals who exercised faith in their day to day walk with the Lord. Based upon the faith they possessed, they were able to do great things for Him.
I trust as we study this chapter, we will find a lot of examples of faith that will help us to do great things for our Lord.
To begin our study, Hebrews 11 gives us an understanding of the meaning of “faith”. We are told that faith is: “The substance of things hoped for”
"Substance” is the idea of “confidence or absolute assurance”. It is our faith in what Christ has done for us in the past that gives us assurance of future blessings from Him. (This principle is found in Rom 8:32.)
This same idea is expressed differently in the phrase… “The evidence of things not seen”
The word “evidence” carries with it the idea of “proof that brings assurance”. Once again, we are told that, based upon our faith in His work, we receive proof that assures us of the promises of God we have yet to receive.
It is by this life changing faith, that the OT saints of the past (elders) pleased God with their lives.
Today, let’s keep in our mind the great sacrifice He has made for us. In doing so, we will be allowing hope in our future to flourish knowing that… “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32)
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
Thanks for the reminder. This would be a good thing to read every morning before getting out of bed for a few months.
ReplyDeleteIf we actually spent our time thinking on those things we would not have time for all the junk we clutter our minds with from time to time...The enemy loves to fill our thoughts with junk, but God gives us a way to be free from cluttered minds..
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Rob! AMEN! I love this post and this scripture. I have seen people get this wrong time and again. Sure, they ask God to help them, but I think a lot of it is just plain "lip service," because if something doesn't happen right away, or in some miraculous manner, they give up. That's not having faith. People don't seem to get this simple, but most important principle. The more faith we show in God, the more faith we will acquire. Kind of like money. The more we have the more we spend. The more faith we have, the more faith we will put forth, because as you say, we look at what God has done for us in the past and know what His promises tell us He has for us in the present and the future.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
PJ
I hope is that it will be a blessing to all that use the SIH blog for their daily devotion time! Lord bless you Andrew. Thank you for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteI agree fully with what you say. It is so important to have a time each day set apart to look into the Word of God. I'm tursting the Lord that He will use SIH "Think on These Things" to be an encouragement for us to spend time in His Word everyday. Lord bless you.
ReplyDeletePJ,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about those who find it difficult to have patient and wait on the Lord to answer their prayers. I think we all have problems in this area. We all would like to see the Lord work immediately, but as you say... by fiath we should p[atiently wait for Him realizing He knows what is best for us. Lord bless you PJ.
Hej Rob,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this article. Amazing I wrote something close to what you said in "Faith: Biblical Christian’s Definition". May God bless you and thank you.
In Christ,
Prayson
Prayson,
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting me know about your article. I'll be looking at it very soon. Also, thankyou for the kind words. I pray the Lord continue to bless you and your blogging ministry as well. I really appreciate your desire to take things "back to what the Bible says" about them. Thanks again!
I was so encouraged by this post, Rob! Thank you! He has given you a special gift and way to explain His word, that builds us up. God bless you and your faith and hope that is placed in Him!!!
ReplyDeleteDebbie,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad this post was an encourgement to you. I am so thankful the Lord has seen fit to use SIH for His glory. Anything that may be a blessing to you is entirely because of His graces and intervention.... I truly believe He could use anyone... He has just blessed me with the privilege. Thnak you agian for the kind words and your blog as well. I try to visit it everyday... when I need a short break from other stuff. Lord continue to bless you!
This act of giving the life of His only begotten Son for the sins of the whole world is still blowing me away this Easter Monday, 5 days after the official celebration in church of His Resurrection! Now I know why Anglicans (and other liturgical churches) "keep" the entire week beginning with Easter Sunday as Easter WEEK!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about not limiting the resurrection aprreciation to Easter Day. Really, when I think about it we should be celebrating His resurrection EVERY Sunday when we worship and also, EVERY day with the rising of the sun!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob - so true.
ReplyDeleteAnd even our faith is a gift from God. We would be unable, of ourselves, to exercise faith.
What an amazing God!
Knowledge of this truth brings more appreciation to the heart of the saved which motivates to greater service of Him.
ReplyDelete[...] (Reblogged and translated with permission from this link: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/sihs-think-on-these-things-heb-111-2/) [...]
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