OUT OF CONTROL: So, you are driving along life’s highway and decide to let God take control of your life. You move to the passenger seat and give God the wheel. This is a big step! Finally. You are ready to relinquish control. Or so you think. You sit in the passenger seat, but you are like a nervous mother giving her sixteen-year-old son driving lessons. “God, stop! Don’t you see the car coming our way?” The car is about a mile away, but you are sure God will take you into a head-on collision. A few seconds later, God…
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40 The previous verses describe some of the terrible things that the followers of God suffered because of their beliefs. Yet they stood faithful even when it often meant their death. Verse 38 says “the world was not worthy of them.” As we read of what they went through, we must remember that they did not have the teachings of Jesus that we have today. Jesus had not yet come and given His life to provide redemption from sin. They did not know what it was like to have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them to guide and direct. They died without “receiving the promise.” How blessed we are! I am so thankful that I live in a country where we enjoy freedom of worship. In some countries today followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are facing persecution. They cannot gather and worship the Lord as they want to do. Bibles must only be read in secret. Yet their faith in the Lord gives them the courage and faith…
“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” Hebrews 11:32-35 After highlighting the stories of several well-known Bible characters, the author of Hebrews realized that he did not have the time to give us all the details of others, but we can read their stories for ourselves. Take time this week to read them: Gideon – His story is recorded in Judges 6-8 and highlights his acceptance of God’s call to deliver His people. It took great faith to lead his small army of three hundred men, bearing only trumpets and pitchers with lamps, against the great army of the Midianites. Barak – In Judges 4, he listened to the voice of Deborah and together they went forth to defeat the army of Sisera. Jephtha – Look at Judges 11. He…
“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” Hebrews 11:31 Under cover of darkness, two men sneaked into the city of Jericho, hiding in the shadows until they saw an open door and quickly slipped inside. The woman who greeted them realized who they were and guessed that they were there to spy out the country. She gave them lodging knowing that they had been seen by someone else in the city. She had stalks of flax laid out to dry on her roof and so she hid…
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.” Hebrews 11:17 I remember the joy that my husband and I felt as we held each of our newborn children in our arms for the first time. They were gifts from God, and we cherished all three of them. We dedicated them to the Lord and did our best to raise them to love and serve Him. As a parent, I can imagine how Abraham must have felt when the Lord told him that he must sacrifice his son. Isaac was the child that God had promised him and Sarah and that they had waited so long for. Now he was becoming a young man and was their pride and joy. But he did not question God, just arose immediately to go where God had told him. Somehow Abraham had faith that if he were to slay his son, somehow God would raise him from the dead to fulfill all the promises. His faith is clearly expressed in Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the…
“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11 The story of Sarah in the Bible has been an inspiration and encouragement to all women. She set a fitting example for us all. There is no record that the Lord appeared to her when she married Abraham and gave her any special promise. We do not know when Abraham shared with her the promise that God had given him of becoming the father of many nations, but he must have done so at some point. We do know that she was devoted to her husband, and willingly went along with all the decisions that he made. As the years passed quickly by and no child came to bless their home, it must have been hard for her to trust God. Can we blame her for taking things into her own hands, and deciding to give her maid, Hagar, to Abraham so he would have a son? And then one day, three men visited Abraham. Genesis 18:9-10 “And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he…