How does faith in Jesus become real to you in your journey of faith? Scripture passages are from Berean Standard Bible (BSB) and quotes from Oswald Chamber’s devotional on faith, Oct. 30. Full devotional is available at link below.
YouTube short of quotes:
Faith Explained
The author of Hebrews (chapter 11) explains faith for us:
1Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2This is why the ancients were commended.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
The ancient men of faith set a pattern for us to follow:
4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Abel–offered God the appropriate sacrifice that pleased Him. Pleasing God led to his death, but his example still endures! Death isn’t the end for the faithful and pleasing to God!
5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Genesis 5:24
24Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.
God also comes for Elijah and takes him away as well:
2 Kings 2:11
11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
Enoch and Elijah–faithful in walking with and serving God, so God takes them away. The Bible doesn’t explain God’s purpose in taking them away, only that God does it for His own purposes.
Faith Pleases God
6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
What is His reward? The reward is knowing and walking with Him. Consider the example of Noah:
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
God warns Noah of coming wrath. How does Noah respond?
2 Peter 2:5
Peter warns believers about the false prophets and God’s coming judgment in chapter two.
5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
Peter wants us to understand that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He warned others of God’s coming judgment as he was building the ark. For more information on Noah’s preaching:
https://www.gotquestions.org/preacher-of-righteousness.html
Peter’s Example: Matthew 14:25-31
Peter’s faith becomes real as he steps out of the boat. While he was distracted by the wind, he still moved toward Jesus. Notice how Jesus responds to him: Jesus immediately reaches out to him as he sinks. For more about the storms of life:
https://wordpress.com/post/wordsofencouragementinchrist.com/3955
Previous post on stepping out in faith:
https://wordpress.com/post/wordsofencouragementinchrist.com/1417
Previous post–God’s mercy in the storms of our lives:
https://wordpress.com/post/wordsofencouragementinchrist.com/4096
Faith Is Revelation
Chambers points out that faith brings common sense into unity with reason. He asserts:
Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short.
Chambers, Faith accessed 10/30/23
Jesus reveals Himself and His Father’s ways to us. God’s ways are not our ways. His grace, love, mercy, forgiveness and desire for people to repent is beyond our understanding! This is the context of this famous passage! Isaiah is speaking about God’s invitation to come to Him (verses 1-7).
Isaiah 55:8-9
8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,”
9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
For a detailed explanation of this passage and it’s critical message to us:
https://www.gotquestions.org/my-ways-are-higher-than-your-ways.html
God’s Ways
God’s ways are higher than our ways because His ways are always part of a bigger plan. We see only our small piece of the puzzle; God sees the finished work.
We see a portion of the jumbled back of the tapestry; God is the Weaver at the loom. When our desire is to live in step with His plan, we can have confidence that, even when bad things happen, God is still in control.
He often takes what Satan meant for evil and turns it into good for the salvation of many (see Genesis 50:20).
https://www.gotquestions.org/my-ways-are-higher-than-your-ways.html
God’s purpose in making our faith real
Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us.
Chambers, Faith accessed 10/30/23
Our faith struggles are part of God’s plan to make Himself real in our lives! Know that your struggles have a purpose and that is to know and love God more deeply! Faith grows and thrives as we walk with Jesus daily.
The Ultimate Goal of the Journey of Faith
But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless.
Chambers, Faith accessed 10/30/23
Because God is limitless, when we have faith this faith becomes limitless. This means that God continues to expand and grow our faith. Knowing Jesus allows a person to know our Heavenly Father. Recall that part of Jesus’ mission was to make His Father known. This what faith is all about: knowing Jesus the Son, God the Father, and Holy Spirit.
John 1:14-18
14The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ”
16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
Faith is a dynamic part of our spiritual journey! Faith calls us to continue to step out in trusting God and seeking to honor Him in all areas of our lives!
Words of Grace & Hope 