Text: Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see".
We, as Christians, are called to "carry the torch", or the light that is within us, to a world that desperately needs Christ. And in order to do that victoriously, we must have VISION. And "vision" requires at least 4 specific things... I list them for you here:
1. The ABILITY to SEE.
The first requirement for vision, is the ability to see. Hebrews 11:10 speaks of Abraham's ability to "see", in the spirit, that which was not yet "visible". Abraham was given promises by God, and while he did not live long enough to actually experience the fulfillment of the promises, he had the ability to see the completion of the promise.
In the days of Saul's kingdom, the soldiers of Israel saw a giant in the Philistine, Goliath. But David, a mere teenager, saw a dead man. He asked the question, "who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" We know the end of this story.
2. The FAITH to BELIEVE.
I have, for years, preached to literally millions of people, that "believing" is not enough to succeed in life. No, we must couple our belief with faith. In the same way that Thomas passed from belief to "active faith" with his statement of, "My Lord and my God", we also must have the faith to believe that what God says, He will do.
Joshua and Caleb had such faith, and even though the other spies reported that there were "giants in the land", these two knew of what the Lord had promised, and so their report was one of victory, and faith!
3. The COURAGE to DO.
Perhaps one of the most poignant examples of courage in the Bible is that of Daniel, who, with everything going for him, chose to obey God rather than the edict of the King, and did not dishonor His Lord by worshipping any other.
We must take this, and the many other examples of Biblical courage, and apply the truth of these accounts to our own lives. We can take courage in the fact that the Word of God is filled with promises, which when activated by the faith just spoken of, empower the believer.
4. The HOPE to ENDURE.
It is important to finish well, that which we began when we asked Christ into our lives. He gave all for us, so that we, in turn, might accept His gift of grace and mercy, and give all for Him.
Endurance is a normal part of developing growth and maturity. It is a by-product of trials, believe it or not. And we know that the end result of such things will be perfection, or the state of being made complete - lacking nothing.
This, among other things, is the hope of the believer. We hope to endure, so that through our endurance, we might experience the fullness of all that God has of us. I don't know about you, but I am about ready for some of that!!
Copyright © 1996 Eric S. Reamer, all rights reserved
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