A Christ Follower: The Journey

  By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. Hebrews 11:7 Today, let us consider the visionary faith of Noah. And let us emulate it: Noah's Faith Caused Him To See The Unseen & Act On It God warned Noah about things “not yet seen.” No clouds. No storm. No precedent. In fact, if you read the whole Noah story in the Old Testament, you will see it had not ever rained on the earth up to this time. But because God said it, Noah had no doubt a flood was coming. Indeed, Noah saw, with the eyes of faith, what human eyes could not detect. And he acted. He built an ark, that God revealed to him how it would be built, and he built it on dry ground. Why? because God said judgment was coming. God given Faith moves before sight. God given Faith moves us to action when the world laughs. God given Faith acts when the evidence is in...

  Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to God, must believe HE exists and HE rewards those who earnestly seek HIM. Perhaps one of the most interesting questions that a Christ Follower can pose is, "How can we please God?" After all, it would be insane to live a life where we displease God. Right?  Is this pleasing God even possible?  Consider this: It is clear that the Heroes of faith pleased God some multiple millennia ago, but can it be accomplished  in the 21st century? Let's think about this. It's Impossible If we consider Hebrews 11:6a, we discover a sure fire way to make it impossible to please God. "Without faith it is impossible to please God..." period. You can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and you can do so until you have worn yourself out, but without holding tightly to God, by faith, embracing HIS promises as if they are already fulfilled, and living as if they are already fulfilled, though none of the...

  Let Us Keep Holding On To The Word Hebrews 11:5–6 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not experience death, and no one could find him. Why? Because God received him to Himself. Before he was taken up, he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek him. Enoch’s story is really unusual. It is like no other faith walk I have seen, and it is brief, but his faith is unforgettable. In a dark generation, he walked with God so closely that he never saw death. Hebrews 11:5–6 shows us what made his faith so extraordinary — and so relevant for us today. Please consider the following four teachings in order for you to have Enoch type faith. I.  Enoch Walked With God In spite of A Corrupt World  Enoch lived in the 7th generation that first started with Adam. And it was a time when wickedness was rapidly spreading. Yet he...

 Considering God's Promises A Murdered Man’s Faith: Abel By faith, Able brought God a better offering than Cain did.  By faith, he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith, Able still speaks though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4 Abel’s life is a short story, unlike others in this Hebrews lineage of stories representing people of Faith, but his faith demonstrated the life of a faith filled, simple Shepherd of a man, who pleased God, and who demonstrated how to please God. You don’t have to be rich, famous, powerful or anything exceptional, but as you live a life of faith, God causes something special to occur. Let’s consider his story, as expressed in Hebrews 11:4. Let’s look at what his faithful journey can tell us that can help us in our individual journeys: 1. Abel's faith made his offering more acceptable to God than was Cain's offering. Abel didn’t impress God with the size of his gift, but with the heart from which it flowed. His fait...

  “By 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.” Hebrews 11:3 Faith Sees the Invisible Work of God As we continue our journey through the Heroes of faith, I want you to think about this: Hebrews 11:3, our faith verse for today, shifts the focus, from the heroes of faith, whom we will say more about later, God willing,  to the source of ALL faith: Without our Creator, God, who reveals Himself, in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, faith is not possible; therefore, before Abel offered a more pleasing offering to God, before Enoch walked with God is such a special holy way that God" took him, "without him dying, before Noah built the Ark — God spoke. And from nothing, everything appeared! Where Faith Begins  This verse reminds us that faith doesn’t begin with our actions. Faith, unquestionably, begins with God’s spoken Word .  We weren’t there when the universe was formed. We didn’t...

  Hebrews 11:1 & 2  Faith is the certainty of the things we hope for. It is the proof of things we cannot see. For this the ancient ones received God's Commendation Faith and Sight Faith begins where sight ends. It anchors us to the things we hope for long before those things ever appear. When we say that faith is “the certainty of the things we hope for,” we are declaring that God’s promises are more solid than our present circumstances. And when we say faith is “the proof of things we cannot see,” we are admitting something powerful: the unseen world is not imaginary — it is simply invisible. Faith becomes the bridge between what God has spoken, through The Word, by the Power of The Holy Spirit,  and what we have not yet experienced. Ancient Commendation This is why the ancient ones, of Hebrews 11, were commended. They lived as if God’s word was already reality. Because God's promises are, indeed, the ultimate reality. They trusted His voice more than their surround...