A Christ Follower: The Journey

  Hebrews 11:11-13 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the sea shore.   Coming Attraction: When we consider this special woman, Sarah, we are about to see something each and everyone of us would like to experience. I know I would want to have this as part of my life.  Please, check out what Hebrews 11:11-13, faith makes possible for our journeys: God's timing overturning our human impossibility. The laughter of faith, not cynicism, that fills us with delight. God's generational promises that multiply exponentially long after you or I have departed planet Earth. God's  shift from barrenness to blessing. God's Timing God's timing is not our timing. It is "much more better."  Think about Sarah. She had lived 90 years...

Hebrews 11: 8-10 8. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him in the same. 10.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ==================== Abraham's Faith : A Calling As we look at Abraham, it is very clear God, indeed, was calling him. The call, simply put, was from God where the LORD told him, "I want you to go to a place which you will receive at a later date."  Abraham was called to understand this as a call to receive this place as a his very own inheritance.  Little did he know just how great this inheritance would become; nevertheless, he started stepping one day at a time into the future. He did not even know where he was going, but he had faith i...

  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...