SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 05-26-03
My
Worship Time Focus: The description of
faith
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Hebrews 11:1-3
1. Message of the verse: “1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were
prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which
are visible.” (NASB) “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we
hope for is going to happen. It is the
evidence of things we cannot yet see.
God gave his approval to people in the days of old because of their
faith. By faith we understand that the
entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now se did not come
from anything that can be seen.” (NLT)
This is
the third section in the book of Hebrews which Dr. Wiersbe calls, “A Superior
Principle—Faith.” The first section was
that Christ was a superior Person and the next was that Christ has a superior
Priesthood, and these ought to encourage us to put our trust in Him, which is
demonstrated by faith.
True Bible
faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and
consequences. This description is from
“Be Confident” written by Dr. Warren Wiersbe and it is how he describes true
Biblical faith. He goes on to talk about
three words in Hebrews 11:1-2 which summarize what true Bible faith is: 1.
Substance, 2. Evidence, and
3. Witness.
Substance means to stand under to support. An example from a building would be the
foundation in which the entire structure stands on. This is what is the believer stands upon, and
of course the object of his faith is Jesus Christ. The word evidence means conviction, which is
how it is translated in the NASB. “This
is the inward conviction from God that what He has promised, He will
perform.” Witness is translated in the
NASB as approval, and in the KJV it is translated a good report. This is how the Strong’s Concordance
describes this word: “to be a witness, to bear
witness, i.e. to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something, or
that he knows it because taught by divine revelation or inspiration.” This word is used twice in verse four, and
one time in verse 5, and also one time in verse 39. Hebrews 12:1 calls the people that are
written about in chapter eleven “so great a cloud of witnesses.”
As I
stated in an earlier diary entry this section of Hebrews has stemmed from
chapter 10:38 where the writer quoted Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by
faith.” As believers the blood of Jesus
Christ justifies us, and we are now to live by faith, which means as stated
above as, “True Bible
faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and
consequences.”
2. Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I look at this description of faith I can
see that in order to increase my faith I need to continually be in the Word of
God so that I can know what His Word says about circumstances that arise in my
life and how to handle them in I true Biblical way. For instance I have learned that a good
Biblical principle is not to owe money to others if you do not have to do so,
and I blew that by borrowing money on our house to invest in Haven Equity and
now there is some doubt as to when or whether we will get this back. My mistake, and by the grace of God we will
receive our money back and I will pay off the loan and never again borrow from
it again to invest in anything. The
point to all of this is to believe what the Lord says in His Word and act upon
it.
The Word of God was challenging, and it was refreshing to
me, and it was also convicting to my heart as I read and studied it this
morning.
My
Steps of Faith Today: Just
a little side note on this section that is in my diary each and every day, and
that is that I would hope that the things that I step out on faith in this
section from now on would be things that are already promised or taught in the
Scriptures. Today’s entry will be that the Lord will care for our moneys that
we have invested with Haven Equity, that we will receive them back. I do not know any specific promise from the
Scriptures that will say that God will take care of this return of money,
however His Word does say that He will take care of those who tithe to Him, and
that if we confess our sins to Him He will be faithful and just to forgive us
of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will give us peace in the storms of life,
He will pray for us in the storms of life, and He will even send us into the
storms of life for our good and for His glory, so there are many things in His
Word that are principles for this situation.
Memory verses for the week:
Psalm 40:12-15
12. For
evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so
that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
And my heart has failed me.
13. Be
pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me.
14. Let
those be ashamed and humiliated together who seek my life to destroy it; Let
those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt.
15. Let
those be appalled because of their shame who say to me “Aha, aha!”
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