More from Hebrews 11:32

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-19-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus: See Both SD’s  

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 11:32b

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “32 ¶ And what shall I more say? For the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:”  (ASB)  “Well, how much more do I need to say?  It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson Jephthah, Davie, Samuel, and all the prophets.”  (NLT)

            I will try and finish this verse today, but there is a story of faith to tell about all of these that are mentioned, and even at the end where the writer talks about the faith of all the prophets, and it does not stop there, for one could tell stories of all of the Apostles in the early days of the Church.  I some how believe that this chapter of faith will be well documented when we all get to heaven, as all believers in Christ have been given an opportunity to demonstrate faith in the Lord.

            Barak demonstrated faith in the Lord even though he had to get help from a prophetess, and some of the credit went to her, but the Lord did receive glory from Barak. When thinking about Samson one often thinks of all the trouble that he got himself into because a problem with lust, but he did however believe the Word of the Lord and acted upon it in great faith.  Jephthah has an interesting story in the book of Judges, and in that story I believe that he may have made a foolish vow by saying that he would sacrifice his daughter if the Lord would answer his prayer to defeat the sons of Ammon in the land.  The Lord gave him the victory, and as far as the sacrifice of his daughter some believe that she remained a virgin for the rest of her days.

            David and Samuel are two men whom the Lord did much through, and who both demonstrated much faith in the Lord.  There is far too much written about them in the Scriptures to mention all of the ways that they demonstrated faith in the Word of the Lord.

 

2.Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As stated above I believe that this story of faith is still being made in the lives of the believer in Christ today, and will be spoken of in heaven someday.  It is important that I learn from these people that are mentioned in this chapter to see what they did that was so pleasing to the Lord that He had them all mentioned in this great chapter of faith.  It is important for me to learn that these people were not perfect, yet when they fell they picked themselves up and demonstrated faith in the Lord; they believed His Word in spite of circumstances or consequences. 

 

The Word of God was very inspiring to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to continue to stand upon the promises that pertain to the storm that the Lord has put me, along with others into.  God will never leave me nor forsake me.  God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:1-17

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06/19/2003

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  Various Heroes of Faith

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 11:32b

            Message of the verses:  “32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.”

            I have to admit that in trying to change the fonts on the original SD for this date I mistakenly deleted it and so I thought that I would try and look at this verse again to see what the Lord has for me from it.  I can say that in his commentary for this section of Hebrews that Dr. Warren Wiersbe entitles the section “Various heroes of faith” and it covers verses 32-40, so we will just focus in on the last part of verse 32 which speaks of a total of six named OT characters and also includes the prophets, so there is much to speak of when it comes to this verse. In the last SD on this verse we spoke of the faith of Gideon, so we will look at some of these other characters that are mentioned in the rest of verse 32.

            Dr. Wiersbe begins this section of his commentary with an important statement, a statement that we can all learn from:  “Faith can operate in the life of any person who will dare to listen to God’s Word and surrender to God’s will.”  I have to say that it is a difficult thing to surrender to the Lord, to just say like Isaiah said in the sixth chapter of his book:  “5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"” (Isaiah 6:5-8)  This was a very bold thing that Isaiah did, that is surrendering to the Lord and have the Lord do through him what He wanted done, and if I am not mistaken we find a statement in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews that tells us what finally happened to Isaiah:  “37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (Hebrews 11:37).”  I have heard that the portion that I have highlighted in this verse is what happened to Isaiah. In our church service this morning there were three candidates for missionary service that gave their testimony, both of when the Lord saved them and also when they said to the Lord “I surrender to Your will for my life, and I will go where you want me to go.”  This is a great step of faith and as we look back at the statement that Dr. Wiersbe made at the beginning of this paragraph we can see what he is talking about.  The men listed in the 32^nd verse of the 11^th chapter did just that, as they surrendered their lives to the Lord.

            I will try and give you the references of where you can read about some of these men from the Old Testament.  Gideon’s story can be seen in Judges 6:11-7:25.  Barak is the judge who won a resounding victory over Sisera and that is found in Judges 4:1-5:31.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Both Gideon and Barak are encouragements to us who falter in our faith.”

            We read of the fascination story of Jephthah in Judges 11:1-12:7.  In this story some think that he sacrificed his daughter, but this is very unlikely, as he probably dedicated her to the Lord as seen in the 27^th chapter of Leviticus, for the type of dedication.

            Now as far as Samuel and David their stories are told in the books of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, along with 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles for more on the life of David.  It is interesting to me that the writer of Hebrews did not speak more on the lives of David and Samuel or for that matter the prophets, but I have made the statement that I believe that the 11^th chapter of the book of Hebrews is a chapter that is not finished, but will be finished when we get to heaven.

7/19/2015 9:25 PM

           

PS:  I found the other SD so now there are two of them.

 

Gideon's Faith Strengthened (Heb. 11:32)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06/17/2003

 

                                               

My Worship Time      Focus:  Gideon’s faith strengthened

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 11:32

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “32  And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,”  (NIV)  “32 ¶ And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:”  (ASB)

            I would like to focus in on the faith and Gideon in this spiritual diary, and the reason that these two encourage me is because I can see the patience of God as He worked with them.  Gideon was told to conquer an enemy of Israel and was not quite sure that it was the Lord who was speaking to him and if it was he need some added assurance from Him.  He asked the Lord if it were truly He who was speaking to him that He would make the dew only be on the fleece that he lay upon the ground.  That happened, but he was still not completely satisfied so he asked the Lord to have all the ground around the fleece wet with dew and the fleece dry.  This happened and it strengthened his faith so he obeyed the Word of the Lord and conquered Israel’s enemy with 300 men, because the Lord was with him.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I go along the path of the Christian life that the Lord is leading me on I sometimes think of Gideon and his fleece and I sometimes put out my own fleece so that I can be reassured that a certain thing is what the Lord would have me to do.  There are many times when I do that, that I feel a bit guilty about it too.  However as I look at what Dr. Wiersbe says about this, that Gideon is an encouragement to those of us who need our faith lifted up, I too am encouraged.

 

The Word of God gave me encouragement as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must continue to trust and obey the Lord as He leads me and guide me through this storm that many of us our going through.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:1-17  (Review them)

 

 

The True Faith of Rahab (Heb. 11:31)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-16-03

 

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Rahab demonstrated true faith

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 11:31

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “31 By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.”  (ASV)  “31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”  (NIV)

            The story of Rahab is a marvelous testimony of the grace of God in giving salvation to her and in spurring her on to good words, that always com with true faith in God.  Rahab demonstrated true Bible faith by believing the Word of God in spite of circumstances or consequences in her life, for she risked her life in order to save the spies from Israel and then as a reward of her faith she is even mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew.  Her faith took courage, but by the grace of God she was up for the task.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think of Rahab I think of her faith, her courage, and also her obedience to the Word of God.  These are all qualities that I pray that I would have in my walk with the Lord today.

 

The Word of God has encouraged my heart through the story of Rahab that I read about this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I would pray as stated in the “spiritual meaning for my life today” section that I would demonstrate the faith that Rahab demonstrated by having faith, having courage to do what is right, and being obedient to the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within me. 

 

Memory verses for the week:  Review of Psalm 40: 1-17 

 

 

Joshua's Faith from Hebrews 11:30

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-13-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Joshua’s faith

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 11:30

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.”  (NASB)  “It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho seven days, and the walls came crashing down.”  (NLT)

2Corthinians 10:4 has some insight on how those walls of Jericho fell down:  “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” It seems to me that was what this battle was all about, as are most battles.  The is the account from the Scriptures of the walls falling down, “Joshua 6:20 So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and it came about, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.”  I want to quote from John Gill of what he says concerning the faith of these people of Israel:  “And this was by the faith of Joshua, and the Israelites, who believed the walls would fall, at the sound of the rams' horns, as God said they should: after they were compassed about seven days; which was a trial of their faith and patience: the Jews say {o} it was on the Sabbath day that they fell: this was a preternatural act, and cannot be ascribed to any second cause; nothing is impossible with God; no defenses, ever so strong, are anything against him; unlikely means are sometimes made use of by him; faith stops at nothing, when it has the word of God to rest upon; and what God does, be does in his own time, and in his own way. This may be an emblem of the fall of the walls of the hearts of unregenerate men; of their unbelief, hardness, enmity, and vain confidence; and of the conversion and subjection of them unto Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel; which, in the eyes of men, is as mean and despicable, and as unlikely to bring about such an event, as the sounding of the rams' horns might be to the inhabitants of Jericho.”

 

2.Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The one thing that God has impressed upon my heart through this eleventh chapter of Hebrews is the action of true Bible faith, which is as Dr. Wiersbe has described, “True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.”  This has been very enlightening to me at just the time when I needed it.  

 

The Word of God was again a challenge to my heart to keep up the true faith, and also it was so very refreshing to my soul as I read over it today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To believe that God will do as He says He will do from His Word concerning the storm that He has lead us into over our investments.  God has promised that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:16,17

 

16.  Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glade in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

17.  Since I am afflicted and needy, let the Lord be mindful of me; Thou art my help and my deliverer, do not delay, O my God.

   

 

Faith to Walk Throught the Sea (Heb. 11:29)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-12-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Faith to walk through the sea

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 11:29

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.”  (NAS)  “It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.  But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.”  (NLT) 

            Moses was God’s leader of the nation of Israel, and it might be good at this time to bring up about how those seventy people who went down into Egypt as a large family came out of Egypt 400 years latter as a nation.  It was through the pain and suffering of the Egyptian taskmasters that formed this large family into a nation.  The multiplied very rapidly because the law about marring close relatives had not yet been given by God because, as some believe the gene pool of the human race hand not yet fallen to the point that close relatives could have children.  Meanwhile back to the subject of this verse.  It must have taken a tremendous amount of “Bible Faith” to walk across that sea even when they saw the waters parting, because how would they have known that those walls of water might not fall back down when they were in the middle of sea.  This is where their faith in what Moses had told them came into what is called walking by faith, for that is what they had to do to get to the other side of the sea.  Remember that true Bible faith is: believing the Word of God, (and that is exactly what Moses was giving to them), in spite of circumstances and consequences. 

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today: The Lord is so wonderful in causing me to be in this wonderful chapter while I am in this storm that He has sent me into, for in it I can truly understand exactly what true Bible faith is and then apply these wonderful principles to my life.  I have no direct promise from the Word of God that I will receive our money back from this investment, but I do have other promises that do apply to this storm.  Promises like, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” “ Malachi 3:10  "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”  And “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  These and others I can hold onto and know that God will work this out for our good and for His glory.

 

The Word of God was very refreshing and challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust in the promises that God has given to me that apply to this storm that we are in, and stand on them by faith.

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:16,17

16.  Let all those who seek Thee rejoice and be glade in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

17.  Since I am afflicted and needy, let the Lord be mindful of me: Thou art my help and my deliverer, Do not delay, O my God.

 

   

 

Moses and the First Passover (Heb. 11:28)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 06-11-03

 

My Worship Time                Focus:  Moses and the first Passover

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                       Reference:  Hebrews 11:28

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “28 By faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.”  (ASB)  “It was by faith hat Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.”  (NLT)

            When you stop and think about all of the things that happened in Egypt that Moses was a part of it seems to the human mind that they were unbelievable, and if a person did not know about God all of this would have seemed unexplainable.  Now this verse speaks of the Passover, and again if you did not know God you would think that killing a perfect one-year old lamb, and then sprinkling its blood on the doorposts of your house, that you would not be harmed when the death angel comes to kill the first-born in all the houses who did not have the blood applied upon their doorposts.  John Gill, whose notes are on the online Bible has this to say about all of this:  “ lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them; for the Lord, seeing the blood sprinkled, as above, when he smote the firstborn of Egypt, passed by the houses of the Israelites, so distinguished; and they were all safe within, and not one of them touched: this was typical of the blood of Christ being sprinkled upon the hearts and consciences of his people; whereby they are purified through faith; which blood is looked upon by Jehovah, so that justice passes by them; and they are all safe and secure, and will be, when others are destroyed; nor can they be hurt by the second death.”

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think of the concept that is taught about God in the Bible that says that His ways are not our ways, and that who can know the mind of God as I look at this verse that I am studying about today.  As I think of it in human terms I would think it silly or perhaps different to believe that applying the blood of a lamb to the doorpost of my house would save me from death, or that if I would accept the death of Christ a payment for my sins that I would inherit heaven and miss hell, for when God looks down upon me He can see that I have the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled upon my heart and that He will passover me and not judge me because He has already judged me when He judged me in Christ’s suffering and death.

            Now as I apply this to the storm that I we are in over our investments with Andrew Leck, I can in a way think about it a purifying storm sent by the Lord to make me more like the image of my Lord Jesus Christ.  I see this storm like Israel saw the storms that God has sent upon the land of Egypt to set the people of Israel free from the bonds of Egypt.  They saw this probably as fearful, yet necessary for their freedom to leave Egypt, even though they probably did not like it.  I do not like the storm that I am in at this present time, but by faith I want to hold tightly to the promises of the Word of God, for He will never leave me nor forsake me.

 

The Word of God was again a challenge to my heart, yet it was refreshing to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to trust the Lord to see me through this storm that He has put me in, and not me alone, for there are many others in this storm with me.  He if faithful, and He knows what it is that is good for me, and all of the others who are in this with me.  I pray that the Lord will show me the reason that I am in this storm, and I can give thanks that He is doing all of this because He loves me to much to leave me the way that I was before I was in this storm He sent my way.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:15-17

 

15.  Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

16.  Let all those who seek Thee rejoice and be glade in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

17.  Since I am afflicted and needy let the Lord be mindful of me; Thou art my help and my deliverer, do not delay, O my God.    

 

 

By Faith, Moses Forsakes Egypt (Heb. 11:27)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-10-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Moses forsakes Egypt, by faith

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 11:27

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.  (NKJV)

            Moses met the True God while he was in the wilderness.  This was the second phase of his life, which is divided into three forty-year spans.  The first forty years he spent in Egypt living in the house of Pharaoh.  The next forty years he spent in the wilderness tending sheep, getting married, and raising a family.  At this time is when Moses met the Lord and the Lord spoke to him telling him what He wanted Moses to do, and that was to lead His people out of Egypt.  The last forty years was spent with the people of God leading them for those forty years in the wilderness.  The point of this verse is Moses believing what the Lord had told him to do and then by faith, acting upon it by not fearing the wrath of the pharaoh, because he knew that God was with him, as the verse says, “seeing Him who is invisible.”

 

            2.  Message of the verse:  The words “by faith” are repeated many times in this eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and they have new meaning to my life.  The Lord has impressed upon my heart that these words, “by faith” mean standing upon the promises that God has given in His Word no matter what the circumstances or consequences are.  I am not there yet, but God is not done with me yet, so that means He is still teaching my and increasing my faith in Him.

 

The Word of God was challenging and refreshing to my soul today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to believe that the Lord is in control of all things that happen in my life, and He is in control of these events that are happening with Andrew Leck, and our investments with him.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:15-17

 

15.  Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me “Aha, aha!”

16.  Let all those who seek Thee rejoice and be glade in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnifies!”

17.  Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me; Thou art my help and my deliverer, Do not delay, O my God.