Tuesday 1 Jul 2008

Tuesday Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:3
3  By faith we understand that the ages were framed by a word of God, so that the things being seen not to have come into being out of the things that appear.
 
Devotion:
If there is one thing that should set us apart from others, it should be our faith. Jesus described how having faith the size of a mustard seed would allow us to move a mountain; yet we never think of our faith as being much else than the belief in something we cannot see. If we are to have faith in Christ, then it must be an absolute faith that He is able and willing to do anything in our lives. If we are willing to glorify Him through what we do, then nothing is going to be impossible… that is the part that we all too often fall down on – we do not give Him all the glory for things that He does in our lives!
 
If our faith is real, it then is the substance of things hoped for, or to put it in other words, it is the real part when our hopes become reality (not if but when). We don’t have to wait for something to become real before we can believe in it because our faith should be such that we know it will become real. So many people have gone before us and have shown us that it is all real and we have the written evidence to back that up… yet when it comes down to something for us, we begin to have doubts…
 
Is it because we lack belief, lack proof or lack faith? Well most often it is none of the above because we do believe – why else would we be praying to God, trusting in Him and allowing others to see Him through what we do? If we lacked belief we would have turned away from God in the beginning… Is it then the lack of proof? Far from it for we have so much proof in our bibles and in other peoples lives throughout time. Is it then our lack of faith? Normally not. We do have faith because we continue to hope for things in Christ’s name. What is it then? It is not what but whom… Satan continues to throw things in our path that will make us stumble and make us doubt. It is nothing more than interference being run by him that makes us think that we do not have faith or that God does not listen or that we do not fully believe. Follow in Christ’s example and push Satan’s stumbling blocks aside and rest on the Rock that is Christ.
 
Points to Ponder:
What is the easiest way to make you doubt things?
 
When was the last time you backed the bible instead of a friend?