The Book of Hebrews chapter 11 vs 1 says: “Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The Amplified version says, ” Faith is the assurance ( the confirmation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality ( faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.)
If we go further down in Hebrews 11 to vs 6 we read this: ” But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
These 2 verses have been a source of continual contemplation for me. I come back to the phrase, ” must believe that HE IS”. What does that mean?
He is God!
Isn’t that amazing? Would we consider any less? Sometimes I think we can, or at least I can. Sometimes I forget that He has ordered my path before me ( Psalm 37) and has recorded all of my days from beginning to end. ( Psalm 139) And then,in His grace, He draws me back to Truth! This is why we go back to scripture time and again… to remember, to read, to reclaim what He has already given to us.
I think of Faith and I am drawn to the book of Hebrews every time. Can I be like an Abraham, a Moses, … a giant of faith? Can I exemplify the strength that abounds in believing for those things that He has promised. In Josh 21:45 we are told that of all his GOOD promises to Israel, not one failed.
Take a stroll to the book of 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 3-5: (note italic emphasis added is mine)
” According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;”
We can not put faith in the tangible ~ changeable~ essence which is held in the range of sight. This essence we “see” is encoded with death in its molecular structure. Death, which robbed us of the glory covering in the Garden of Genesis, is a part of all that is ‘touchable’ here before our eyes. It is only through Christ that death has no hold over us.
We must place our hope in the unchanging, never failing, eternal Truth ~ Jesus. He is the only evidence of eternal visible hope. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the maker, Creator, of all that is seen. He is the Redeemer of the glory covering with which we long to be clothed.
By covering myself with the fullness of faith, being seated at the well of His grace, this prepares me to look toward the substance of hope, which is manifested in the visible reality of God’s Redemptive Love.
Today as you ponder the meaning of tangible substance and evidenced hope, reach out in faith to receive. Come back to the simple truths found in His Word. ” Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” ( Romans 10:17)
Step out in Faith and hope for the eternal to be visible, tangible, and reachable in your life. He will never disappoint us. It is when our earnest expectation is set in the realm of glory’s shadows we begin to see how well-orchestrated our lives are established in the light of His love. His love-light will shine into the confines our our present reality and bring about the defining pattern of our future hope.
Think on this:
~The Prayer of Faith~
When we approach the throne of grace we must believe that He is a diligent rewarder of those who seek him. ( Heb: 11:6 and 4:16) Bring your petitions, backed by the supplication of His Word, and ask till it becomes a reality. Seek Him for His Will and search His Word for those precious promises that have been given to you as His child. Set your hope, your earnest expectation, upon the assurance that when we ask according to His will, our answers are “Yes and Amen”. ( 2 Corinthians 1:20; Matthew 18:18-20). Faith is based on who HE IS, not on what we see in the natural. Psalm 121 tells us to lift our eyes to the source of our help. He is also the source of our faith, He is the realization of our hope, His love and presence fill us with indescribable joy. When we are not looking to the temporal but the eternal, our prayer of faith becomes a tangible revelation of hope.
