Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn-out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.
There are some things in our lives that take a lot of prayer and a lot of faith to overcome. But why is it so hard sometimes to stand in faith for those things?
D.L. Moody spent many hours praying for faith. He once said, “If all the time I have spent praying for faith was put together, it would be months. I thought that someday faith was going to come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not come. Then one day I read in the 10th chapter of Romans, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” I now opened my Bible and began to read God’s Word and faith has been growing ever since.”
Much of what we believers describe as ‘faith’ has nothing to do with Biblical faith. Our faith must not be based on emotion, or want, and not on the latest exciting conference or revival. But it must be centered on God’s Word, on Yeshua (Jesus), His death and resurrection, His salvation. The Living Word is the eternal, everlasting love of God that has been poured out upon our lives.
Let’s read, hear, apply and live the Word today, and we will grow strong in faith! There’s so much work to be done!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land it seemed that God had given them an impossible assignment -- to conquer a foreign and hostile land with fortified cities and armies greater than their own. They had to go forth only on the basis of God's promise. They had to walk by faith and not by sight!
Over the weekend, the ministry lost a dear brother who suddenly died of a heart attack. In times of mourning, the realization dawned (once again) that this life is utterly fleeting ... a vapor in the wind ... and these frail human bodies in which we dwell are mortal dust. We are living in the land of the dead and dying, and only those of us who truly know and are known by the Messiah, upon our death, will enter the land of the truly living!
An ancient story in Church history tells of the apostle John. He would constantly repeat the words, "Little children, love one another." And his disciples became weary of the phrase. Finally, in his old age, as John was being carried to their assembly, the disciples asked him, "Why do you always repeat these same words?" "Because friends," John replied, "it is the Lord's commandment -- and if only this one were fulfilled, it would be enough."
The apostle John quotes Isaiah 53:1, saying to whom has the z’roah [arm] of the Lord been revealed? It’s a question that God answers throughout the rest of Isaiah 53, describing in detail the life of Yeshua (Jesus) and the ultimate price He would pay for the sins of the world.
During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.
The great evangelist and teacher Charles Spurgeon had a plaque on his bedroom with the words written on it, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."
The word for builder in Hebrew is “bo-neh”. It is also translated repairer. When our Messiah came 2000 years ago, He came to repair lives -- to do a complete restoration of all that is broken in this world.