DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Yesterday we talked about our belief in Jesus and what that looks like and it’s reason for being active in our lives. Today we want to touch on the other side of how that translates into our service to God.
The rivers of living water actives in the Christian through belief but what is our belief rooted in? The simple answer is faith in Jesus Christ and the word of God. Faith in Christ is how we obtain the Holy Spirit; that reviving, replenishing, restoring, and renewed inward conviction that help us to carry out biblical principles as a new creation in Christ. Faith in God’s word is how we’re able to serve God. Prayerfully, we can make these clear and help us all get on or stay on track with using our faith as a weapon against the tricks and schemes of the enemy and an indicator if we’re in-line with God’s will and living out his principles as true disciples of Christ.
Our faith in Jesus says and should showcase that we are confident that Jesus came to earth, lived as a human, died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind (past, present, and future), and raised from the dead with all power; taking the fear (or sting) out of death. We are assured that if we faithfully believe in that (Jesus’ sacrifice), we are assured the forgiveness of our sins and gloried bodies that will reside with Christ in heaven! Our hope is in the act of Christ and trust that the seal of having the Holy Spirit within us is the work that needed to be done to reconcile us back into a real rich relationship with God! Now none of us are able to see any of this take place (although it took place physically and spiritually) but we have faith that it did just as the bible say and we are confident that our hope to be in heaven is now secured in Christ!
Once we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, our faith takes on a new dimension. Since we believe in Christ and his work done to save us, now our gratitude in faith will lead us into being obedient to what Christ taught and what God’s word says. Our faith (confidence) is in the fact that the words of the bible are true, accurate for any and all situations and circumstances in this life and that if done the way God says, we will experience life; but life to the fullest and avoid many of the pitfalls that could happen due to rebellion, being hard-headed, and not relying on his authority and wisdom. Our assurance is in the fact that we are now pleasing God with our lives and living out his will in obedience which in turn builds our “spiritual bank account” with rewards he’s promised to us when we get to heaven! Just as before, none of us can see what Jesus is preparing for us in heaven, but our hope is in the confidence of knowing that he is doing something to allow us to have a paradise experience because we kept the faith in him and his words.
Today we have to really dig deep and consider where we stand on the idea of faith. I know personally for me, faith has always been an “I hope I’m doing it right” kind of thing. I never really know if I’m on par with exhibiting faith as God would desire but I believe that the bible helps us to understand it as something that is active and should be continual. You don’t sit down in a chair if you don’t think it will work, NO, you have faith that it’s going to hold up every time you go to sit. If you lost faith in the chair, you’d probably stop sitting in it and warn others to do the same or you’d replace it. I think the same can be said about our faith in Jesus. If we hold to what we’ve come to know and learn about the TRUTH of Christ, we will continual use that as our power to move forward in Christ. We’ll present him to others with confidence because we know that he works. We’ll be free of worry understanding that our faith in him will not fail and will prove the test of time. We will see that there isn’t any reason to ever give up our faith in him. Where is your faith today? We pray that this devotional has given you a broader insight into your faith-life and to examine if you’re faith is in the right things. Put your faith in that which will never fail or fade, give Jesus a chance to prove faithful. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!