{"id":29111,"date":"2023-12-10T22:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-11_20-29-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-12-05T17:18:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T00:18:53","slug":"hebrews-11_30-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-11_30-40\/","title":{"rendered":"What Faith in the Lord Can Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 11:30-40 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011:30-40.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

As we complete our look at\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011, notice how the phrase that gets repeated far more than any other in\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011\u00a0is \u201cby faith\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Over and over the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0describes instances when someone \u201cby faith\u201d did something.\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to do something \u201cby faith\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0It means that faith is the fuel behind your actions or decisions.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0God wants us to live by faith every day.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the verses that follow, we see more examples of what living by faith can do.<\/p>\n

Hebrews<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>30<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n30<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse\u00a030:\u00a0\u00a0After talking about Moses and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0moves on to Joshua.\u00a0 He mentions how Joshua led the Israelites to break through and conquer the city of Jericho by obeying the Lord\u2019s command to march around the city for seven days (Joshua 5-6).\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Faith in the Lord is the key to experiencing breakthrough and victory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hebrews<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:31\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n31\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 31:\u00a0\u00a0Rahab was a resident of Jericho.\u00a0\u00a0When Joshua sent two spies into the land of Jericho, Rahab welcomed them and hid them in their home because she believed that God was with them (Joshua 2).\u00a0\u00a0Because she did so, her life was spared when Joshua later conquered the city of Jericho.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Faith in the Lord is the key to salvation.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Just as Rahab was saved because she welcomed into her home the foreign spies that Joshua sent, so we are saved when we welcome into our lives the One God sent, Jesus Christ the Lord.<\/p>\n

Hebrews<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:32-35 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n32\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,\u00a0<\/em>
\n33\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,\u00a0<\/em>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.\u00a0<\/em>
\n35\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Women received back their dead, raised to life again…<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 32-35a:\u00a0\u00a0The writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0has been moving chronologically through the Old Testament as he mentions different individuals and groups who had noteworthy faith.\u00a0\u00a0He says that he does not have time to go into detail about other individuals in the Old Testament who accomplished great things and experienced great miracles because of their faith.\u00a0\u00a0He mentions them in passing and also gives a list of just some of the miracles they experienced because they had faith in the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Faith in the Lord is the key to experiencing God\u2019s power.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>As 1 John 5:4 says, \u201cThis is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also notice this: Barak, Jephthah and Samson are usually not the first people who come to mind when you think of exemplary faith.\u00a0 Barak is often associated with being afraid, Jephthah with making a foolish vow and Samson with a whole bunch of other foolishness.\u00a0 And yet Hebrews remembers them for their faith.\u00a0 That is God\u2019s grace extended to Barak, Jephthah and Samson, and that same grace God extends to us too.\u00a0 Despite all the many mistakes we have made and the many ways we have lived foolishly, with amazing grace God chooses to focus on our faith more than our foolishness.<\/p>\n

Hebrews<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:35-38 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n35\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0\u2026Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.\u00a0<\/em>
\n36\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.\u00a0<\/em>
\n37\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated–\u00a0<\/em>
\n38\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 35b-38: After mentioning some of the miracles that people experienced because of their faith in the Lord, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0now mentions some of the difficulties, persecution and suffering people experienced because of their faith in the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Faith is being willing to suffer and die for what you believe in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Also,\u00a0a life by faith has its huge blessings and benefits, but also its costs and hardships.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hebrews<\/em><\/strong>\u00a011<\/em><\/strong>:39-40 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n39\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.\u00a0<\/em>
\n40\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 39-40:\u00a0\u00a0What are these last two verses saying?\u00a0\u00a0In other words, as great as it must have been for the above mentioned individuals to shut lions\u2019 mouths, walk through the sea on dry land, and escape fiery furnaces by their faith, there was \u201csomething better\u201d that God had planned for them to experience only together with us: the new covenant that Jesus established by His blood and through which we are \u201cmade perfect\u201d (v40) and acceptable to God for eternity.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All the things that the above mentioned people in the Old Testament experienced because of their faith were just an appetizer to prepare them and us for the main course.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That main course is Jesus as well as the life and relationships we can have through Him.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for showing us that truly it is our faith in You that gives us victory, both now and for eternity.\u00a0 May I live by faith today.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011:30-40.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

As we complete our look at\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011, notice how the phrase that gets repeated far more than any other in\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011\u00a0is \u201cby faith\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Over and over the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0describes instances when someone \u201cby faith\u201d did something.\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to do something \u201cby faith\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0It means that faith is the fuel behind your actions or decisions.\u00a0\u00a0God wants us to live by faith every day.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the verses that follow, we see more examples of what living by faith can do.<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a011:30\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0
\n30\u00a0\u00a0By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.<\/p>\n

On verse\u00a030:\u00a0\u00a0After talking about Moses and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0moves on to Joshua.\u00a0 He mentions how Joshua led the Israelites to break through and conquer the city of Jericho by obeying the Lord\u2019s command to march around the city for seven days (Joshua 5-6).\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Faith in the Lord is the key to experiencing breakthrough and victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29114,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29111\/revisions\/29114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}