Daily Devotional For Monday, May 13, 2024

Well, we are already back to Monday. Whew! Where did the weekend go? The last few days devotionals have dealt with the subject of faith. What is faith? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (ESV). When we come to Hebrews 11, it is God’s “Hall of Fame of Faith.” This chapter gives us people in the Old Testament who stepped out in faith when they could not express why they were doing whatever it was they were doing with facts. 

The Greek New Testament word translated as “assurance” is [ὑπόστασις, hupostasis]. This is a very commonly used Greek word in the Greek New Testament. It literally means “to come under the rank of voluntarily, to come under the authority of voluntarily . . .” Sometimes the word is translated as “submit” as in James 4:7a, “Submit yourselves therefore to God . . .” (ESV). In the Old Testament, all of the promises of God were about some future event — and for many of those believers way after their own deaths. But they lived as if those promises of God were for them in their present time. They simply took God at His word and lived on that basis. Biblical faith is no some kind of hope or wishful thinking or longing that something may come to pass in some unknown date in the future. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this in his commentary:

Biblical faith is belief in God against the world—not belief in the improbable against chance. If we follow a God whose audible voice we have never heard and believe in a Christ whose face we have never seen, we do so because our faith has a reality, a substance, an assurance that is unshakable. In doing so, Jesus said, we are specially blessed. Look at John 20:29, “Jesus said to him (Thomas), `Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (ESV) —  Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 287).

The Bible documents people of such faith. Take for example, Shadarch, Meshach and Abed-nego. They were confronted with a choice to obey King Nebuchadnezzar who they could see and God, whom they had never seen nor never would. Without hesitation, they chose to obey God rather than their natural instincts and senses. A person of faith puts their trust in something far more durable and dependable than something based solely on instinct and senses. Why? Our instincts can mislead us and our senses can lie to us. God never lies. Never. This the promise of Titus 1:2, “. . . God, who never lies . . .” (ESV).

This Greek word [ὑπόστασις, hupostasis] appears in two other times in the Book of Hebrews. Look at Hebrews 1:3, “He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature [ὑπόστασις, hupostasis], and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (ESV). Here this Greek New Testament word is used to refer to real content, reality, as opposed to mere appearance. This means that faith gives us the sold foundation on which we stand, waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. 

Hebrews 11:13 affirms this about all the Old Testament saints. “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (ESV). Meaning these Old Testament saints held on to faith in God’s promises knowing they may not experience them in their lifetime. 

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the “conviction of things not seen . . .” This Greek New Testament word translated as “conviction” is [ἔλεγχος, elengchos]. It means “proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested). A person of faith lives out his belief that whatever God says, he has the proof already that God will do whatever He says. We see this with Noah in Hebrews 11 and Genesis 6. Noah took God at His word and built the Ark when he had never seen rain. Up to this point, the Bible says God had caused water to come up from the depths in the ground to be available for people. Water had never fallen from the sky. We love these stories about Noah building the Ark over all those years, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and Daniel in the lion’s den and etc. But loving them requires no faith. Living out what God has already told you in your lifetime requires faith. 

As I said yesterday, all of society is built on faith. When you go to your refrigerator and either push a cup agains the water dispense and or open bottled water, you have faith that water is safe. When we get paid with a check, we willingly deposit that check in the bank with faith that it is good. When we go under the surgeon’s knife, we do so willingly. Why? Because we have faith that surgeon knows what he or she is doing.

But biblical faith is different. It does not act on with natural faith as putting trust in a check, or bottled water or a surgeon. Biblical faith operates on the realm of capacity. Biblical faith moves forward against great odds when doing so does not make any rational sense. In Hebrew 11:6, it says this: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (ESV). 

This verse tells us a very narrowed biblical truth: faith is not one way of many ways to please God. Faith is the only way to please God. Meaning, no matter what else we say or do for God, apart from faith, it is all meaningless and worthless because it will not have the pleasure of God. Please read Lisa Brockman’s story below of how leaving the faith of her fathers brought her to faith in Jesus Christ alone:

As a sixth-generation Mormon girl, I believed that the Mormon Church was the one true church of God. I believed Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. By age six, I was convinced that having a temple marriage and faithfully obeying Mormon laws would qualify me to spend eternity in the highest heaven—the Celestial Kingdom. There, I would exalt into godhood and bear spirit children. This was my greatest dream.

But there were temptations to resist. Throughout high school, Mormon friends of mine began drifting into the world of partying. Alcohol seemed to release them from the striving and shame that comes with performance-based love. For three years I resisted, feeling like a pressure cooker of unworthiness waiting to explode. As a senior, I gave up resisting, I jumped into the party world with the same passion I brought to the rest of my life, funneling beer without restraint.

Yet even as I felt liberated from Mormon legalism, I didn’t waver from believing that the Mormon church was God’s true church. During my freshman year at the University of Utah, I met Gary. Gary told me he was a born-again Christian—I’d never heard of one. For the first month of our relationship we avoided the subject. Then, on a wintry December day, Gary cracked open the door of this conversation.

Gary asked, “How do you know Mormonism is true?” I had never heard this question before. He continued, “Have you looked into the historicity of Mormonism? How do you know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God? How do you know the Book of Mormon is God’s Word?” More questions that had never crossed my mind. Within minutes, my unease turned into terror. What had felt like a firm foundation was dissolving into quicksand.

Nevertheless, our affection for each other was growing, and we knew this lingering division needed to be addressed. So we agreed to study the Bible together. It only took one Bible study to send me into a tailspin. I was shocked to find several crucial disparities between biblical and Mormon teachings. For five months I battled with Gary and the Bible, defending Mormonism with passion. But my fortress began to crumble as I compared the historical authenticity of Mormonism and Joseph Smith with that of the Bible.

This was devastating and infuriating. At the same time, it opened my mind to the biblical view of my nature—sinful, not divine. It also opened my mind to better understand God’s nature—three persons in one God, the Father being Spirit instead of flesh and bones. The Mormon God was a man who worked his way into godhood. The biblical God had always been God, unchanging. I struggled to wrap my mind around this.

I saw, too, that God was inviting me to walk into his kingdom through trust in Jesus. Covered in Christ’s righteousness, I would always be worthy of the Father’s delight and presence. But rejecting the faith of my forebears and risking the wrath of my family terrified me. I wanted further assurance that I was right to take this plunge.

After five more months of research, I was still wrestling with the idea of a Trinitarian God. One day, as I sat in bed conflicted, God drew near to me in a vision. I saw a sea of people around Jesus, who sat on a throne. They bowed before him, singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who was, and is, and is to come.” As they worshiped, I fell to my face and wept. I received Jesus into my heart and walked into his kingdom. I was free of the shame that had suffocated me for 18 years.

On my 21st birthday, after consuming large quantities of alcohol, I spent the night fending off drunk guys who wanted to take me home. I steadied a friend’s forehead as she vomited into the toilet of a urine-soaked bathroom. I craved a different kind of life.

That same December night, I returned home and fell face-down before God. With fists clenched and tears streaming, I offered each addiction to him, inviting him to have his way in my heart, my mind, and my body. I asked him to free me to live fully surrendered to Jesus, the One who gives life.

When I awoke the next morning, I felt born again, as if God had performed a total heart and mind transplant. I was released from my addictions, and peace filled my entire being. The Mormon girl inside me breathed a sigh of relief. Set free from the burden of proving myself worthy, I rested in the arms of the One who had loved me enough to cover me with worthiness all his own” (Source: Lisa Brockman, “Leaving the Faith of My Fathers,” CT Magazine (October, 2019), pp. 95-96).

Questions To Consider

1. What is faith to you and why?
2. Why do you think in the Old Testament, it give us the impression that these saints had faith in God when they would never live long enough to see the prophecies given by God fulfilled?
3. We believe in a Savior whose face we have never seen. We believe in His resurrection without reservation. Do you think being raised Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist determines one’s faith system? Why or why not? 
4. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear there are not multiples ways to please God: there is only one way — faith. Is the evidence or conviction Hebrews 11:1 and the assurance Hebrews 11:1 talks about enough for you? Do you have a “faith” simply because that is the way you were raised like Lisa Brockton? 
5. If you had to give a defense of the Christian faith to a non-Christian, what evidence would you give to give them the assurance the Christian faith is the only way to God?

Scripture To Meditate On: James 1:5-6, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. (6) But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, there are times I have doubts. There are times I am tossed about like a wave in the sea from the wind. I don’t like living like this. You say faith is the only thing that pleases You. I want to be that kind of person. Like the young girl above, Lisa Brockton, I want to wake up each day knowing I am Yours and Your loving salvation covers me with worthiness and righteousness. Jesus, please help my unbelief. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly