"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Wednesday, August 03, 2016 with Scripture Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Hebrews 11:
I began our devotional reflection this week with the question, "What is faith?" In Hebrews, chapter eleven--often called "the great faith chapter"--the writer begins with a definition but quickly shifts the focus to examples of faith. The examples include important ancestors of Israel--Noah, Abraham and Moses; Isaac and Jacob; Rahab (a prostitute!); judges, kings and prophets.
Many could be added to such a list, including persons in our own lives and time. While their stature and significance might not appear as great as those listed in Hebrews, they have impacted lives. A parent or grandparent, a neighbor, a teacher, a Boy Scout merit badge advisor, a business owner or manager, a babysitter, a coach, a pastor--the list could go on and on. All are persons who have changed us because they lived out their faith in the everyday encounters with others and the circumstances faced in life.
Living and loving God, we thank you for all those persons who have been and are examples of a living faith. Work in all believers in Jesus in such a way that others will know, believe in and live with Jesus as Lord of all. Amen.
Jim Thvedt, '59
Retired; Speaker/Producer of "The Hour of Hope"
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible...
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.[New Revised Standard Version]
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1 Trusting[
Hebrews 11:1 Habakkuk 2:4
] is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. 2 It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old.
3 By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.
8 By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out[
Hebrews 11:8 Genesis 12:1
] to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. 9 By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.
11 By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. 12 Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky,
and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.[Hebrews 11:12 Genesis 15:5–6; 22:17; 32:13(12); Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22]
13 All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[
-------
Hebrews 11:13 1 Chronicles 29:15
] 14 For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. 15 Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; 16 but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.[Complete Jewish Bible]I began our devotional reflection this week with the question, "What is faith?" In Hebrews, chapter eleven--often called "the great faith chapter"--the writer begins with a definition but quickly shifts the focus to examples of faith. The examples include important ancestors of Israel--Noah, Abraham and Moses; Isaac and Jacob; Rahab (a prostitute!); judges, kings and prophets.
Many could be added to such a list, including persons in our own lives and time. While their stature and significance might not appear as great as those listed in Hebrews, they have impacted lives. A parent or grandparent, a neighbor, a teacher, a Boy Scout merit badge advisor, a business owner or manager, a babysitter, a coach, a pastor--the list could go on and on. All are persons who have changed us because they lived out their faith in the everyday encounters with others and the circumstances faced in life.
Living and loving God, we thank you for all those persons who have been and are examples of a living faith. Work in all believers in Jesus in such a way that others will know, believe in and live with Jesus as Lord of all. Amen.
Jim Thvedt, '59
Retired; Speaker/Producer of "The Hour of Hope"
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible...
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.[New Revised Standard Version]
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