The Daily Devotional of The Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Walk the Tal" for Friday, February 24, 2017 with Scripture Hebrews 11:3-12

The Daily Devotional of The Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Walk the Tal" for Friday, February 24, 2017 with Scripture Hebrews 11:3 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.
4 By trusting, Hevel offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead.
5 By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.[Hebrews 11:5 Genesis 5:24] 6 And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
7 By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting.
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]
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A person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone.[James 2:24 (CEB)]
Hebrews 11 is often referred to as “Faith’s Hall of Fame” because it lists people who fulfilled what God asked them to do. One example is Abraham, who obeyed God’s call to leave his home, even though he did not know anything about where he was going. Other examples are Enoch, who “walked faithfully with God” (Gen. 5:22, 24, NIV) and Abel, who offered a better sacrifice than Cain did. These and others mentioned had one thing in common; they obeyed the Lord.
James 2:20 says, “Faith without works is dead.” The people in Hebrews 11 ultimately pleased God when they fulfilled their faith by obediently taking action. They were not perfect; they had weaknesses and temptations similar to ours. But in each case, they helped accomplish God’s purposes by obedience to God’s call — no matter where that call led.
Our faith calls each of us to action, and in the Bible we find everything we need to help us faithfully carry out God’s will.
The Author: Donald Bottenfield (Pennsylvania, USA)
Thought for the Day: Beyond my words, God wants my actions.
Prayer: Dear God, help us put our faith into action. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Prayer focus: To discern God’s call

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