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John N N Ng’ang’a Meditation of December 9th, 2024 Hebrews 11 Define Faith

John N N Ng’ang’a Meditation of December 9th, 2024 Hebrews 11 Define Faith

Day 1

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

As we have seen, Hebrews 11 is the chapter on faith. It not only defines faith but also provides a roll call of people who are examples of men and women of faith. It encourages us that, if you claim to be a Christian, you should also strive to be a man or woman of faith who not only relies on yourself but also relies on God.

Have you ever heard the story of the boy who was asked by his father to lift a bag of potatoes and move it from the car to the house? The boy struggled but could not lift it, while the father stood there watching. The father kept telling the boy, "Use all your strength! Use all your strength!" The boy insisted, "I am using all my strength!"

Finally, the father told him, "You know your father's strength is also your strength, but you are not asking me to lend you, my strength!" With that, the two of them moved the sack into the house together.

A man of faith is someone who trusts the father so deeply that he does not struggle on his own. He seeks the Father’s help because he has faith in His ability. Are you a man of faith?

Sometimes, we confuse faith and hope. But faith is believing for today; it is acting on God’s promises in the present. Hope, on the other hand, is believing for tomorrow. Faith and hope are not the same. When we call someone a man of faith, we mean they act now based on what they believe. When we call someone a man of hope, we mean they trust in something about tomorrow and believe it will happen. Faith, therefore, involves action today, while hope looks forward to the future.

Real things like love and joy are intangible, yet we experience them. Similarly, faith means you act on what God has promised now. This kind of faith transforms your attitude. When faith touches your attitude, you accept the situation as resolved even before you see the results.

For example, if you rent a shamba (farm), something must happen during the rental period. However, if you own the shamba, your attitude shifts because you see the bigger picture. If you plant a crop for this year and the rains fail, your reaction will differ depending on whether you own the land. If you know the land is yours, you realize that even if crops fail this year, they could thrive next year, and that assurance changes your perspective.

Day 2

Hebrews 11

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

That is why the book of Hebrews says that faith is evidence of something you have not yet seen. If you have faith in God, it means you believe God exists even if you have not seen Him.

What about yesterday's faith? Yesterday’s faith is today’s experience! In other words, you believed something would happen, and now it has happened. You no longer look at the things God has already given you and say you have faith. Faith only applies to what has not yet happened.

And do you know something? A lot of people wonder, “Brother John, how can you have so much faith?” What they do not understand is that, over time as a Christian, you have trusted God for something, and God has done it. Then you trusted Him for another thing, and God did it too. You trusted Him again, and He did it once more! Over time, you grow in your trust in God. You come to know that what He has promised can happen. The reason you can trust Him today is because you trusted Him in the past, and He acted. Yesterday, He did what you trusted Him for. So, it becomes much easier to trust Him today.

You know, the devil is the source of curses, not blessings. When you have faith, you have faith in God—not in the devil. Faith and hope are different, but they are related. Let us be clear: faith is very, very important and cannot be downplayed. Hebrews 11:1 says:
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

It is my prayer that you will understand that this is what faith is. Faith means you function as though something has already happened, even when it has not yet happened. Verse 2 continues:
"This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

What we are learning is that this faith has examples in the past—people who believed in God, just as we should. We also learn that it is by faith the universe was created! God simply said, "Let it be," and it became. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command so that what is seen was not made from what was visible.

Again, we do not have physical evidence, but we believe it because the Bible says so. It all comes down to faith.

Day 3

Hebrews 11

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead

Look at verse 4:
"By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did."

God makes us wise about the past. He has explained it, and though we may not fully understand how, when we believe Him, it becomes easier to explain! Can you imagine the world being created out of nothing? God did it without using anything. In other words, He creates something out of nothing. All the inventions and discoveries in the world begin with something, but God, as described in the Bible, created everything from nothing. If you believe this, that is the faith about which we are talking! And, you know if you have faith, it will also affect the way you worship.

"By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith, he still speaks, even though he is dead."

When you trust in God, it becomes easier to worship Him. If you have the right view of God, you end up being a better worshipper. If you do not believe God is holy, you might still worship Him, but you will also compromise by tolerating sin. However, if you believe God is who He says He is and that He is holy, then you will worship Him in holiness, reflecting that in your own life.

Worship helps you correctly present your offering, just as Abel did. Trusting God allowed Abel to understand the importance of shedding blood for the remission of sin, even before it was explicitly taught. This understanding came from faith in God. Self-righteousness or miraculous works will not suffice. To worship God, you must believe in Him and align your worship with His will. Do not simply follow what others are doing. Instead, ask yourself: "Is this the kind of thing that will please God?"

Your worship may please your pastor or congregation. The kind of spiritual dance or activity you engage in might entertain them, but is God pleased with it? This question often is forgotten in modern worship, which has increasingly become about entertainment. Many times, people are not worshiping God but entertaining the congregation. In such cases, the priority is whether the congregation is happy rather than whether God is glorified.

This confusion is amplified by so-called gospel artists. Their primary aim is often to please people so they can sell their music, but they mistakenly call it "worship." True worship must be based on your belief in God and who He is, not on performance or entertainment.

Look at verse 5:
"By faith Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death; he could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."

Enoch is a powerful example of what faith can do. He trusted God so deeply that he walked with Him in complete faithfulness. Their journey together was so close that God said, "Let’s go home."

This reminds me of village life. When a friend visited, you would escort him part of the way home. Sometimes, you would escort him so far that you would end up visiting his house! Is this what happened with Enoch? He walked with the Lord until they were so close to heaven that God invited him in. Enoch simply joined Him, and those on earth could no longer see him.

We need to live in the present as though we are not entirely bound to earth. Faith should cause us to think of heaven continually. The hymn says it well:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

Yes, fix your eyes on Jesus! That is what I hear Enoch teaching us. If you truly have faith in the God of heaven and believe that is where you are headed, even while on earth, your actions will reflect your heavenly perspective.

Living with this perspective will shape how you worship God, create priorities, and find excitement in life. It will influence how you live today, knowing that heaven is what truly matters.

Day 4

Hebrews 11

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

That is what I call living a life in perspective, like Enoch. Every time you evaluate something, you must evaluate it in the light of heaven. It might seem critical today, but would it still be significant in the light of heaven? That is what Enoch’s testimony teaches us—having a heavenly perspective and walking with God until you are no more because God has taken you. This is an important aspect to practice.

The summary of what we have been discussing so far comes in verse 6, which says:
"And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Yes, without faith—this trust in God and trusting that what He has promised will happen—it is impossible to please God. It is not just difficult; it is impossible to please God without faith! This is because anyone who comes to Him must first believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Faith not only helps you to live in hope, to be a good worshipper, and to have a heavenly perspective, but it also helps you to please God and live in a way that honours Him. Without it, it is impossible to please God. That is an important truth to understand. If God cannot be seen, how will you worship Him? How will you live for Him unless you have faith in Him?

Worshipping God by sight alone can be dangerous. Of course, you might have a dream or some imagined revelation, and while that can be good, please remember this: even the devil can give you a dream. That is why you must trust God, who is unseen, rather than relying solely on dreams, as they may be manipulated by the devil.

It is a sign of maturity to have faith, to put your trust in God, and not to rely on sight. You seek God and trust Him—not His gifts. While He gives gifts, your trust must be in Him as the giver, not in the gifts themselves.

So, the verse is clear: without faith, it is impossible to please God. If you do not believe God exists, how will you pray to Him? If you do not believe God rewards those who worship Him, how will you spend time with Him? If you do not believe in the punishment of hell for those who go the wrong way, you may wonder why you need to live a disciplined life. You might instead seek immediate gratification.

However, when you believe in God, it becomes possible to trust and walk in righteousness. The verse emphasizes that anyone who comes to God must believe He exists. Note the word must! Faith must come first before you approach Him.

You can see how crucial faith is. Faith makes you wise about the past, as verse 3 explains how the earth was created. In verse 4, it helps you worship correctly. In verse 5, it enables you to walk with a heavenly perspective. And in verse 6, it gives you a clear reality of who God is. Without faith, it is impossible to live a life that pleases God. 

Day 5

Hebrews 11

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

 

But then, from verse 7, we see faith demonstrated in the lives of people on a pilgrimage. We need to ask ourselves whether we see this clearly.

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

So, you ask yourself, are you an example of the kind of faith that helps others in their pilgrimage? Noah lived his life believing what God told him about the coming destruction, and he acted on it. He believed, “Yes! God will do what He has said.” On the basis of that belief, he prepared for escape.

He agreed to build a gigantic boat—a massive structure large enough to house pairs of every kind of animal. It must have been enormous, a colossal piece of equipment! The project also took many years to complete. How does one persevere in doing such a thing, especially when there had been no rain and no sign of it in the past? It was because Noah believed God. When God said He would punish, Noah trusted that He would indeed punish. So, Noah obeyed, and in the process, he was able to save his family.

This is one of the things we reflect on. In your pilgrimage, do you believe that God will do what He says He will do? If you truly believe, you will undoubtedly do what He has asked of you because you trust that what He says will happen.

Look at verse 8:

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith, he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

We have seen that the way Noah lived his life was based on believing that what God had said He could do, He would do. Similarly, Abraham is called the man of faith because he trusted God’s promise of land. Although he knew where the promised land was, he never fully possessed it in his lifetime. Abraham was willing to wait for God’s timing.

The land did not become his in his own time. He even had to buy a portion of it for burial. Not even during Isaac’s or Jacob’s time was the promise fulfilled. However, centuries later, the children of Israel moved from Egypt to occupy the land God had promised more than 430 years earlier.

What did Abraham know that made him obey, leave his people, and begin traveling to a foreign land? The trustworthiness of God! Faith in God!

Day 6

Hebrews 11

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

But you know, for those who consider earth their home, many actions will reflect that belief. However, if you have faith in God, then you know heaven is your real home. You begin to enjoy the anticipation of heaven, even if it means saying no to certain earthly pleasures that the world considers enjoyable.

The Luo people have a saying: away from one’s real home in Luo land, no matter how nice a house you build, it is just a simba—a boy’s hut. It is not Dala. Dala means home in Luo. Similarly, as Christians, it is important to understand that our dala is in heaven. Anything we have here on earth is not truly home; it is merely a temporary dwelling, a simba.

If we are talking about faith during our pilgrimage, we need to live with a mindset that fully trusts in God and views heaven as our only real home. We must trust that God will take us there. The danger lies in thinking of earth as home. When earth becomes home in your heart, you start living as though this life is the ultimate destination.

Abraham demonstrated faith both before and after he became wealthy. When he left the land of Ur, he was not rich. He became wealthy along the way, yet he retained his faith in God. Let me ask you: on your journey of life, as you acquire more riches and perhaps as your physical appearance becomes more appealing, how is your trust in God? Like Abraham, do you hold on to your faith until the end?

Let me ask another question: does your sense of value lie in wealth, or do you see wealth as nothing more than dung? True value comes from trusting in God, not in human beings. This is a question we must all reflect on as we navigate our pilgrimage. Our lives are a journey of faith, and we need to live them trusting in God.

Someone once said, “I would rather live my life as if heaven exists—that is faith. I believe there will be a heaven. If I am wrong and it turns out there is no heaven, I will have enjoyed my life on earth anyway because living for God is truly fulfilling.” But if you assume heaven does not exist and it turns out it does, you will face eternal suffering in hell.

Living for God is not a burden. God never asks us to do anything for Him without it ultimately benefiting us. Everything He asks of us in worship is meant to help us and make our lives better. That is something worth verifying.

So, faith is the evidence of what we have not seen. In other words, to believe that something will happen is to accept it as good as done, even before there is evidence. This is the essence of faith. We must pray that God, in His wisdom, will teach us how to live as people of faith.

Day 7

Hebrews 11

10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore

But what are the signs that you are a person of faith? I can tell you are a person of faith by how you live your life today. Is money and material wealth so important to you that it causes you to compromise on your values? If so, then you are not living as a person of faith.

Let me ask you another question: do you value people, or do you value things? If you value people, it is because you understand that heaven is for people, not for things. When the earth melts away, every material possession and all wealth will be gone. If your investments are only in earthly things, when the trumpet sounds, you will lose everything!

Faith in God does not mean neglecting earthly responsibilities, but it means not being consumed by them. Do you truly live a life of faith? Your words also reveal your faith. Do you give credit to God for your achievements? Do you see your success as God enabling you, or do you think, "Hey, I’m so smart! Look at my capacity—I am not average!" If you take all the credit for yourself, you are not living a life of faith. Without faith, you cannot recognize the hand of God in your life. Even if you give Him verbal credit, your heart may not truly glorify Him.

So, I ask you again: do you value things or people? Do you value heaven or earth? Do you live to honour God or just to enjoy earthly pleasures? These are questions you must reflect on.

Hebrews 11 is often called the faith chapter, as we discussed earlier. It makes a very profound statement: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” In other words, Christianity cannot exist without faith. When someone calls you a Christian, they are calling you a person of faith.

May the Lord teach us to be people of faith, to trust in Him and to honour Him through how we live our lives for His glory. May He help us live in such a way that our lives attract others to Him so that more people may come to know God and put their trust in Him.

 

 

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