The Life of Faith devotional – week 1: part 1

Scripture reading – Hebrews 11v1-3

“Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. For by it the people of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.” Hebrews 11v1-3

Welcome to the Life of Faith devotional. This is a short Tuesday to Friday devotional that I have produced to follow each week’s sermon in the series. It’s short enough to be an extra to your normal reading plan. It’s designed to help massage some of the content into your thinking and heart. I hope you will find it helpful – Jason

• Faith is described (from the original Greek) as being the ‘title deed‘ for what we hope for. Faith is the certainty, the assurance, the substance of things hoped for. When faith grows in our hearts it is therefore something that gives us a confidence in what God is doing and will do! Real faith is therefore very affirming of God’s ability to deliver on what He has said and promised. A ‘title deed’ is a ‘legal guarantee of ownership’. Genuine faith comes with a heart-felt conviction that is like a ‘proof’ of things that are not (yet) visible. This kind of definition of faith here is more than a vague belief! It’s a God-generated spiritual conviction.

Reflect: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Take a moment to honestly assess for yourself any areas of your life that are affected by a lie or belief systems that are derived from negative events in your past or learned behaviour? What might need to change in order to see this kind of faith and hope-filled reality in your own life?

• Faith comes from the Greek word ‘Pistis‘ and means trust, conviction, or confidence in regard to truth and God’s promises.

• Faith is active trust. In order for this to be consistent in our lives we need to have regular reminders of who God is and what He has promised! So we need to read our Bible regularly. We need to get to know God and His plans and ways from His Word.

Reflect: Simple question: Are you making enough time to read (or listen to) the Bible? Why not pause and do a quick self-audit. How are you doing on this and what might help you grow in this regard? What is stealing your time?

• “for by it the people of old gained approval” – God commends this kind of faith. God never celebrates unbelief. This is very challenging, especially when we go through trials. However, this is the way of ‘our Father’ who wants us to know and trust Him, even in the dark!

• “By faith we understand that….” – it is profoundly important to realise that for Kingdom-minded believers ‘believing is seeing‘. By faith we understand! By faith we understand that God created the world ‘ex-nihilo‘ – from or out of nothing. So much unbelief comes from scepticism. This is a belief system which began in Europe around the Enlightenment (late 1600s to late 1700s) that insisted on a foundation of the wisdom of everything being quantifiably proven before it could be accepted. However, instead God designed us to understand what is wise and true by faith! That means that ‘by faith we understand‘!

Reflect: Take a few moments, without allowing yourself to come under condemnation, to assess your day to day faith journey verses fear or unbelief. Where are you most vulnerable? Take some moments to ask God to take you on a journey of deepening faith. Don’t put up with fear and unbelief, today is a day to start doing something about this!