{"id":469,"date":"2017-07-26T06:20:16","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T14:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=469"},"modified":"2017-07-26T06:20:16","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T14:20:16","slug":"devotion-hebrews-111-tentative-faith-to-sure-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=469","title":{"rendered":"Devotion\u00a0\u00a0 Hebrews 11:1\u00a0 \u00a0Tentative Faith To Sure Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 11:1 <\/strong>– Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would not be a good sign if we are exactly the same as we were before we became followers of Jesus the Christ.\u00a0 If fact, the Word of God makes it clear that if we belong to Jesus we are constantly being changed (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16<\/strong>). Of course this is applicable to every area of our lives.\u00a0 If we are disciples of Christ, then we are becoming more Christ like.<\/p>\n

Look up scriptures when Jesus taught about faith.\u00a0 How many do you find that said He had faith in the Father or the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 Or even if He had faith in Himself?\u00a0 I believe that you will not find one.\u00a0 Not one.\u00a0 Why is that so?\u00a0 I am hoping that my suit still fits so that I don\u2019t have to buy anything new.\u00a0 Unless I try on the clothes, I don\u2019t know for sure.\u00a0 After I try on the clothes, then I will know.\u00a0 So before I try them on I have hope and (some) faith the clothes will still fit.\u00a0 I am having faith and hope in what I do not yet know for sure.\u00a0 If I should try them on, and they fit, they I know it and I no longer need faith, because I know they fit.\u00a0 So, why did Jesus never mention that He had faith in the Father?\u00a0 Because faith is for something that we yet have, that to us, has not actually happened.\u00a0 Faith is for something that is not seen, something that we don\u2019t know for sure. We may see evidence of it, but we do not actually know it to be true (though we see evidence to believe it may be).\u00a0 Jesus did not have faith in God because He had sure knowledge of God the Father.\u00a0 He had a sure knowledge because He was (and is) a member of the Holy Trinity, and He always has been.\u00a0 See, Jesus did not need faith because He had a sure knowledge.\u00a0 There was not guessing or hoping, He knew. He had no faith in God, just a sure knowledge.<\/p>\n

We are saved by faith.\u00a0 It is essential to our relationship with God and to our salvation.\u00a0 But as knowledge of God is increased, is faith replaced by sure knowledge?\u00a0 Can the reality of God and His promises overtake our faith?\u00a0 Surely that is so.\u00a0 Faith is transformed by the Word of God, by God the Holy Spirit within us, to become less faith and more of knowledge.\u00a0 Well then how does that apply to the fact that faith is what saves us?\u00a0 That truth is not changed.\u00a0 God has said it and so it is true.\u00a0 That never changes.\u00a0 Yet what our faith is does change.\u00a0 At first our faith is very fragile as our knowledge of God is scant.\u00a0 As we grow in the Word, guided by the Holy Spirit, and as we experience God, we taste and see that God is good (Psalm 34:8<\/strong>).\u00a0 Faith that God may exist becomes a faith in God.\u00a0 Not a faith that is hopeful of His existence, but a faith that He does exist.\u00a0 As we grow in His Word and we delight in the experience of walking with Him, we become certain that He exists.\u00a0 In fact, our faith becomes a knowledge more sure than the rising sun.\u00a0 Don\u2019t we know that God will exist beyond an eternity after the universe we live in has melted away (2 Peter 3:12<\/strong>)?\u00a0 Family, God, to me, is more real than any person or anything that I know.\u00a0\u00a0 I have met people that I have met once and never seen since. It is likely I may never see them again.\u00a0 However, God is always with me and always communicating with me.\u00a0 Therefore, God, who is always with me, is more real to me than all people that I know, all of whom I may never see again.\u00a0 God touches me every day.\u00a0 It can be said of no-one else that they are with me every minute of every day. So, I confidently assert that my faith in God, grown by God, supported by God, and given life by God, no longer walks on wobbly legs but on legs that have grown strong by continual, and sometimes very strenuous, exercise.<\/p>\n

Jesus did not have faith.\u00a0 He did not need it.\u00a0 First of all He never needed salvation, salvation came through Him.\u00a0 So Jesus is not saved by faith, He is the Savior.\u00a0 Also, only an insane person needs to be assured that He exists.\u00a0 Jesus knew who He was and who He was, and is, is one with God.\u00a0 Jesus had sure knowledge of God, not faith. One does not hope for, or have faith to receive, what one already has. That is silly.<\/p>\n

The NIV states that \u201cfaith is confidence in what we hope for.\u201d\u00a0 That is good, but I think it limits, a little, the great and mighty truth behind this verse.\u00a0 The NKJV expresses it this way \u201cfaith is the substance of things hoped for.\u201d\u00a0 This talks about something that has taken on form, has taken on a reality that we hold onto.\u00a0 Faith brings what we hope for to life within us.\u00a0 We no longer say that we suppose that God exists.\u00a0 No, we say that we know God exists.\u00a0 We, who know God, know that He exists and there is no question in our minds of that fact.\u00a0 None!\u00a0 Oh yes, we know!\u00a0 Faith begins as a very elusive specter and then is transformed into a galaxy that our eyes cannot see the end of.\u00a0 What we learned of by faith has grown to knowledge.\u00a0 It is evidence for us.\u00a0 We read His Word and believe because the Holy Spirit within brings it alive.\u00a0 Also, we have trusted, over and over again, the promises of God and they have proven trustworthy.\u00a0 In these things God has been revealed to us by He Himself.\u00a0 What the world does not know is the love of God that springs eternal in our hearts.\u00a0 They would ask how we know that God exists and that, if He does exist, how we know that He loves us.\u00a0 We say with certainty that He lives within and we are daily filled with His love.\u00a0 We see the evidence of His existence in His creation and we see the evidence of His love for us in His many blessings. And while that is always true, there comes a point when evidence is no longer needed because of sure knowledge. \u00a0As an example, I\u2019m sure that many of us would say that we are already convinced that that God is good and that He loves us.\u00a0 That no further proof is needed to convince us.\u00a0 \u00a0That is what Jesus is bringing us to.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t the purpose of being a disciple to become increasingly like the master?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

Family, if we doubt, pull in closer to God.\u00a0 Knowledge chases away doubt.\u00a0 Faith brings us to and grows knowledge.\u00a0 Faith brings us to the foot of the throne and there are eyes behold. \u00a0Once we have seen, once we have adored, our knowledge is sure.\u00a0 Family, dear Family, may our knowledge be certain and the footsteps of our walk sure.\u00a0 In all things, praise the Lord!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/strong> – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/strong> – But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/strong> – He has shown you, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It would not be a good sign if we are exactly the same as we were before we became followers of Jesus the Christ.\u00a0 If fact, the Word of God makes it clear that if we belong…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[2076,129,84,449,1944,37,2112,92,23,7,104,62,2109,46,8,275,94,2110,2111,90,1697,17,10,2108,536],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-communicating","tag-corinthians","tag-creation","tag-devotion","tag-doubt","tag-eternity","tag-evidence","tag-faith","tag-father","tag-god","tag-hebrews","tag-holy-spirit","tag-holy-trinity","tag-hope","tag-jesus","tag-knowledge","tag-micah","tag-niv","tag-nkjv","tag-peter","tag-praise-the-lord","tag-psalm","tag-romans","tag-tentative","tag-throne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}