Hebrews 11-13 Great People, Great History, Great God

December 20th, Hebrews 11-13

       Chapter 11: The Bible character Hall of Faith. An impressive list who through faith are said to have…"conquered Kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight…" Faith=trust, for some trust to the point of death. For others trust caused them to escape death. God decides that, not us. Again my pet peeve about praying for safety. Pray for God's will to be done, for God to be glorified. In the end it's about his name and his renown, not my comfort.
       The crescendo of the faith on this mighty list comes to it's high point in 12:1 "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin that so easily entangles, and let us run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the Father." There is always a realization that our forefathers didn't live with a cloud of witness. We have this track record of God that sits before us. Trust should be easier for us because we have seen over and over again the provision of God for His people. Thanks to Abram for his faith when trusting God didn't have a 4000 year track record!!
       A verse that caught my attention…12:14 "Strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord."I appreciated the link between our holiness and the capacity for others to see the Lord because of it. We have a big outreach at church tonight. I pray that God's holiness in us would allow people to see the Lord clearly!