Facing It With Faith

Don't Shrink!

Bobby Humes

Today's Scripture: Hebrews 10:38-39 NIV

Hebrews 10:38-39 NIV

But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

James 2:19 NIV

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Hebrews 11:1 KJV

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

James 2:14-17 NIV

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Romans 12:3 NIV

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Mark 9:23b-24 NIV

“Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

1) RECOGNIZE THE RACE, THROW OFF THE WEIGHT, AVOID THE TANGLE, AND RUN BY FAITH

Hebrews 12:1 NIV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

2) STAND UP TO SIN BY FAITH

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

3) BE WASHED (RINSE AND REPEAT)

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

4) TRUST GOD BY FAITH

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Hebrews 11:7 NIV

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.

Hebrews 11:8 NIV

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.

Hebrews 11:11 NIV

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Hebrews 11:35b-39 NIV

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

Hebrews 12:1b-3 NIV

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

REAL ID: Discovering the God-made Masterpiece You Really Are

Sojourners: Our Eternal Hope

Jon Fredricks

Today's Scripture: Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV

Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:9 ASV

9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

Hebrews 11:10 NIV

10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 9:15 NIV

15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

1) SOJOURNERS HAVE A CERTAIN HOPE

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

1 Corinthians 15:18-20 NIV

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

John 14:2 NIV

2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

John 14:3 NIV

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Philippians 1:21 NIV

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

2) SOJOURNERS COURAGEOUSLY SERVE

Hebrews 11:13 NIV

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died…

John 13:3-4 NIV

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.

Colossians 3:23-24

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Matthew 25:21 NIV

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

3) SOJOURNERS BRING OTHERS TOO!

John 14:6 NIV

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

4) SOJOURNERS ENDURE

Hebrews 13:14 NIV

14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Hebrews 12:2-3 NASB

2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.