By Faith.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1‬

Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the 'hall of faith'. It speaks of many Old Testament saints that showed tremendous amounts of faith. The Amplified Bible explains that "faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses". And it was by this faith that people gained Gods approval.

Recently while reading this chapter I became so encouraged, so uplifted! Please allow me to paraphrase here...

By faith we know the Universe was created at Gods command

By faith Abel brought a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother Cain and he was commended as righteous

By faith Enoch was taken up in the Heaven without dying

By faith Noah built a boat to save his family from something that had never happened before

By faith Abraham left home to blindly follow God into a new land

By faith Sarah gave birth to a child though she was barren and old

By faith Abraham was ready to offer his son Issac as a sacrifice

By faith Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed in worship

By faith Joseph said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.

By faith Moses' parents hid him for 3 months against the Kings command

By faith Moses shunned the Pharaoh and his daughter to share in the oppression of Gods people and lead them out of Egypt

By faith the Israelites walked through the Red Sea on dry ground

By faith Joshua and the people of Israel marched around the Jericho for 7 days and watched the walls crumble

By faith Rahab, the prostitute, was saved from destruction because she welcomed Gods people in peace

The Bible goes on to say...

It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.

Whew, now that is some showing of faith!

I know it's so easy to look at these stories and think 'yeah, but...'

Yeah, but that was a different time.

Yeah, but they saw signs from God.

Yeah, but angels would come and speak to them.

Yeah, but ...they were scared too. They had moments of doubt too. They came to a pivotal moment in their life too, where they said 'either we believe it or we don't'. They had, sometimes only minutes, to decide: go with faith or go with fear. Sisters, I know how hard faith can be. I've lived it's difficulties. But let me encourage you that in those moments of fear and doubt - choose faith. Choose to believe God. Choose to stand up for what's right. Choose to walk with honor and integrity.

Let me challenge you to make this testament of faith something tangible in your own life. Take this chapter and make it personal. Make your own statement of faith. If this chapter included all of us, what would it say?

By faith Ashley surrendered her addictions and overcame the shame of sharing her pain to help others. She chose God instead of the grave. She chose faith instead of fear.

Well ladies, that's my faith statement. What's yours?

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:32‬