Faith is What We Cannot See

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

Today’s Notes from Scriptures

Many of us claim that we have faith in God, trusting that He is real and that His promises are true. But if God asked us to act on our faith--trusting in what we cannot see--could He count our faith as righteousness?

Abraham believed God's promises. Even as he sat at the foot of Mount Moriah, preparing to go and sacrifice Isaac, he turned to his traveling party and said, “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” (Genesis 22:5) He trusted that God would somehow intervene, and they would both come back. He knew this because God had told him that in Isaac his seed would be blessed. He didn't know how God was going to do it, but he believed God's promise.

Was Abraham righteous because he went up the mountain? No. Was he righteous because he raised the knife to take his son's life? No. Abraham was righteous for one reason: he believed, and his faith was counted unto him as righteousness.

Faith is believing what God says is true--even when we don't understand how it will all work out in the end.

Faith and obedience are inescapably related. There is no saving faith in God apart from obedience to God, and there can be no godly obedience without godly faith.  John MacArthur

The Ruler

Read the following: 

Revelation 1:1-19

“…Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Vs 5

Today’s Notes from the Scriptures

The situation hardly seemed promising. Looking at the world, Believers appeared to be powerless, totally dominated by kings and armies. Yet in the revelation John received, Jesus emphatically declared that He was the “ruler of the kings of the earth.”

We can imagine how John might have reacted: “If Jesus is the ruler, why have so many Believers been persecuted and martyred? Why don’t we see more evidence of His reign?”

These would have been logical responses. Yet this very revelation was teaching Believers why they needed to think in new ways. They could not be controlled by the evidence in the world. They needed a spiritual revelation that required the work of the Holy Spirit. John himself was in a position to receive this revelation when he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (v. 10).

With spiritual eyes, John could look at the world in a different way. Realizing that Jesus was the ruler put everything into context. This revelation was needed in his time. Certainly, many felt powerless and helpless—but the truth was that Jesus was the king of kings (Revelation 19:16), the “ruler of the kings of the earth,” and His people were citizens of the victorious Kingdom. They, too, were victors!

Though the kings of the world may not even have been aware of this Jesus, though they may have had their own ideas about history, power, and control, the fact was that Jesus was “the Alpha and the Omega.” He was before time and beyond time, the One who “is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (v. 8).

Today, Jesus still is the “ruler of the kings of the earth.” He still is Lord. Worship and Praise Him, our risen Savior, our Lord, our King, ruler over all the earth.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I declare that You are my King. I know that You are the ruler over all the earth. Thank You for victory! In Your name Amen