April 16, 2021 CAC Living Water Devotional : Topic – CATALOGUES OF THE FAITHFULS
LIVING WATER CAC DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Friday, April 16, 2021.
CATALOGUES OF THE FAITHFULS
Read: Hebrews 11:4-13
Hebrew 11:4-13 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
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.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
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.
And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
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.
MEMORISE:
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. (Hebrews 11:13)
EXPOSITION
The espitle to the Hebrews in its eleventh chapter provides us with credible list of men and women who had gone before us in the Faith. Faith remains the key to walking with God because no one actually pleases Him without it. (Heb.11:6). We worship God in faith and believe He is, He was and He will continually be.
Abel was credited as one of the faithful because he was able, by faith, to offer an acceptable sacrifice to God (Gen.4:4). Enoch walked with God by faith. He did not die usually as others, he was translated (Gen.5:24). Noah built an ark as God instructed. He believed God according to what He had said. As a result of his promptness, he and his home did not perish with their sinful generation (Gen.6:8ff). Abraham was not given the title, ‘Father of Faith’ by chance. He was the one through whom the whole earth has become blessed. Sarah, his wife also represents an example of a woman who took God by His promise.
The catalogue of the faithful patriarchs is an endless list as said by the writer. There was no way to contain the long list of these faithfuls in the scripture (Heb.11:32). However, what is incumbent on individuals who are beneficiaries of the Faith of these faith is to follow suit in order to make the triumphant fathers perfect. You have to go back to the Faith of our fathers. The undiluted faith in worship and service to God and humanity is what is required of you now as a believer. You must be born in faith, live and die in the Faith to be qualified as one of the faithful, who once lived here, having victoriously laid your sword at Christ’s feet. Stay in faith, in Jesus name
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Lord, make my faith undiluted.
2. I receive the Faith that helped Caleb and Joshua that made them excel and live while all others perished.
3. I refuse to toe the line of Orpah who failed in the midst of challenges of life while Ruth by faith excelled.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Judges 8:1-9:29; Luke 11:50-12:17