datethewordtest

Tag: Hebrews

  • Verse to DATE the Word on December 29 (12/29) is Hebrews 12:29

    “For our God is a consuming fire.” – Hebrews 12:29
    OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE

    Throughout our Bibles, we find NUMEROUS descriptions of God.  Most likely you can easily rattle off many of these descriptive words.  Finish the sentence the LORD IS…. (what is the first to come to mind?)  I suspect you immediately thought The Lord is my SHEPHERD.  You may have also thought the LORD IS LOVE.  To finish the sentence God is you most likely thought HOLY! God is also gracious and good and great and merciful and kind and righteous and true, etc.  As we stated to start we find numerous descriptions of God 

    As we consider descriptions Hebrews 12:29 gives one we probably are not quick to place on our list, especially if we are doing the A to Z method.  Words starting with C to describe God almost always start with COMPASSIONATE and COMFORTER and COUNSELOR, even CREATOR but I don’t think many of us think CONSUMING fire.   And even if you want to say the real description is FIRE I don’t think many of us think FIRE when we give a list of words beginning with F.  FAITHFUL and FORGIVING comes quickly to mind but not FIRE.  Yet in one short verse, we have a very distinct description of God as He is a CONSUMING FIRE.

    Three questions come to mind as I look at this distinct description.  First, what does it mean that God is a consuming fire?  Two, why is it mentioned here?  Three, how does this description of God apply to my life?

    To answer the first question is first to know that this description comes from Deuteronomy 4:24 which says, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”  Understanding God as a CONSUMING FIRE means He does not tolerate sinful disobedience and will deal with it severely.   As sin was abominable to God in the OT it is abominable to Him in the NT.  The believer is being warned here to not think that because of GRACE God takes a lower view of our sins.  The Apostle Paul dealt with this in Romans as he asked should we sin, that grace may abound?  He answered himself with GOD FORBID!!! 

    From Hebrews 12:28 we are to serve God with profound reverence and unwavering fidelity.  Returning to the sinful lifestyle that we were saved out of is a betrayal to the SAVIOR.  We are called to live holy lives.  And in case we forget OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE.  While it is correct to think of the fire of God as judgment, we need to be thinking of God’s fire here as for purifying.   

    As we get closer to a new year it might be a good prayer to ask God to purify your soul. Let us serve Him with a profound reverence that He is due and an unwavering devotion!

    Verse to DATE the Word on December 29 (12/29) is Hebrews 12:29. It says, “For our God is a consuming fire.”

    Continue Strong with a reverence for God
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on December 3 (12/3) is Hebrews 12:3

    “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, 
    lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” – Hebrews 12:3
    EQUIPPED TO ENDURE

    God has a RACE He wants you to RUN, and it is a difficult race.  It will take ENDURANCE.  Notice Hebrews 12:1-2 as it says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

    The writer of Hebrews is now a COACH who is going to EQUIP God’s runner on HOW to RUN THEIR RACE.  He tells the runner to PREPARE to run by getting rid of the things that would HINDER them.  The runner is going to have to CONCENTRATE.  They cannot have the cares of this world weighing them down. The runner is going to have to be CONSECRATED.  The runner cannot be practicing sin for sin ENSNARES or TRAPS and TRIPS up the runner.  Practicing sin may bring about a DISQUALIFICATION.  (See 1 Cor. 9:27 and 2 Timothy 2:5) Then to run God’s race the RUNNER must have ENDURANCE.  

    ENDURANCE. It means there is within a person a COMMITMENT to finishing no matter what. When one is enduring they are REMAINING under the pressure.  

    More than giving inspiration to run the writer gives instruction on how to run.  The instructions are to LOOK AT JESUS.  It is to SEE HIS EXAMPLE.  It is to see how HE ENDURED in the face of hostility.  The instructions are to CONSIDER what JESUS did as He faced hostility.  

    Ponder what Jesus did do and didn’t do.  We know that Jesus did not quit but we need to know WHY He did not quit.  Why did He not quit? HE KNEW HIS PURPOSE!!  HE KNEW GOD’S PLAN!  He had PURPOSED from the very beginning to be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49) .  What He did do was SURRENDER completely in the garden of Gethsemane, saying NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE! He decided to be OBEDIENT to the Father’s purpose and plan for His life.  

    In being EQUIPPED TO ENDURE you look to Jesus and CONSIDER CHRIST and how He endure.  Draw more than inspiration from His enduring hostility.  Draw insights on why He NEVER QUIT.  If you don’t do so you are going to become weary and discouraged running your race.  This world is no friend of the committed Christian.  It will be hostile to you.  Jesus said if they hated Him, they are going to hate us.  Thus, get equipped to endure and then run with endurance!

    The verse to DATE the Word on December 3 (12/3) is Hebrews 12:3. It says, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

    With consideration of Christ, KEEP ON RUNNING the RACE He has set before you!  
    Continue Strong looking to Jesus!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 29 (11/29) is Hebrews 11:29

    “By faith THEY passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the
    Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” – Hebrews 11:29
    By Faith THEY!!!!  

    Hebrews 11 is the HALL OF FAITH and obviously, it has the best of the best of men and women who BELIEVED GOD to do what HE SAID! It tells of ABEL and of NOAH! It tells of ABRAHAM, who is regarded as the father of faith.  It tells of SARAH and of ISSAC and of JACOB and of JOSEPH and of MOSES.  If the writer had the time he would have told of DAVID, DANIEL, ISAIAH, and GIDEON as the OT is filled with individuals who lived and acted BY FAITH.  However, as we look at Hebrews 11:29 we see a most unusual word in that the writer does not give a NAME but rather says, “THEY.”  

    I don’t know about you but seeing “they” caught me a little off guard.  When I think of a Hall of Fame I think of individuals.  I think of an individual doing something spectacular, even to the level we might say they did something that seemed impossible. Yet here we have “THEY” and we don’t know who THEY are.  What we do know is WHAT THEY DID as they PASSED through the RED SEA on DRY land which was SPECTACULAR and yes IMPOSSIBLE.

    To get the significance of “THEY” faith recall the story of Exodus 14.  “THEY” were the ones coming out of EGYPT, having been freed from brutal Egyptian slavery, and were now headed to the PROMISED Land.  As “THEY” followed Moses following God they were brought to what can only be called a DEAD END as they faced the Red Sea with high mountains on both sides and the Egyptian army coming after them in the rear.  At this DEAD END, God tells Moses to tell them (THEY) to MOVE FORWARD!  (Ex. 14:15).  Exodus 14:21 now tells us “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; And the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22  So the children of Israel (THEY) went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.”

    Wouldn’t you have loved to have a drone flying above with that birdseye view of “THEY” taking the first steps onto God’s solid and dry road through the sea?  Wouldn’t you have loved to see THEY’S faces as THEY walked with the WALLS of water on both sides?  Wouldn’t you have loved to see them taking one step after another?  THEY were putting spectacular faith on display!

    Martin Luther King, Jr said, ‘“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”  THEY took the first step and they kept walking even with walls of water on both sides!

    Are you a “THEY” with a ministry?  Churches need more than a pastor with FAITH.  It needs God’s people, the “THEY,” to have FAITH!  Churches need THEY who take that first step and MOVE FORWARD even when THEY can’t see the WHOLE staircase!  

    Maybe it is time for some of you to get off the bank and STEP OUT with the THEY of a church or a ministry and make something happen for the Lord.  

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 29 (11/29) is Hebrews 11:29. It says, “By faith THEY passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”

    Continue Strong being a THEY by faith in a church or ministry!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 22 (11/22) is Hebrews 11:22

    “By faith Joseph when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.” – Hebrews 11:22
    Joseph had a Futuristic Faith

    Joseph is the last of the 4 major characters of the book of Genesis.  We start with ABRAHAM. He is regarded as the FATHER OF FAITH.  Then we have ISSAC and then JACOB.  Starting in Genesis 30 we have the adventures of JOSEPH, adventures filled with adversities.  He would go from being his father’s favorite to being cruelly sold into slavery BY HIS BROTHERS.   While finding favor as a slave he is promoted to the overseer of Potiphar’s house in Egypt, yet he is cruelly falsely accused by a very wicked woman, known only as Potiphar’s wife of sexual assault. He was persecuted for his conviction to live PURE!  This decision of Joseph’s and the lie of Potiphar’s wife land him in PRISON.  While he finds favor in prison he is also FORGOTTEN.  God, though, had not forgotten him and at just the right moment Joseph was raised up to be the PRIME MINISTER of Egypt.  Having the ability to interpret dreams he is able to prepare Egypt for the coming famine.  This famine will then allow him to be reacquainted with his father, Jacob, and with his brothers.  What a story to read!

    With that quick summation of the life and times of Joseph, we pause to ponder our verse for November 22 from Hebrews 11:22. Unlike the faith of Abraham or Issac or Jacob, Joseph’s faith was futuristic.  The faith he has is not for himself but for the children of Israel in later years.  He knew that one day THEY would return to the promised land and he wanted his bones to be buried in the promised land.  By faith, HE KNEW!!  He knew they would be returning one day!

    Please allow me to highlight one very important piece of information.  Many times it seems we believe Joseph’s last word in Genesis was his perspective on his life. You might recall in Genesis 50:20 he had said to his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.  As great as that is it is not his last words. Hebrews 11:22 says when he was dying, he made mention of the departure, which is the end of Genesis 50.  In making mention of the departure, he was letting them know of his confidence, his faith, in God’s PROMISES. And it was not just the promise to get them back to the promised land but that God would take care of THEM. Notice Genesis 50:24 as Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

    Oh, friends, GOD WILL SURELY TAKE CARE OF YOU!!!   Until you get to your heavenly home hear this dying man’s last words.  GOD WILL SURELY TAKE OF YOU!  What a futuristic faith Joseph had.

    The verse to DATE the Word on November 22 (11/22) is Hebrews 11:22. It says, “By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.” 

    GOD WILL SURELY TAKE OF YOU!

    Continue Strong knowing of God’s great care for you!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD
     

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 21 (11/21) is Hebrews 11:21

    “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of
    Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.” – Hebrews 11:21

    By Faith, Jacob finished Well

    The story of Jacob begins in Genesis 25 with the birth of him and his twin Esau to Rebekah and Isaac. Jacob’s story is then weaved through the rest of the book of Genesis with a concluding statement in Genesis 49:33, which says, “And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.” 

    As we look at our verse from Hebrews 11:21 we see that just before he would die he would not just bless his sons but would bless Joseph, whom he had for years thought was dead.  And not only did he bless Joseph he was able to bless the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.   

    What a moment that must have been to bless Joseph and then bless his grandsons!  If you have read Jacob’s story you will recall that for many years, he only had a memory of a most precious and cherished son that left him struggling with the promises of God. There came a point with Jacob that he hit rock bottom as not only was Joseph “dead” but his wife Rachel had died and they were in a famine, and after going to get grain in Eypgt Simeon was kept as a prisoner and to get more grain Benjamin has to go down to Egypt.  In this low moment, Jacob cried out in anguish in Genesis 42:36 “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”  

    Let 4 words and then 6 words sink in:
    4 words: YOU HAVE BEREAVED ME!
    Six words: ALL THESE THINGS ARE AGAINST ME.  
    YOU HAVE BEREAVED ME!
     ALL THESE THINGS ARE AGAINST ME.
    That is the mind of Jacob in Genesis 42:36. God has bereaved him or God had ROBBED him as that is what the word bereaved means.  From the standpoint of Jacob God has robbed him and EVERYTHING IS AGAINST HIM!   

    Now at the end of his life, he is seeing both Joseph and his grandsons and he tells them as he blesses them that God is the One “who has fed me all my life long to this day.” (Genesis 48:15) 

    Please don’t miss the keyword spoken in Hebrews 11:21 as one reads “AND WORSHIPED!” What a great ending for Jacob!  While his story is filled with wondering about God, even being very upset with God it ends with him WORSHIPING!!  

    And you too can have a great ending!  Know that what you see today happening in your life is not the whole story. While Jacob was thinking all things were against him God was working all things out for his good! So keep trusting God! 

    The verse to DATE the Word on November 21 (11/21) is Hebrews 11:21. It says, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying,blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.”

    Finish Well by FAITH!

    Continue Strong believing that God is WORKING ALL THINGS OUT FOR HIS GLORY!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD!
    PS. I find with the story of Jacob it is good to read Footprints in the Sand!

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 11 (11/11) is Hebrews 11:11

    “By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” – Hebrews 11:11
    WITH GOD SAYING IT SARAH BELIEVED IT

    As God gives a promise to Abraham in Genesis 18 that in his old age he will have a son, there is another person who is going to have to have faith.  That person is Abraham’s wife, SARAH.   You might recall her initial reaction was not belief but LAUGHTER.  She did not just doubt the idea of her having a child, she LAUGHED AT IT!!

    It is worth reading the moment: 
    Starting at Genesis 18:10  we read, “And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 
    12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
    13  And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child since I am old?’
    14  “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
    15  But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” 

    You kind of feel a little bad for Sarah.  She got caught laughing on the inside about what God was promising and then got caught lying about laughing.  Definitely a pretty embarrassing moment for Sarah with God.  

    This is one of those stories you would like to see fully unfold because at some point later Sarah is going to move from doubt and disbelief to belief.  At some point, Genesis 18:14 is going to grip her heart and she is going to believe what God has said.  While we don’t have the full story laid out for us, we do have the cliff notes from Hebrews 11:11.  

    After laughing and being rebuked for laughing and lying and being confronted for lying SARAH is going to make a judgment call on God.  Hebrews 11:11 says she JUDGED Him.  Other versions will translate the word to be SHE CONSIDERED Him.  The idea of the word is to weigh carefully or to think through thoroughly.  

    For Sarah, it was not WHAT was said that changed her mind but WHO said it.

    Hearing that you will be having a child when both you and your husband are too old is hard to believe.  And it would have probably continued to be hard to believe if a family member or a friend or even some stranger had said It.   What moved Sarah from doubting to believing was WHO said it.  She evaluated God and she judged Him FAITHFUL!  At some moment SARAH said GOD SAID IT and I BELIEVE HIM because when God says He is going to do something HE DOES IT!  HE IS FAITHFUL!

    For you who are being challenged to take a step of faith with something that seems absolutely undoable, you are going to have to grow in your knowledge of WHO is guiding you to make the decision.  Psalm 9:10 says, “And those who know Your name put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

    While the WHAT that God calls you to do may scare you and bring huge doubts you must FOCUS on the WHO that is speaking, not the WHAT.  Know His character. If He is calling you He is faithful to perform it.  God provided what Sarah needed when she had faith to believe that HE COULD! 

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 11 (11/11) is Hebrews 11:11. Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

    Where God guides, HE provides.  Believe Him.

    Continue Strong considering Him FAITHFUL
    And remember to DATE THE WORD
     

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 8 (11/8) is Hebrews 11:8

    “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” – Hebrews 11:8
    Abraham WENT 
     
    Abel worshiped by faith! Enoch walked by faith! Noah worked by faith! And now we read of Abraham, and Abraham WENT by faith!

    If you have gone on a long, (and even a short) road trip with children, you almost always get the question of WHERE ARE WE GOING? HOW MUCH LONGER TILL WE GET THERE?  And the classic, ARE WE THERE YET? Well, imagine what it would be like to travel with Abraham. The Bible says he WENT out NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING.  As he is asked “Where we are going” he only could say, “I don’t know.”  Can you imagine the question ARE WE THERE YET being asked multiple times and Abraham shaking his head and saying “NO!!”  How about the classic HOW MUCH LONGER ABRAHAM and hearing “I DON’T KNOW!”   

    When we look at Abraham in the Hall of Faith, we learn he WENT by faith!   God called Abraham to leave the familiar and go to the UNKOWN.  Even without knowing VITAL details, Abraham WENT!

    So let me ask you, how much information do you have to have to obey God? 

    Friends, when it comes to living a life of FAITH, you are going to have to work through the challenge of NOT KNOWING ALL THE DETAILS. As a matter of fact there just might only be very few details.  All Abraham had was God had said GO. He did not know the details of the exact location he was to go to.  He did not get the details of how long it would take to get there.  He did not get the details of what he would do when he got there.  All had was God said GO!

    I do want you to consider Abraham’s faith.  Even though Abraham DID NOT KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING, he DID KNOW that GOD KNEW where he was to go.  With the knowledge that GOD KNEW Abraham then BY FAITH went!

    Does your spiritual journey have moments of knowing but not knowing?  You KNOW God has told you to do something but the details are really fuzzy.  You find yourself having to say I don’t know to a whole of questions. But then you say I DO KNOW WHO DOES KNOW!   I hope you have had, are having, and will have these moments on your faith journey.   And when they happen, I hope you will recall that Abraham WENT!

    Make no mistake that doing what God calls you to do will not include all the details. You are going to have to be comfortable with NOT KNOWING BUT KNOWING!  You are going to have to be comfortable not knowing the details, but KNOWING the ONE who does know the details.  When you GO and DO what He has said in these moments you will be able to say BY FAITH you WENT!

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 8 (11/8) is Hebrews 11:8.  It says, “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

    My prayer for you is that when God says GO your testimony will be you WENT!

    Continue Strong Going by Faith,
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 7 (11/7) is Hebrews 11:7

    “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world
    and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” – Hebrews 11:7
    By FAITH Noah WORKED

    Based on the word that Noah received from the Lord, Noah went to WORK.  Noah’s actions of faith came from a divine warning which then motivated him as he had a godly fear.   He had a reverence for God.  As God spoke Noah listened because of His view of God having supreme authority over his life!  As God spoke Noah obeyed!

    He obeyed on preparing an ARK in preparation for an event that the world had never heard of as God said it was going to RAIN and there would be a FLOOD.  Noah, by FAITH, obeyed to do something never heard of before!  

    As we think of Noah his example ultimately is that BY FAITH Noah WORKED. As James says, “Faith without works is dead!” (James 2:26) Noah heard what God said and by faith obeyed and went to work doing what God said! 

    Does your faith work?  When God speaks to you do you OBEY and by faith do the WORK that He has called you to do? Does your faith work?

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 7 (11/7) is Hebrews 11:7. It says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

    Continue Strong with a FAITH THAT WORKS!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 5 (11/5) is Hebrews 11:5

    “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not
    found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had
    this testimony, that he pleased God.”  – Hebrews 11:5
    WALK BY FAITH – PLEASING HIM

    This verse tells of one of the most unusual events for a human in that Enoch did not die as God TOOK HIM so that he did not see death. It reminds us that some of us will not die as a group of Christians will be raptured (perhaps today!!) 

    While reading of that incredible event for Enoch what I find even more inspiring is his beautiful, yes, powerful testimony! He walked with God (Gen. 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God”) and He pleased God!!!  Now for that statement to be made Enoch was a man of faith because without faith you cannot PLEASE God (Heb. 11:6).  He walked with God and He pleased God! 

    In 2 Cor. 5:9 Paul wrote that “we make it our aim to please Him.” May that be our desire! May you enjoy walking with God and may each attitude you have and action you take bring joy to Him!!

    Remember that if you please God it does not matter who you please and if you displease God it does not matter who you please.

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 5 (11/)5 is Hebrews 11:5.  It says, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

    Continue Strong walking by faith pleasing Him,
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

    This verse tells of one of the most unusual events for a human in that Enoch did not die as God TOOK HIM so that he did not see death. It reminds us that some of us will not die as a group of Christians will be raptured (perhaps today!!) 

    While reading of that incredible event for Enoch what I find even more inspiring is his beautiful, yes, powerful testimony! He walked with God (Gen. 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God”) and He pleased God!!!  Now for that statement to be made Enoch was a man of faith because without faith you cannot PLEASE God (Heb. 11:6).  He walked with God and He pleased God! 

    In 2 Cor. 5:9 Paul wrote that “we make it our aim to please Him.” May that be our desire! May you enjoy walking with God and may each attitude you have and action you take bring joy to Him!!

    Remember that if you please God it does not matter who you please and if you displease God it does not matter who you please.

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 5 (11/)5 is Hebrews 11:5.  It says, “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

    Continue Strong walking by faith pleasing Him,
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 4 (11/4) is Hebrews 11:4

    “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through
    which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts;
    and through it he being dead still speaks.” – Hebrews 11:4
    Salvation is FAITH ALONE!  WORKS DON’T WORK!

    The story of the two DIFFERENT sacrifices which Cain and Abel brought to God has laid out the TWO different approaches mankind has taken to restore their broken relationship with God. And only one of the ways WORKS!
    Taking a quick look back at Genesis 4:2-4 we read what Hebrews 11:4 speaks of: “Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  3  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.  And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5  but He did not respect Cain and his offering.”

    What has happened here?  Abel brought a SACRIFICE in which blood was shed and life was taken. Cain brought his WORKS.  While Cain’s was a sacrifice it was more of an offering.  It was something that he give from his work.   No life is taken and no blood is shed.   

    With an offering of works from the fruit of the ground and the offering of a sacrifice of an animal’s life, you have two totally different SACRIFICES offered to God. 

    And only one of them WORKS with God!

    When we consider what works with God, I like to say WORKS DON’T WORK!  
    God says, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9  not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9
    God makes a statement that “without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins!”  Hebrews 9:22b

    Think about when Jesus Christ died.  He shed His precious blood. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.     

    In comparison to Abel, Jude tells of “the way of Cain.” (Jude 1:11) His way is the way of works.  Keywords for Cain would be DO or DON’T.   He would say to get to heaven you better DO and there is a long list.  Or he might say DON’T and then include a long list of things NOT TO DO!  Cain has the way of religions around the world.   It is the religion of DO and DON’T!  The way of Cain is works will work and we need to know the “way of Cain” is wrong.  WORKS DON’T WORK!

    Christianity is not about DO or DON’T.  It is about DONE.  All that is needed for our salvation was DONE by Jesus Christ.  He was the lamb of God that died for the sins of the world.  On the cross, He said, “It is FINISHED.”  DONE.  PERIOD!!!  Hebrews 9:12  says, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

    Are you trying to WORK your way to heaven?  Friend, it can’t be done!  WORKS DON’T WORK!
    Have you placed your faith totally in Jesus Christ for salvation?  If so, you are on your way to heaven!  

    Verse to DATE the Word on November 4 (11/4) is Hebrews 11:4. It says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.”

    Continue Strong by FAITH ALONE!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD