Bible League: Living His Word “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”— Hebrews 10:38 NKJV As Christians, we are just. That means we are justified, declared righteous. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our righteousness is not our own. It was given to us by God. On what basis? It was given to us on the basis of our faith. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last” (Romans 1:17 NIV). Our verse for today says that “the just shall live by faith.” That is, the just shall continue to live by faith. Since we began our lives as Christians by faith, we should continue to live by faith in God. As the Proverb says, we should “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” and we should “lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6). When we first believed we stepped out in faith and believed what God told us in the gospel, and we should continue to step out in faith and believe what God tells us. Faith in God is not a one-time proposition. For Christians, it’s a way of life. The great temptation of life, however, is to draw back from faith in God. Instead of confronting the trials, troubles, tribulations, and persecutions of a life of faith, the temptation is to draw back and look for another easier way. After all, if our faith in God led us to a place of trial and trouble, then doesn’t it make sense to question the life of faith? Real trouble can raise doubts and fears. We may question the wisdom of trust in the Lord and begin to test the merits of our own understanding. If we want to please the soul of God, however, then it doesn’t make sense to doubt. Our verse quotes God as saying, “if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” God doesn’t like it when we shrink back from faith. He doesn’t like it when we question the direction He takes us in. He expects us to stick with Him in good times and bad. Sometimes, He even tests us with trouble to strengthen and prove our faith in Him (James 1:2-4). Don’t draw back, then. Don’t draw back from faith in God. Press on to a deeper trust. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNehemiah 9, 10, 11 Nehemiah 9 -- The Israelites Confess Their Sin, Covenant Results NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Nehemiah 10 -- Signers and Obligations of the Covenant NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Nehemiah 11 -- New Residents of Jerusalem and Judah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 4:1-22 Acts 4 -- Peter and John Arrested and Released; Believers Share All NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen.”Insight Many have wondered about Jesus' statement that if we have faith and don't doubt, we can move mountains. Jesus, of course, was not suggesting that his followers use prayer as “magic” and perform capricious “mountain-moving” acts. Instead, he was making a strong point about the disciples' (and our) lack of faith. Challenge What kinds of mountains do you face? Have you talked to God about them? How strong is your faith? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 2:16, 17 My Beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.Surely if there be a happy verse in the Bible it is this--"My Beloved is mine, and I am his." So peaceful, so full of assurance, so overrunning with happiness and contentment is it, that it might well have been written by the same hand which penned the twenty-third Psalm. Yet though the prospect is exceeding fair and lovely--earth cannot show its superior--it is not entirely a sunlit landscape. There is a cloud in the sky which casts a shadow over the scene. Listen, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away." There is a word, too, about the "mountains of Bether," or, "the mountains of division," and to our love, anything like division is bitterness. Beloved, this may be your present state of mind; you do not doubt your salvation; you know that Christ is yours, but you are not feasting with him. You understand your vital interest in him, so that you have no shadow of a doubt of your being his, and of his being yours, but still his left hand is not under your head, nor doth his right hand embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord, so even while exclaiming, "I am his," you are forced to take to your knees, and to pray, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved." "Where is he?" asks the soul. And the answer comes, "He feedeth among the lilies." If we would find Christ, we must get into communion with his people, we must come to the ordinances with his saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of him! Oh, to sup with him tonight! Daily Light on the Daily Path Revelation 3:18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.Mark 10:29,30 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, • but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 1 Peter 1:6,7 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, • so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1 Peter5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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