By Faith

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." Hebrews 11:1-2

How often do you live by faith? This is a question I have asked myself recently and I feel that it is not too often. I'd like to share some verses from Hebrews 11 often known as the Hall of Faith that illustrates how 'the ancients' did live by faith:

• By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.
• By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death.
• By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
• 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 Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
• By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.
• By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
• By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
• By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
• By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king;s edict.
• By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of the Pharaoh's daughter.
• By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
• By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
• By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomes the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies." Hebrews 11:32-34

Reading all of that makes me feel convicted about how often I do NOT live by faith. If a book were written about me and how I live my life I fear it would read more like:

• By worrying Tori.....
• By trying to figure it out Tori...
• By praying relentlessly about it Tori...
• By going to friends and family for advice Tori...
• By following her gut feeling Tori...
• By doing what was in her best interests Tori...

"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." Hebrews 11:6

My prayer for myself and whoever reads this is that we would be people that live BY FAITH therefore instead of the above descriptions we MAY have the words By Faith in front of our names when describing how we lived our lives.