By Faith... Tuesday's Together in the Word!

Welcome to Tuesday's Together in the Word. We are a group of women reading through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs using the same reading plan and holding each other accountable. On Tuesdays we share what we have gleaned from our time of study in the Word. To join us and to read what others have to share visit DeeDee, we would love for you to join us! You can find a link to our reading plan on my sidebar.

I want to share the thoughts I really wanted to share last week but didn't get a chance to... I never had the time to sit down and get my thoughts into a presentable form, so now I am giving it a try.

So since my thoughts are from a week ago, the passage of scripture is from last week's reading... but I have really been thinking on it for about a week now. It is from Hebrews 11, the famous faith chapter.

In verse 1 the writer of Hebrews tells us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," and then in verse 2, that "by it the men of old gained approval."

A little further down in verse 6 the writer tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

Then he begins to expound on the things people have done by faith, we have all read these accounts countless times... this time I noticed something different... by faith they endured struggles and hard times. It was their faith that sustained them and carried them through... it was their "assurance of things hoped for" and "the conviction of things not seen" that allowed them to go through hardships in a way that made them noteworthy enough to be mentioned in the scriptures...

By faith they:

• choose rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; (verse 25)
• considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; (verse 26)
• conquered kingdoms,
• performed acts of righteousness,
• obtained promises,
• shut the mouths of lions,
• quenched the power of fire,
• escaped the edge of the sword,
• from weakness became strong,
• became mighty in war,
• put foreign armies to flight, (verses 33-34)
• were tortured in order that they might receive a better resurrection, (verse 35)
• experienced mockings and scourgings and chains and imprisonments
• were stoned, sawn in two, tempted,
• put to death with the sword,
• went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted and ill-treated... (verses 36-37)

Always when reading this passage before I noticed the good and pleasant things people did by faith... this time God opened my eyes to the hard and sometimes horrific things His people by faith endured...


What hard things are going on in your life right now? By faith you can endure them!