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read through Hebrews 10:26-11:12Hebrews 10:26-11:12
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
26 No sacrifices can be made for people who decide to sin after they find out about the truth. ²⁷ . They are God's enemies, and all they can look forward to is a terrible judgment and a furious fire. ²⁸ If two or more witnesses accused someone of breaking the Law of Moses, that person could be put to death. ²⁹ . But it is much worse to dishonor God's Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy. ³⁰ a ; b . We know that God has said he will punish and take revenge. We also know that the Scriptures say the Lord will judge his people. ³¹ It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God! ³² Don't forget all the hard times you went through when you first received the light. ³³ Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others. ³⁴ You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever. ³⁵ Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards. ³⁶ Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised. ³⁷ . As the Scriptures say, “God is coming soon! It won't be very long. ³⁸ The people God accepts will live because of their faith. y The people God accepts will live because of their faith: Or “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.” But he isn't pleased with anyone who turns back.” ³⁹ We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved. The Great Faith of God's People ^{11 1} Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. ² — It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God. ³ ; Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. ⁴ Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him. ⁵ Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. That's why his body was never found. ⁶ But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him. ⁷ Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God. ⁸ Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. ⁹ . Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. ¹⁰ Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city that God had planned and built. ¹¹ Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. ¹² . Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the beach.

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The Bible, a story of creation, a descent into sin, eventual punishment, then reward, prophecy, then the coming of a savior, is our story. And it’s not just a story. It’s the thread by which we knit our lives. In this, we can have confidence to live out our lives in the truth and knowledge that God is the center and the source of our eternal hope.

This story starts and ends with promises, to Adam and Eve, then to Abraham, then to us. God’s initial promise to Adam was that he should “be fruitful and multiply” and God would make him ruler of the earth, holding precedence over all the other living things in creation. But as we know, man slipped out of favor with God by disobedience. Then, to Abraham, God’s promise was that his progeny would expand across the earth, making Abraham’s descendants great among the nations. Much of the rest of the Old Testament tells of the ebb-and-flow relationship between God and his people, as they were sometimes faithful and at other times, unfaithful to their end of the bargain: that they would abide by the law and not worship any other idols.

Some critics have attempted to point out that, though Israel did not always keep her promise to God, neither did God, who allowed his nation to fall into slavery and be conquered by foreign nations time and again. But this is not where our confidence should waver, for God’s promise was contingent on the people being faithful, and if they weren’t faithful, he said strife would follow. That was also a promise.

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings … For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (v 32-35)

Just as Sarah laughed at God when he told her she would conceive of a child in old age and just as Gideon’s men surely were astounded when God told Gideon to send away all but 300 men — the very ones who were afraid — and defeat the thousands of troops in the camp with only trumpets, pitchers, and torches, we too sometimes become disillusioned, fearful or doubtful about the future and what God has planned. While God may be audibly silent, his word to us is not. These verses remind us to remember all God has done for us, and this should be our response in good times and bad, for God’s promises are tried and tested, enduring, and irrevocable. But remembering instances in the past where God has come through for us is only the beginning, and faith is the end.

While there will surely be bright days in our lives, there will also be dark days, and our memory will only carry us so far. Our faith, which the Bible calls the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” will take us the rest of the way and help us to finish the race, having lived a life wholly, not partly, but wholly devoted to God and his precepts.

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Read through carefully through Hebrews 11:3-12Hebrews 11:3-12
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
3 ; Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. ⁴ Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him. ⁵ Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. That's why his body was never found. ⁶ But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him. ⁷ Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God. ⁸ Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. ⁹ . Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. ¹⁰ Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city that God had planned and built. ¹¹ Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. ¹² . Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the beach.

WP-Bible plugin again, taking note of the many examples the Bible provides of people having faith in God and God coming through for them, showing up at critical times to fulfill what he said he would do for them. In the end, God always shows up. The question he asks: Will you?