By Faith! Part I – by Evangelist Darice Wright

Today and tomorrow we have a post by a guest author. It is not only a true Word, it is a timely message for all of us. Part I will post today and Part II on tomorrow.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

This is a familiar Bible verse and pretty much everybody who’s even driven by a church knows it. That scripture along with other familiar faith scriptures like “For we walk by faith and not by sight” and “Call those things that be not as thought they were” are often quoted in Christian churches as encouragement to hang in there when seeking to accomplish something, or get through something or as is increasingly becoming the case in the age of prosperity gospel, to simply get something.

A younger cousin of mine in her love and passion for helping other young women, asked me to be an overseer for a ministry she’s establishing to help young women walk in faith. She has even labeled the ministry, “Women Walking in Faith.” My question to her though was what does it mean to “walk” in “faith.” In other words, what is your definition of “walk?” And what is your definition of “faith?” Now, this may seem obvious, particularly to those who’ve been around the church house for more than just a minute. I’m very sure my cousin wondered if she had picked the right overseer given my questions since both she and I were regulars in church since at least nine months prior to being born and surely should be clear on what it is to “walk in faith”.

Even so I don’t always think the notion of “walking in faith is completely understood. For we walk by faith and not by sight has become code for “If I can conceive it I can achieve it!”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen has been translated into “name it and claim it!”
“Call those things that be not as though they were. “ One preacher creatively shortened that to “call it and haul it!”

These are not bad interpretations of scripture but they are limited and narrow interpretations of scripture.

When the writer of Hebrew exhorts, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. He goes on to illustrate through a trip in history what “Now faith” looks like:
BY faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice

By Faith, Enoch lived in a manner that pleased God
By Faith, Noah built an ark
By Faith, Abraham and Sarah obeyed and went and lived in tents; got busy and became parents;
By FAITH he offered that same promised child as a sacrifice
By Faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
By Faith, Moses’ mother hid him in the river
By Faith, the Israelites passed through the Red Sea
By Faith, Rahab protected the Israelite spies,
And so on…..By FAITH!!

More on tomorrow…