Christianity Oasis Member Forum & Chat Room

July 6
Tuesday


SOMETHING
BETTER

READ:
Heb. 11:4-7, 32-40
_____________________________________________________________

All these, having
obtained a good
testimony through
faith, did not receive
the promise.
__Hebrews 11:39
_____________________________________________________________

Abel doesn't seem to fit in the fist half of Hebrews 11. He's the first "ancient" listed, but his story isn't like the others mentioned there. Enoch went to heaven without dying. Noah saved mankind. Abraham started a people group. Isaac was a noted patriarch. Joseph rose to the top in Egypt. Moses led the greatest exodus ever.

Clearly, their faith was rewarded. By faith, they did what God asked, and He poured out blessings on them. They saw God's promises fulfilled before their eyes.

But Abel? The second son of Adam and eve had faith, and what did he get for it? Murdered. That sounds more like the folks in verses 35-38, who found that trusting God doesn't always lead to immediate blessing. They faced "mockings," imprisonment," and being "sawn in two." "Thanks, but no thanks," we might say. We would all prefer to be heroic Abraham instead of someone "destitute, afflicted, tormented" (v.37). Yet in God's plan, there are no guarantees of ease and fame even for the devout.

While we might experience some blessings in this life, we may also have to wait until "something better" (v.40) comes along--the completion of God' promises in Glory. Until then, let's keep living "by faith."

__Dave Branon
_____________________________________________________________

``````````````````Press on in your service for Jesus,```````````````
`````````````````Spurred on by your love for the Lord;`````````````
``````````````````He promised that if you are faithful,``````````````
```````````````One day you'll receive your reward. __Fasick````````
_____________________________________________________________

What is done for Christ right now
will be rewarded in eternity.

***********Today's Bible Reading __ Hebrews 11:4-7,32-40*********

4 By faith Abel offered to
God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, through
which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts; and
through it he being dead still
speaks.

5 By faith Enoch was taken
away so that he did not see
death, "and was not found,
because God had taken him";
for before he was taken he
had this testimony, that he
pleased God. 6 But 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 diligently seek
Him.

7 By faith Noah, being
divinely warned of things not
yet seen, moved with godly
fear, prepared an ark for the
saving of his household, by
which he condemned the
world and became heir of the
righteousness which is
according to faith....

32 And what more shall I
say? For the time would fail
me to tell of Gideon and
Barak and Samson and
Jephthah, also of David and
Samuel and the prophets....

35 Others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance, that
they might obtain a better
resurrection. 36 Still others
had trial of mockings and
scourgings, yes, and of
chains and imprisonment....

39 And all these, having
obtained a good testimony
through faith, did not receive
the promise, 40 God having
provided something better for
us, that they should not be
made perfect apart from us.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

One of the most basic realities of faith is seen in verse 6. The
person who comes to God "must believe that He is...." The Bible,
however, never seeks to prove God's existence. It assumes this fact in
Genesis 1:1 by saying, "In the beginning God...." __BILL CROWDER