SDCCM Blog

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 lays the foundation for faith. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been called “the honor role of faith.” Note how the writer begins verse 1, “now faith is.” What a powerful expression of absolute trust. The writer does not say faith might be, but is! Is what? It is the assurance of the things hoped for. I like the way the King James expresses this passage. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). I appreciate the word “substance” because it speaks of the spiritual material from which hope is formed. Material objects have “molecules”, whereas biblical faith is the spiritual molecules of “hope.” This expectation of hope means “an absolute confidence.” It is so real it is made of the “evidence of things not seen”.

The rational mind has great difficulty with this kind of thinking. The spiritual person knows this kind of thinking is what causes miracles to take place through a believer. As a believer in Christ, our hope is in His resurrection power. “We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. He will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-11). This is New Testament Christianity! Listen how Paul expresses hope to the Roman believers. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). TO READ MORE CLICK THE TITLE ABOVE.

Psalm 31:24 – Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.
Strength and courage come from a “hope in the Lord.” This is because the Lord never changes. “I the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). We can have confidence because the Lord is the hope of our salvation.

Our minds need to be trained in a hope that is rooted in God the Father. The world teaches us to hope in ourselves and become self-reliant. David learned to hope in the Lord. “For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth. By You, I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You” (Psalm 71:5-6). This is the kind of mind-set we must develop in this matter of hope. It begins by knowing the Lord had an important part with our birth. Before we were converted, the Lord was already at work in His purposes for us. Some of us experienced times when our lives might have been shortened, except the Lord “sustained” us. I am grateful to have the same testimony as David, “You are my confidence from my youth.” Regardless of what stage of life we came to know the Lord, it is important to understand He had His hand upon us.

Hope is developed from a love for God’s word. “I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and do Your commandments. READ MORE BY CLICKING TITLE ABOVE.

1 Corinthians 13:13 – Now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Normally you do not think of spiritual warfare when reciting 1 Corinthians 13:13. These three pillars of the Christian walk are essential to our battle against the enemy. These three weapons have power to destroy the enemy’s entrenchment in the mind of believers and will pull down strongholds of arguments against Christ.

We begin with faith, not only because it is mentioned first, but because “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus would often declare that one’s faith had made the individual whole. The biblical definition of faith is that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith operates out of assurance. Assurance comes by the promises of God’s word. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The context of Romans 10 begins with Christ as the end of the law for righteousness. Righteousness has its root in Christ alone.

Romans 10:6 quotes Deuteronomy 30:14, stating that the righteousness based on faith speaks of the word of God being near us, that is in our mouth and in our heart. Faith operates by the word of God taking root in our heart and then being formed in our mouth. Both our mouth and our heart are connected with righteousness. We think in righteous terms and we speak with righteous words. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE. TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF “A DAILY DEVOTIONAL” CLICK COVER OF THE BOOK.

1 John 2:24 – If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father (KJV).
Abiding is an important topic of the New Testament. In the last hours of His earthly life, Jesus taught His disciples what it meant to abide in Him. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

For some, John 15 can be a difficult chapter because of the illustration of removing branches and casting them away. It is important to understand that Jesus is speaking to His apostles. They are the ones He is sending into the world to lay the foundation of His Church by preaching the “goodness of His kingdom.” Judas, who was named among the apostles, was really an agent of the devil. The Jewish people saw themselves as the “special people of God.” Jesus is now defining who the people of God really are. Apart from Jesus, nothing can be done that has eternal significance.

The sum total of what Jesus came to accomplish is found in the Father and the Son taking up a place of residence in the believer through their indwelling Holy Spirit. In John’s gospel account, he calls this “abiding.” In John’s letter to the church, he again calls this work of God “abiding.” God’s will is to abide in every part of the believer’s life. The Father and the Son’s desire is for the believer to manifest their nature in every area of one’s life. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE.

Ephesians 6:18b – Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all saints.
Throughout the New Testament, the verb “to pray” carries a number of meanings. A few examples are to ask, make request, to desire, beseech, and to call to one’s aid. The word “intercession” is used often in today’s church. It speaks of requests made on behalf of others. The Scriptures do not speak of an office of “intercessor.” The Holy Spirit leads individuals to make petition on behalf of others. Some are led by the Spirit to pray on behalf of nations. Nations include people groups coming to a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart. He makes intercession on behalf of the saints. Prayer is impossible to man apart from the Spirit’ help: “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Believers are exhorted to pray at all seasons in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18; cf. Jude 20). “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16).

Paul teaches that prayer is made from two sources. “For I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15). TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE.

Ephesians 6:18b – Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all saints.
Throughout the New Testament, the verb “to pray” carries a number of meanings. A few examples are to ask, make request, to desire, beseech, and to call to one’s aid. The word “intercession” is used often in today’s church. It speaks of requests made on behalf of others. The Scriptures do not speak of an office of “intercessor.” The Holy Spirit leads individuals to make petition on behalf of others. Some are led by the Spirit to pray on behalf of nations. Nations include people groups coming to a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart. He makes intercession on behalf of the saints. Prayer is impossible to man apart from the Spirit’s help: “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Believers are exhorted to pray at all seasons in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18; cf. Jude 20). “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16).

Paul teaches that prayer is made from two sources. “For I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15). When Paul speaks of the mind, he is speaking of his understanding. Paul is saying that there are areas of need of which we are aware in our minds. We don’t need a special revelation to pray. Just pray! There are other needs of prayer which come by revelation through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul is speaking of “his spirit” praying and singing. In the context of the chapter, he is addressing the subject of the private use of tongues. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE.