Focus: Keep Believing (Pt.2)

Text: Heb.11:13

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

The patriarchs and matriarchs of faith died still believing and hoping for the eternal promises of God. They neither gave up on their faith nor lost their hope for not seeing the promises come to pass in their time.

They saw the promises from a far distance; they believed in the promises; they were convinced of their realness, and they welcomed them. They weighed the divine promises and found them weighty. They found the promises as authentic and reliable because of who uttered them - God Himself. God is the promise-keeper. He has the character and capability to do as promised.

These men and women of faith yielded themselves to the rule of faith. They let their belief control their behavior. Their creed influenced their conduct. For the future they saw, they decided to live as strangers and pilgrims on earth. As strangers, they lacked rights of citizenship, and as pilgrims, they had no permanent residence on earth. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were said to have lived in tents amid their great wealth. Abraham's only landed property on earth was a cemetery, because he saw a city whose builder and maker was God, and every day he lived with the hope of finding himself in that city. While others built cities and lived in them, Abraham did not. He saw himself as a stranger and a pilgrim on the earthly soil.

These people of old lived and died without realizing or possessing the promises, yet they did not lose their faith or lose a grip on their hope. They were steadfast in their faith. They didn't stop believing for not seeing the reality of the promises.

There are promises for this life and promises for the life to come - the eternal promises. There are personal promises and there are general or corporate promises.

The eternal, corporate or collective promises belong to all of us who believe. The city Abraham saw belongs to all of us, not only to Abraham. Eternal rewards belong to all of us. Bodily resurrection is a promise to all of us. The blessed hope is an eternal promise, and it's for us all. Living forever with God is a promise for all of us, not only to one person or a few people. That is why they died without receiving the promises. There's an appointed time for all the future promises. They enjoyed the personal promises, but they have to wait until all of us have come in. What is meant for all of us cannot be given prematurely to a few of us. There is a mature time for the general promises.

For those of us who believe, God has immense promises for us to ensure in this life, while we wait for the right time for the corporate ones.

Your faith can draw the promises and blessings of this life even while it waits for the eternal ones. By faith you can possess your possessions now. Remember that healing is the children's bread. God has given us all things richly to enjoy. The supply of the Spirit is for you now.

Keep believing. Keep praying. Keep hearing the word. Keep abiding in Christ, and letting the word abide in you. Keep looking forward and looking up to God. Keep practicing and exercising your faith. Keep believing and loving and hoping. Amen!!!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter