The Word To Live By: 8-31-25
Phil Waggoner
The righteous man shall live by faith. Hebrews 10:38
The Word To Live By: This is the second-to-last verse in Hebrews 10. The last verse is, “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” The author is talking about born-again Christians. When you live your life by faith, you don’t give up when life gets hard, scary, sad, or seems impossible. Then, Chapter 11 provides us with numerous examples of men and women who stood firm on the Word of God and its promises, despite what lay before them. Chapter 12 is all about how to live by faith. I see three steps in the first three verses. 1.) Lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. How do you do that? Make some changes in your lifestyle. I think the best answer to that is Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” You change your thinking by what you listen to, who you hang around with, and what you meditate on. 2.) Fix your eyes on Jesus. When you do that, He will perfect your faith. That means He will fine-tune it and give you revelation knowledge of the will of God. 3.) “Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Living by faith is not something you can pick up and lay down whenever you feel like it. It’s a consistent lifestyle of putting God first place in your life. Galatians 6:9 tells us that if we do not lose heart in doing good, in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Living by faith is not going to be a bed of roses every day, but it’s always going to produce the will of God for your life in the end.
Read through the Bible in a year: John 8:48-59; 2 Chronicles 5:2-14; Malachi 2:10-4:7;
Read through the New Testament AND Proverbs: Proverbs 31, Mark 3:19-38, 2 Corinthians 2
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160