2 Chronicles 20:20b Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Luke 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

John 20:27b And be not faithless, but believing.

29b Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight.)

MEMORY VERSE: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. —Galatians 2:20

CENTRAL THOUGHT: By having faith in God and believing His Word, we have a victorious spiritual life, we maintain life, and we carry on day-to-day Christian life. We are established, we have strength, vitality, blessings, joy, peace and hope—all through faith in God.

WORD DEFINITIONS

2 Chronicles 20:20b “Established”: confirmed; supported; nourished.

Psalm 27:13 “I had fainted”: These words have been added by the English translators. In the original, the sentence breaks off: “Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living—! Its eloquent pause gives the reader the privilege of imagining what might have happened if he had not believed!

John 20:27 “Be not faithless”: become not faithless; Jesus was not accusing Thomas of being an unbeliever, but warning that he was about to become one.

LESSON BACKGROUND

Today’s lesson is a collection of verses that inspire us and show us the victory and blessing there is in a daily walk by faith. We are admonished; we are warned. Of course, behind every verse is a story. Let’s find out!

II Chronicles 20 is the story of King Jehoshaphat’s battle with the Moabites. Afraid of the huge army approaching from all sides, he proclaimed a fast and prayed before the Lord, reminding Him of the promise to His friend Abraham. “We don’t know what to do,” he cried, “But our eyes are on You.” The Spirit of the Lord inspired a singer to proclaim, “Be not afraid nor dismayed…the battle is not yours but God’s! Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!” The next day as his army went out to face the enemy, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Believe in the Lord your God!” and appointed singers to praise the Lord as they went forth. When they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent ambushments against the evil coalition and gave Jehoshaphat a great victory that day.

In Psalm 27 David speaks of enemies and foes and false witnesses. He talks of trouble and being forsaken by father and mother. But he rejoices in God’s light, salvation, deliverance and secret hiding place. He proclaims his desire to dwell in God’s house and behold His beauty; to seek His face and be taught His way. At the end he seems to catch his breath as he contemplates what condition he would be in if he had not believed in the Lord. Then he exhorts, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says this about the words of Habakkuk: “…Like a watchman looking forth from his watch-tower he will look out to see what answer he shall receive to [his plea] from Heaven (Habakkuk 2:1). He is commanded to write the answer when it is given on tablets, that all may read it easily (Habakkuk 2:2-3). It comes in the shape of a moral distinction; ‘His [the unrighteous man’s] soul is puffed up in him; but the righteous shall live by his faithfulness.’” My thought in including it in today’s lesson is that as we have seen by the Word that it is faith in God that generates spiritual LIFE and RESURRECTION within the soul; it is faith in God that lays hold upon the promise of the Holy Spirit Who comes to dwell in the heart, purifying and refining with fire; and it is faith working by love that causes us to ABIDE in Him; to obey, to walk, to work the works of God, to have victory that overcomes, to be blessed, have peace, joy and eternal hope!

The verse in Mark 11 is Jesus’ answer to His disciples when, leaving Jerusalem after Jesus had cast the merchants and animals out of the temple, they found a fig tree dried up from the roots. They remembered that the day before Jesus had pronounced a curse upon it because it was barren of fruit. Seeing Jesus’ power over nature made them marvel. Jesus not only pointed them upward to His Father—“Have faith in God!”—but let them know that God would also honor their prayers of faith.

Who was the “blessed” one mentioned by Luke? It was Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Luke records the anointed words of her cousin, Elizabeth, whose body and spirit, along with the babe in her womb, witnessed of the holy child Mary carried. Here we have a precious example to follow. Mary, chaste and pure, yielded herself completely to God to bear His Son, and with Him, His reproach and suffering. Such obedience and submission declared her belief and faith in the sure Word and Promise of God.

The admonishment in John comes from the scene where Jesus appeared personally to Thomas after his resurrection. His gentle rebuke to Thomas’ skepticism is a challenge to us all. It is through believing that we have LIFE through His name.

Paul’s benediction to the Romans comes near the end of this epistle where he teaches about salvation through faith and not through works. He reminds them that joy, peace and hope come by believing in God. To the Corinthians, as he writes about the temporary dwelling place we have here and the eternal hope we have in Christ, he includes this truth: We walk by faith and not by sight. Our memory verse is Paul’s personal statement of triumphant living. His life in Christ began by faith, but it didn’t stop there. Everything he did from that point until his departure to be with Christ was by faith. When Jesus said “Go,” he went. When Jesus said “Stay,” he stayed. When Jesus said, “You’ll not be harmed,” he believed. When he was bitten by a venomous snake, he shook it off in faith. He shrugged off his own righteousness as well, declaring it “rubbish,” and gave himself to the sufferings of Christ that he might own HIS righteousness.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. Who said, “Believe…so shall ye prosper”?
2. Who was speechless when he considered what might have befallen him if he had not believed?
3. What prophet declared, “The just shall live by faith”?
4. Jesus said “Have faith in God” after what miracle?
5. Who did Jesus encourage to believe without seeing?
6. Who said, “We walk by faith”? 

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

There are many more verses we could have included; for example, the Hebrews 11 list of Old Testament faith heroes. But now is OUR time to live and walk by faith. Peter said that we love Jesus and rejoice and believe in Him, even though we haven’t seen Him. Jesus reproved those who had to have a physical sign. He constantly pointed us to faith in God. He taught us to pray in faith. To not be anxious about our daily provisions.

Really, everything we do requires faith. When we take our marriage vows, faith is involved as each vows to be faithful until death. It takes faith for the husband to give himself for his wife; faith that she will respond with respect and obedience. It takes faith for the wife to submit to her husband, giving her expectations to God and trusting Him to teach her husband how to truly love and cherish her. Raising children requires much faith as we obey God’s Word when it tells us to unconditionally love, chasten, reprove and train them; to believe that as we do our part, God will do His part. Moving out into fields of service for God is an act of obedience by faith. Preaching the Word God gives us is done in faith. Giving of our time, service and finances—sacrificing until it “hurts”—necessitates faith. Denying worldliness and popularity takes faith to know that it will all be worthwhile in the end.

Lord, give us more faith!

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

In the prophetic vision found in Ezekiel the forty-seventh chapter, the man measures a thousand cubits, which is water to the ankles. He again measures a thousand cubits, bringing water to the knees. The next thousand cubits result in water to the loins. The final thousand cubits provide waters to swim in: a river that cannot be passed over. A skilled swimmer would not practice the breast stroke in ankle deep water, nor would a diver dare to plunge into knee deep or thigh deep water. A river to swim in provides freedom to do all of these things without hindrance or danger.

A lack of faith restrains the will of God being fulfilled. We have a great desire to wade out into it but are too afraid to leave the shoreline. Our comfort zone keeps us stuck in the shallow end. To remedy this we need to dive into deeper waters. “And now I have plunged myself recklessly out, like a chip on the stream of his infinite will. I pass the rough rocks with a smile and a shout and I just let my God his dear purpose fulfill.” What liberation, what freedom and what a wonderful life! The Lord desires that our faith embraces His plan for us, knowing that He can take care of us and bring us to His “expected end.”

—Sis. LaDawna Adams