The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 9 August 2023 – Be Strong In Faith
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TOPIC: Be Strong In Faith
READ: Romans 4 (NKJV)
- What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
- For if Abraham was justified by works, he has [something] to boast about, but not before God.
- For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
- Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
- But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
- just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
- “Blessed [are those] whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
- Blessed [is the] man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
- [Does] this blessedness then [come] upon the circumcised [only,] or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
- How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
- And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had while still] uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
- and the father of circumcision to those who not only [are] of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham [had while still] uncircumcised.
- For the promise that he would be the heir of the world [was] not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
- For if those who are of the law [are] heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
- because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law [there is] no transgression.
- Therefore [it is] of faith that [it might be] according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
- (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
- who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
- And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
- He did not waver orruptible man — and birds and belief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
- and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
- And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
- Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
- but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
- who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
THE MESSAGE:
Faith has been described in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen.” Abraham is described in today’s passage as a righteous man even when he was yet uncircumcised. This was not essentially a credit to his good work but for trusting the righteousness of God in the face of impossibility. He affirmed the supremacy of God over all things; He who has the power to create possesses the authority to do the impossible. He demonstrated resolute faith at his first ever awareness of the new God even when he knew not what such re-direction could bring.
The faith of Abraham determined his future. His encounter with the very new God demanded a decision: to choose a hopeless or blessed future. He never missed the opportunity: He chose a blessing. Jesus visits and calls every day for whoever cares to hearken. Jesus said, “blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believed” (John 20:29). “Blessed is the man that hears me…For whoso finds me finds life and shall obtain favour from the Lord… all that hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:34-36). Faith may sound foolish to unbelievers, never mind, it is your strength to harness miracles, blessing and above all eternal life through Jesus Christ. Be a person of unwavering faith.
PRAYER: Lord, rekindle in me the power of unrelenting faith to access my rightful place in Your kingdom. Amen.
