Legends of the Old School

I've started a new series with our students "Legends of the Old School vol 1." We are taking a look at some of the Heroes of the Old Testament. I spend a lot of time in the New Testament reading the letters Paul put out for the churches he was planting, but have shifted gears lately and planted myself in the OT for a bit.

Hebrews 11 is like the Hall of Fame walk through for the OT heroes. Maybe even The Cliff Notes for the OT (I failed my share of tests thanks to Cliff, so don't just read this chapter.) Everything they accomplished, was by faith. Almost half of all the verses in chapter 11 begin with, "It was by faith."

The beginning of the chapter tells us that Faith is the confidence (belief) of what we hope to happen will ACTUALLY happen, and that what we believe to exist actually exists even if we CAN'T see it. These folks earned their reputation for believing the impossible and seeing the invisible, when no one else could.

The amazing thing is that ALL these people died still believing what God had promised. And they didn't even receive everything that God had promised but they still believed it was theirs up to their very last breath. But the chapter tells that they welcomed from a distance. They never looked back, but continued to look forward at that promise. They knew even a portion of that promise was better than where they had been and even where they were at. And in that lies the basics of their Old School faith that earned them their reputation and kept them going.

They knew that what was in store for them was better than where they were at. They endured, they fought, they followed, they waited, they wandered, they succeeded, they failed, all because of their faith in the promise they had been given. That is what kept them looking and moving forward. That is what earned them their good reputation and THAT is what made God PROUD to be called their God.

Which of God's promises are you going to believe to your very last breath? What are you believing will happen (regardless of YOUR time frame)? What are you seeing (that no one else sees)? Parents don't give up on your kids. Don't give up on your spouse. Fight that illness or that generational addiction. Take that stand. Hold your ground. You may leave this earth, without physically seeing the promise fulfilled, BUT that doesn't mean that it won't be fulfilled. You might just have to "welcome it from a distance." When you believe that, see that, speak those things God is PROUD to be called YOUR God.

So make Him proud be called your God and don't stop believin'.....