Here in this Heb 11, I noticed that
Through faith - 5x
In faith - 1 x
By faith - 15 x
Without faith - 1x
Faith in Greek has the same meaning as Belief. The definition is in the opening verse in Heb 11. There were so many different prepositions before the word "faith" : through, in , by and without. What exactly is faith or belief?
Someone wrote "Faith is trust in the UNSEEN and not the UNKNOWN for we may know by faith what we cannot see with the eye"
Plane Faith or Plain Faith??
On route back to Singapore few days ago from Cambodia, I deliberately chose a window seat instead of my usual aisle seat this time. I huddled by the window, having little glimpses of the clouds as the plane flew at such a great speed of more than 600km per hour. But as I gazed outside, it seemed that my plane was not moving at all! Strange but true. right? Try driving at 110km/hour on the road. But here up in the sky, the plane was flying many times more carrying more passengers! Would you have imagine that such a heavy plane is able to lift up and fly off at such a speed? Unimaginable, right? But that is the science of aerodynamics!
I cannot see the workings of the engines and mechanical parts that controlled the wings etc. I trusted in the pilot who had undergone years of training to fly this mass of steel. I took a step of faith to enter into this plane and I trusted the pilot to bring me from Phnom Penh to Singapore safely. I simply believe.
Like Abraham in V10, for he looked for a city, which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith Sarah received strength to concieve. Not only did she believe, she acted out in obedience by lying with Abraham and delivered a child when she was past age. Faith is an active word. Not only do we believe. But we have to take that step of faith to prove it. While it may be unseen in the future to us, but the known fact is something that we have to keep on trusting.
Many heroes of faith through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions (v33). Faith needs to be acted upon. V6 For without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The character of Yeshua never changes! Question is - do we seek Him- yes and seek Him diligently??
Reflections
Our Lord Jesus is liken to be that pilot of the plane. He is in control of all situations. He is the One who will bring us from this earthly temporal home to the eternal city in the New Jerusalem. Only question is that this ticket has already been purchased through His own blood shed on the cross for us. The choice is for us to accept that ticket. In simple trust of what He proclaimed "He is the only way, the truth and the life"
However, while we are still grounded here on earth, we ought to constantly "examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith, prove our own selves" 2 Cor 13:5. Why? Because in 1 Tim 4:1 " Now the Spirit speak expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."
Be on our guard to diligently hold fast to the faith we first believe in simplicity.
May the very God of peace sanctify us wholly; and we pray that our whole spirit, soul and body be preserved BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes 5:23).
Faith. The author of our Faith is Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calls us, who will also do it. 1 Thes 5:24
Jesus is Faithful. He is and was and forever will be.
Will we remain faithful unto Him till we see Him face to face? A plain question for us to ponder.
Some Pilot's View:
Subsequent to this posting, I had a very 'educational' chat with a pilot friend C who flies with SQ. In this short course of conversation, I learnt that pilots trust their eyes on the instruments. The reason is that they fly by instruments instead of flying by visual. There is such a term know as spatial disorientation and hence feeling cannot be trusted. During WW1 there were a lot of major aircraft accidents because of spatial disorientation. Until the industry started inventing instruments for aircraft instead of visual flying. So the terms IFR (Instrument flying) vs VFR (fly by visual)
According to him, if they enter clouds and the aircraft is upside down -they won't know. As there is no visual horizon from the earth to tell them. So unless they rely on instruments to tell them if they were upside down. Today they use laser gyros. So pilots cannot trust their feelings during flying. They trust their eyes on the instruments called the attitude horizon indicator.. C told me that their bottomline is to trust their eyes with the instruments. If instruments also fail - he trust God! LOL. We went on to discuss Einstein theory of relativity. Que: If aircraft is flying at a speed and it turns - will the cup topple on the table? Also, pilots dislike clouds. They blocked their vision in flight.
Plane flying in relation to our spiritual plain faith?
Some Pilot's View:
Subsequent to this posting, I had a very 'educational' chat with a pilot friend C who flies with SQ. In this short course of conversation, I learnt that pilots trust their eyes on the instruments. The reason is that they fly by instruments instead of flying by visual. There is such a term know as spatial disorientation and hence feeling cannot be trusted. During WW1 there were a lot of major aircraft accidents because of spatial disorientation. Until the industry started inventing instruments for aircraft instead of visual flying. So the terms IFR (Instrument flying) vs VFR (fly by visual)
According to him, if they enter clouds and the aircraft is upside down -they won't know. As there is no visual horizon from the earth to tell them. So unless they rely on instruments to tell them if they were upside down. Today they use laser gyros. So pilots cannot trust their feelings during flying. They trust their eyes on the instruments called the attitude horizon indicator.. C told me that their bottomline is to trust their eyes with the instruments. If instruments also fail - he trust God! LOL. We went on to discuss Einstein theory of relativity. Que: If aircraft is flying at a speed and it turns - will the cup topple on the table? Also, pilots dislike clouds. They blocked their vision in flight.
Plane flying in relation to our spiritual plain faith?
The above little chat led me to understand that indeed, 'Faith" is truly not about 'feelings".
Our faith is anchored in the Word of God. John 1"in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is Jesus Christ - unchangeable, immutable. He was He is and is to come.
If pilots cannot trust in their feelings during flying but had to rely on instruments to guide them for a smooth and safe flight, how much more for us as believers to remember where to put our faith in ? Definitely not on our feelings (which is changeable according to mood swings and circumstances, right?) but on the Word of God - On Jesus Himself alone.
There is a great debate now on Word vs Spirit. I guess we have to have a good balance on both. Not that experience or encounters with God in things of supernaturals etc is not required, but an understanding of the guiding principles of His Word is as important, if not more. Because the latter is definitely unchangeable and firm whereas the former is not. But the latter would bring us to a better understanding of who He is definitely. So that we will remain in awe of what He has done for us and is still doing on this universe.
Our faith is anchored in the Word of God. John 1"in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is Jesus Christ - unchangeable, immutable. He was He is and is to come.
If pilots cannot trust in their feelings during flying but had to rely on instruments to guide them for a smooth and safe flight, how much more for us as believers to remember where to put our faith in ? Definitely not on our feelings (which is changeable according to mood swings and circumstances, right?) but on the Word of God - On Jesus Himself alone.
There is a great debate now on Word vs Spirit. I guess we have to have a good balance on both. Not that experience or encounters with God in things of supernaturals etc is not required, but an understanding of the guiding principles of His Word is as important, if not more. Because the latter is definitely unchangeable and firm whereas the former is not. But the latter would bring us to a better understanding of who He is definitely. So that we will remain in awe of what He has done for us and is still doing on this universe.
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