Faith And Patience

“Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” — Hebrews 6:12 NKJV

If while I was preaching, I shouted, “It is only through faith that we inherit the promises of God!,” I would likely hear a loud, “Amen” in response. But that is only half-true. Hebrews 6:12 says that it is through faith and patience that we see the promises of God fulfilled in our lives. Faith is essential, but patience is just as important. This verse in the New Living Translation says that it is through faith and “endurance” that we inherit the promises of God. Another translation says, “perseverance.” These words all describe the same thing: the ability to keep going, to keep believing, even when circumstances seem to indicate otherwise.

While we walk with God through life with its all of its challenges, we grow. James 1:3 says, “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow... for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (NLT). God is more interested in developing our character than He is in giving us everything we want. If we received everything we prayed for right away, we would never learn patience or endurance. We would never learn to trust God in the midst of difficulty. And so, God allows us to wait, to exercise our faith and develop our character.

Inheriting the promises of God is not for quitters! I wonder how many people have given up right before a breakthrough. God is right around the corner in their lives, but the storms of life have beaten them down so badly they don’t feel like they can keep going, so they give up. One thing that holding onto faith will do is develop endurance in you so you keep going until you see God come through.

It is not enough to have faith; we must endure patiently while maintaining and growing the faith we have. Even if we don't see it yet, we can trust that God's promises are true and will come true. As long as we keep believing and don't give up, His promises will ultimately come to pass in our lives.

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This blog entry is taken from Evangelist Robert Presson's devotional book, "30 Days of Faith, Hope, and Love." To order this book, go to https://cityrevivalnola.com/fhl, and do 2 things: 1) give an offering of any amount, and 2) fill out the form that includes your mailing address so we can send you the book.
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