A Woman of Faith: Defining Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

The evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

I love that verse…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is frequently defined as a confidence or trust in something or someone, a belief that is not based on proof, or a belief in anything. Today I want to present the idea that faith is more than all of those things.

In John Piper’s sermon titled “What Faith Knows and Hopes For”, he defines faith as “a spiritual apprehending or perceiving or tasting or sensing of the beauty and sweetness, and preciousness, and goodness of what God promises—especially his own fellowship, and the enjoyment of it.” Faith is simply more than placing your trust in somebody or your belief in something. Faith is the reason you can place your trust in somebody or your belief in something.

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the substance of things hoped for. The Greek word for substance is hupostatis and it literally means a setting under or a support or foundation. Think about that…Faith is the support for things hoped for. The Greek word for hoped for is elpizo which means to expect or confide but the root word of elpizo is elpis which means to anticipate. Faith is the support for things anticipated. You know that they are coming, but you haven’t seen them yet. It is the evidence that they are coming. It is the evidence or proof that they do exist. Faith is the foundation.

The Bible describes faith in so many different ways. Just look at some of these:

Ø  A  way of walking:

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

Ø  A means of protection:

o    “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)

o   “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Ø  A purifier or cleanser:

o   “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9)

Ø  A door:

o   “On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27)

Ø  A way of life:

o   “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘the righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17)

o   “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “The righteous will by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)

Ø  A mystery:

o   “Holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience.” (1 Timothy 3:9)

Ø  A fruit

o   “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23a)

Ø  A gift

o   “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—“ (Romans 2:8)

Ø  An assurance

o   “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)

Faith is so much more than simply trusting or having confidence in someone or something or even believing in something without evidence. Faith is what supports those things. It is the foundation. Faith provides the evidence. It is the reason we are able to trust. It is the reason we are able to believe. Without faith, we can’t believe, we can’t trust, and we can’t hope.

“Faith is a God-given ability to trust the future that God has promised you.” –John MacArthur

“Faith makes all things possible…

Love makes all things easy.”

~D L Moody

 

A Woman of Faith

Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him;

But the righteous will live by faith.

Habakkuk 2:4

The woman in Proverbs 31 has many virtues as we saw in my last post on her, and I plan to visit all of those virtues or characteristics in the coming weeks. Today I want to focus on the faith of the woman in Proverbs 31. To many people who read these verses it probably seems like very little is said about her faith, but as I have been reading these verses, I see that these verses are about her living her faith.

The woman is Proverbs 31 lives her life by faith…but how do we know this? What do we see in her life that points to her being a woman of faith?

Everything she does is an action of faith…In the book of James, James says that faith without deeds is dead (Jas. 2:14-26). She shows her faith by her deeds. It is her faith though that produces her deeds. In his book Unstoppable: the Incredible Power of Faith in Action, Nick Vujicic describes it this way:

“I’ve heard it said that our actions are to our faith and beliefs as our bodies are to our spirits. Your body is the housing of your spirit, the evidence of its existence. In the same way, your actions are the evidence of your faith and beliefs.”(p. 10)

Do you see it now? Everything that the Proverbs 31 woman does comes from her faith. It is how she shares her faith with the world.

So I have to ask…what do your actions say about you? Are they pointing to you as a woman of faith or do you they show that you still have a way to go? It is alright if you do. I know that I have a long way to go, but I also know that when I come to the end of my life I want people to say that I was a woman who lived my faith. I want my faith to be a living, breathing feature in my life so that when all look to me they see less of me and see more of Christ.

Would you join me? For the next whoever knows how long, I am going to focus on faith, what it is, why it is important, where does it come from, how much faith do we need, and how we can increase our faith.

The Woman of Noble Character, Part II

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

Proverbs 31:10 (NIV)

In the last blog we discussed the key to becoming a woman of noble character. Today I want to take a look at who the woman of noble character is.

Let us focus on the phrase “noble character” for a while. What exactly does it mean to have a noble character? How would you define a noble character? Visualize a person that you see as having a noble character. What traits do you see in them? Why would you say that he or she is a noble person?

The Hebrew word used to describe this woman is chayil (pronounce khahˊ-yil). This word means a force, valor, strength, substance, might, power, or valiant. A woman of noble character is in essence a force to be reckoned with. She is strong and confident. She is a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it, but she does so with grace and dignity. She is woman who embodies the fruit of the Spirit.

When I read through the verses describing a wife of noble character, I see 12 different traits that make her noble.

1)       She is a woman of faith. She trusts God. (Proverbs 31:21, 25, 30)

2)       She is a woman of love. (Proverbs 31:10-31)

3)       She is a woman of worth. (Proverbs 31:10)

4)       She is a woman of integrity. (Proverbs 31:11)

5)       She is a woman of compassion. (Proverbs 31:15, 20)

6)       She is a woman of purpose and industry. (Proverbs 31: 13-19, 22, 24, 27)

7)       She is a woman of wisdom. (Proverbs 31:26)

8)       She is a woman of wellness. (Proverbs 31:17 & 25)

9)       She is a woman of resilience. (Proverbs 31:21, 25)

10)   She is a woman of knowledge. (Proverbs 31:26)

11)   She is a woman of self-control and discipline. (Proverbs 31:15-16, 21)

12)   She is a woman of dignity. (Proverbs 31:25)

13)   She is a woman of humility. (Proverbs 31:10-31)

Aren’t all of these traits that we should all be striving to have? Whether we are married or single, being a woman of noble character isn’t as much about what we do as it is about who we are or whose we are. I don’t know about you, but I know that I can’t be all these things on my own. I know who can create these traits in me though and He wants to create them in you also.

As we are developing these traits in ourselves, we need to be acting them out. If you don’t see a trait in yourself that you want to develop, then act as if you are already have that trait. If you want to be a more compassionate person, then act like a compassionate person, i.e. doing random acts of kindness in the community, helping someone who needs help.

We are going to explore these traits in depth in the weeks to come. I am looking forward to it and I hope that you are too.

God bless and I’m praying for you!