We Don’t Stagger. We Swagger.

• ¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:13-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Living by faith isn’t just about obtaining promises. It’s also about building a spiritual legacy in light of eternity.
  • We need to raise our children as heirs of that legacy; raise them as prophets and voices for change in their generation.
    • ‭‭⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews‬ ‭11:9-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
      • Abraham is called the father of faith, not just because he knew how to obtain promises through faith, but because he passed on a legacy of faith in God.
• ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, ¹⁵ because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. ¹⁶ 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 ¹⁷ (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; ¹⁸ 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.” Romans‬ ‭4:13-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Grace is the foundation of faith.
  • Righteousness: a position not a condition, a standing not a state
  • Abraham’s faith that God would fulfill His promise was based on who God is.
• The God side:
  • His power: gives life to the dead
  • His purpose: calls it done already
  • Contrary to hope: contrary to ordinary human expectation
  • When circumstances are opposed to God’s promise, when God calls it done, you call it done, you expect it, and He tells us how!
• The man side:
  • ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:19-22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
    • a. Weak (feeble)
      • Faith must be released.
      • The purpose of a belief is to govern what you think, say, and do.
      • It’s not the size of your faith, it’s whether you release it or not.
      • What you feed grows. What you exercise grows.
    • b. Consider (to look on)
      • Faith must be fed  and strengthened, or it will be abandoned.
      • Your focus determines how you experience reality.
      • You can believe God’s word in the face of circumstances, while not ignoring the circumstances or pretending no problem exists.
      • Faith recognizes the problem, then presents it to God, acknowledging Him in the face of the problem, and declaring His Word as the final word.
        • “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
        • Circumstances change. God’s Word never changes.
    • c. Waver: going back and forth
    • d.  Unbelief: rejection of something as truth
      • If your focus is on circumstances, it’s easy to abandon what you believe.
    • e. Strengthened in faith, giving glory to God
      • Glory: high esteem
      • Magnifying glass: focused attention
      • I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.
      • Fully convinced: not undecided
      • You don’t try the Word. The Word tries you.
        • ¹⁹ ‭‭Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him. Psalms‬ ‭105:19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
• ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:17-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
  • Sometimes God will allow your trust to be tried.  It’s about your heart.  He wants you to possess His promise–not be possessed by it.