The Strand Study Bible

DEUTERONOMY

399 DEUTERONOMY mind? According to Philippians 4:8, we do. Whenever we schedule spiritual activity into our time, we help to control our minds. Those who wish to keep the faith for a lifetime must learn to schedule their thought life around God and His Word. 5. Realize your schedule must be practiced (Josh 1:8 and Psa 1:1-3) What good is a schedule if its not practiced? Practicing scheduled spiritual activity every day leads to the joy and strength of the Lord (Neh 8:1-10-17) The reason our faith “pleases” God is because it communicates to God that we believe He exists . It also displays to an unbelieving world the assurance, reality (substance) and proof (evidence) of God’s existence (vs 1). Thus God uses our response to His Word as proof of His existence–and He likes that! Simply put, when a man obeys God whom he cannot see, he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. Now the beauty of faith is that it’s the “ONLY” thing that “pleases” God. What you do may not always be pleasing to you, but if it is pleasing to God, then God is pleased with you. God is always pleased with: * common people who choose to do the uncommon thing (Heb 11:4) Abel was no different than his older brother Cain when it came to common sense. Common sense told him that the way to God was through good intentions; not killing some animal that you weren’t going to eat (Gen. 1:29 & 2:9 state that our first parents and their descendants were no doubt vegetarians). Yet when God spoke to Abel about sacrificing one of the innocent lambs that he was keeping (Gen 4:2-4), he never even blinked. The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unusual for men to think outside the box ( Mk 12:41-44 ). * ordinary people who choose to do the extraordinary thing (Heb 11:7) Noah was just your average Joe, enjoying pre-flood conditions (longevity, perfect weather, etc.), when God came along and spoke to him about doing something bizarre–like building an ark for the coming rain (Gen 6:13-22). The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so out of the ordinary for men to think outside the norm (Jn 9:1-7). * comfortable people who choose to do the uncomfortable thing (Heb 11:8-10) Abraham was a home body just like anybody else. Yet when God spoke to him and asked him to leave his comfortable surroundings (Gen 12:1-4), he left and never looked back “ for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God .” The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unsettling for men to think outside their comfort zone (Jn 6:66-69). * selfish people who choose to do the unselfish thing (Heb 11:11) Sara was 88 years old (past the age of child bearing) when God informed her that she would conceive and bear a son. And although she laughed at the thought (Gen 18:9-14), she was “willing” to lay with Abraham in order to obey God. The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unlike men to think outside of themselves (II Tim 4:9-10). Unfortunately, after the reload comes war again. It has been pointed out by the Society of International Law at London that there have been only 268 years of peace during the last 4,000 years of human history, despite the signing of more than 8,000 separate peace treaties! I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but WASHINGTON has a large assortment of peace monuments–we build one after every war… After 6,000 years of human history, there appears to be only ONE thing that we cannot accomplish– peace. Why does peace appear to be so unattainable? Peace is impossible because peace can only come from God (Isa 9:6 and Lk 2:11-14), and few people are willing to “yield to God” (have faith enough in God to obey Him – Acts 16:22-28 and Lk 6:27-30). According to the Bible, there is a progression (a sequence) for obtaining peace, and it all starts with faith (Eph 2:8 and Gen 6: 1- 8 ). Because Noah found God’s grace ; he also experienced God’s mercy (Noah was safe inside the ark, while those outside the ark perish) and eventually God’s peace (Noah finally stepped out onto dry land). Therefore, grace always comes before mercy and mercy before peace ( Titus 1:4 , I Tim 1:2, II Tim 1:2 and II Jn 3), for only the forgiven (grace) may be blessed (mercy) and settled in their hearts (peace). Humanist H.G. Wells once noted: Lloyd Cory in his book Quote Unquote once noted: PEACE IS THE BRIEF GLORIOUS MOMENT in history when everybody stands around reloading. 2

III. The beauty of faith

Lesson #4. Faith alone pleases God (Heb 11:6)

Lesson #5. Faith alone leads to peace (Eph 2:8)