A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, they noticed a man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” But sure enough, the man came to their table.
“Where are you folks from?”
“Oklahoma.”
“Great to have you here in Tennessee. What do you do for a living?”
“I teach at a seminary.”
“Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you.” The gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.
The man pointed to the window and said, “See that mountain over there? Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, “Hey boy, Who’s your daddy?” Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, “Who’s your daddy?”
When he went to church, he’d always go in late and slip out early. But when he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church.
One Sunday, the preacher said the benediction so fast that the boy got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the preacher put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and innocently asked, “Son, who’s your daddy?” Everyone standing near got deathly quiet.
The preacher sensed the situation and said, “Wait a minute! I know who you are! I see the family resemblance now. You’re a child of God.” He patted the boy on his head and said, “Young man, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.”
The boy smiled and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, “Who’s your Daddy?” he’d now just tell them, “I’m a Child of God.”
The man got up from the table and said, “Isn’t that a great story?”
The professor said, “That was a really great story!
As the man turned to leave, he said, “You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!” And he walked away.
The professor called the waitress over and asked, “Do you know who that man was?”
“Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s governor of Tennessee!” Knowing who you are makes all the difference.
Most of us know our parents. That’s what connects us to our family heritage. Much of who we are, many of our characteristics come through that heritage. Knowing who our daddy is gives us answers. “Oh, that explains a lot.” But how does being a Child of God make a difference in us?
Singer, Tauren Wells said, “Mentally we understand that we are created by God, we are His children, but there is such a gap in us understanding how that applies to our everyday life and what that brings us.
Remember who you are.
What difference would it make to know: We are who God says we are. And that we have what God says we have.
I am REDEEMED.
I am a NEW CREATION.
I am VALUABLE.
I am CHOSEN
I am WISE.
I am RIGHTEOUS.
I am God’s MASTERPIECE.
I am STRONG.
I am VICTORIOUS.
I am COMPLETE.
I am LOVED.
I am a CHILD OF GOD.
How do we know that? It’s in the Book. So, now that we know it, how might accepting it affect how we trust God?
Knowing what He has declared about His children and what He’s done for His children in the past bring hope for what He can do for His children right now.
It’s our family heritage. We belong to a family with a good Father who tends to the needs of His children. If I believe I am unworthy of His goodness, I will be less inclined to seek Him. If I know I am His child, I will depend on Him simply because He’s my Father.
A child had fallen down a narrow well. They found a boy small enough to be lowered into the hole. I’ll go if my daddy holds the rope. His confidence wasn’t in the rope but the one he knew wouldn’t let go of that rope.
Heb 11:1-2 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
Commend comes from the root word for witness. One who shares testimony of what they believe is the truth. You know something vital to the story. If you’re called to testify in court, you have information that brings clarity to the case. A witness for God is one who simply shares what he/she knows is true. Telling what God has done for them.
But, interesting, that word also means martyr. One who gave their life because they lived the truth of God.
What were these ancient people being commended for? For speaking and living the truth of what they knew about God. When you take the word testify as a witness, you are affirming what you have seen or heard or experienced. You can’t erase what you know to be true. When you take it as a martyr, you willingly stand in confidence, regardless of the outcome, that what you know is greater than your life. How we live the truth proves what we believe and makes our lives a confirming testimony.
1John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also…
We testify of what we know is true while we live by that truth. These men and women set the precedent for how we are to operate as Children of God.
A commendation is recognition for a job well done. In the military, the Commendation Medal is a decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Service members who display acts of heroism or meritorious achievements while performing their duties are recognized for their contribution to their unit and the nation. Not picking up a cigarette butt expecting to get rewarded for beautifying the base.
Biblical commendation is an expression of God’s gratitude when He sees faith in our actions. It is an acknowledgment by God that we’re pleasing Him by living as He intends for His children to live.
The writer is saying by their actions, what they believe became visible. It goes from acknowledging a truth in their hearts to that truth becoming a component in their lifestyle. And as a result, God accepted their faith as evidence of the surrender of their lives to Him.
Faith operates as the light we shine from the truth of God to the path of our lives.
Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Jesus said: Matt 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Faith – our ability to trust God – not only becomes the testimony of our life but the basis upon which we live our lives. As a result, our testimony shows how Great God is. From which He then commends us for pleasing Him.
Heb 11: 4-5 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Gen 4:2b-12 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor. So, Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.
Gen 5:21-24 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Able commended as righteous by doing what was right. Enoch commended as one who pleased God by walking in agreement with God.
Writer adds an “Oh by the way:” Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God.
If faith is the mechanism of pleasing God, living without exercising faith displeases Him.
Does He commend us today as He did the ancients? They were the prototypes – the first-built examples of what was to come. When we do as they did, we get the same results. We are declared righteous and please God. God acknowledges that we are walking in sync with what He expects from His children. Which makes us sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. That then defines our expectations.
A dad was going to take his son fishing the next day. That evening as he was putting his son to bed, the boy hugged his dad’s neck and said, "Daddy, thank you for tomorrow."
Trust—builds expectancy
Heb 11:6…because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Deut 4:29-31 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey Him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which He confirmed to them by oath.
Faith comes from knowing God is our Father. He is faithful to His children. And when we look for Him, we will find Him. The desire to seek Him is evidence we have the ability to trust Him.
Heb 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Why would we draw near unless we knew who it was we were drawing near to?
There was a certain old recluse who lived deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, distant relatives came from the city to collect his valuables. Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it. Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace, was an old cooking pot and his mining equipment. A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table. In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare bedroll on it. They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave. As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged them down. “Do you mind if I help myself to what’s left in my friend’s cabin?” he asked. “Go right ahead,” they replied. After all, they thought, what inside that shack could be worth anything? The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over the table. He reached under it and lifted one of the floor boards. He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the past 53 years – enough to have built a palace. The recluse died with only his friend knowing his true worth. As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust behind the relative’s car disappear, he said, “They should have gotten to know him better.”
“Living by faith provides glasses that enables us to see God’s work all around us. But some Christians intentionally close their eyes or look around with non-believing sunglasses. They don’t recognize God’s activity around them.” – Miracles Today: the Supernatural Work of God
The Children of God can trust their Father. So, if you are struggling to see God at work in your life, start with making sure you are one of His children.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
Then, check to see if your eyes are open or if you’re wearing sunglasses that block out your ability to see God at work. And even then, if you are struggling to see, go back to what you know is true. It could be Satan has confused you into doubting what you once were convinced was real. What we believe affects what we see and how we understand what we see.
Back up until you can stop at a point of which you are convinced this is true.
Years ago, on a dirt road in upstate New York, there was a sign that said, "Choose your rut carefully; you'll be in it for the next ten miles."
There are ruts of disbelief – paths of refusing to trust God – habits of not depending on Him. We can fall into one of those ruts and go for miles.
I don’t want to be guilty of that. I want to see God everywhere, in every circumstance, working out what is good on my behalf. I testify that my hope is in my Heavenly Father.
Rom 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
TAKEAWAYS:
- Faith is the fuel of the Christian’s life.
- It is our renewable resource for living as Children of God.
- Our tank gets drained, not by use, but by neglect.
- To be fully prepared for living faithfully we must stand convinced He is our source for life.
- To refill the tank, we acknowledge we are children of God who want to live out our heritage so that our Father is honored and pleased with us.
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