Day 34: ALL IN for Jesus
Greetings from Timor-Leste!
You know, it is one thing to live by faith with an expectation to see visions fulfilled in our lifetime. But can we also die in faith, knowing that they may only come to pass way beyond us?
Hebrews 11 is a well-known passage on faith. It defines faith and even lists out inspiring giants of faith who have gone before us.
But it ends on this bittersweet note in Hebrews 11:39-40: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
After all these giants of faith were commended by the Lord, you mean they did not even receive what was promised to them?
I don’t know about you, but this challenges me. How do I live by faith and then also die in faith, assured that His perfect plans are just beyond me?
Lessons from Hebrews
Two things hit me from Hebrews 11:1.
1. God’s promises are guaranteed
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”.
Abraham had the faith to go all in. He left his home not knowing where he was going. And at a childless old age, he was promised descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. In his lifetime, he received his precious son, Isaac, but he didn’t receive in full what was promised.
Generations later, we now have the gift of hindsight. We see his descendants and God’s faithfulness to Abraham.
His promises are guaranteed.
Today, I believe God calls us to an all-in kind of discipleship, to a life that holds nothing back from Him. No hesitations, no buts. A life trusting God with impossible kingdom visions that He places on our hearts because His promises are guaranteed. He invites us to an all-in kind of faith. How will we respond?
2. God’s plans will outlast us
Why didn’t these giants of faith receive what was promised? God had something better in mind.
Just when it seemed that Moses had seen it all – the mighty deliverance, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea – God showed him something even better … the Promised Land!
And yet, Moses never set foot in it. The next generation did.
They saw the mighty provision of God, and by faith, the walls of Jericho fell after the army had marched around them for seven days. God’s plan outlasted Moses. And guess what? Today, God still has something better in store for us. A plan that will outlast us; the accumulation of all of His work through every faith-filled generation, including you and I, and the many that will come after us.
It is one thing to live by faith with an expectation to see visions fulfilled in our lifetime. But can we also die in faith, knowing that they may only come to pass way beyond us?
Imagine the tapestry of faith-filled stories that Jesus sees of His Bride throughout time and history. That’s His perfect plan. One that can’t be completed by any one generation, but by thousands of generations.
Will we walk together in obedience? Our success is not tied to outcomes that we can see, but to our obedience in faith.
God’s perfect plan isn’t meant to be completed by any one generation, but by thousands of generations.
Building churches that are heartbeats
Last year, the Lord gave me a vision.
I saw this drone shot of our village here in East Timor. And right in the middle of our village was our church that slowly transformed into a pulsating heart, with arteries flowing through the village like rivers in a desert. With every beat, life flowed through the village. And I felt the Lord say: “I want my church to be the heart of every community, not just a part of it.”
And my heart leapt with excitement because that’s exactly it. And I pray this, too, for every church in Singapore and the nations – to be the life of each community, because that’s who our God is.
If our churches close tomorrow, will our communities feel it? Will they yearn for His presence and His love that’s being shown through His Bride?
We are His chosen agent of world transformation beyond our pews!
So I responded to the Lord:
God, if this is the vision that You’re calling me to invest in, to see every church being Your heart in their communities, it is beyond me. It will take several lifetimes.
But I believe Your promises are guaranteed. Help me to go all in with the generations that You are calling. It’s not about me seeing its fruition, it’s about Your eternal Kingdom and the impossible Kingdom visions that You have placed on our hearts for the nations. Let’s go all in together.
Lord, thank You that Your promises are guaranteed. Your plans will outlast us. Help us to live and die in faith, being Your faith-filled Church that goes all in into Kingdom visions that You have placed in us.
Amen.