The Faith of the Harlot Rahab

Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Yesterday we studied a bit on the fall of the wall of Jericho.  Prior to that fall the people of God sent two men to spy out the land of Jericho. Those spies were on the verge of being caught and the harlot Rahab hid them so they wouldn't be found. She talked with them and asked them to remember what she'd done and spare her family when they took over the city. She BELIEVED the city would be taken over. Read this--

Jos 2:9  And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

I KNOW that the LORD hath ...

Jos 2:10  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

We have HEARD how the LORD…

Jos 2:11  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

OUR HEARTS DID MELT…

HE IS GOD IN HEAVEN ABOVE and IN EARTH BENEATH.

Jos 2:12  Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
Jos 2:13  And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
Jos 2:14  And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

She believed! She believed in God having never learned of Him as the children of God had been taught of Him. She had FAITH in God just by HEARING the things He'd done. She hadn't any direct contact with God.  Brought into her life these two men of God could have easily been betrayed by her. She could have feared those in her land more than the God she'd never really knew or worshipped. She misled those inquiring after the two men. She hid those men. She risked her own wellbeing and the wellbeing of her family because she FEARED the ONE TRUE GOD more than she feared the others.  She BELIEVED God would have His way and the city of Jericho would fall to the children of God because it was HIS WILL.  She believed and she was SAVED because of her belief!

The Faith of Rahab- a harlot.

And I say that because God's word says that.

'By faith the harlot Rahab…'

The harlot Rahab.

The harlot.

Websters Definition-A woman who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a common woman.

Truly one who was a blatant sinner, and yet one that God used, one who allowed herself to be used by God for HIS WILL. 

We all are blatant sinners. A prostitute's sin might be right out there in your face, while another's sin might be a secret sin- but ALL our secret sins are blatant to our GOD, He sees them all! We can hide nothing from God, not a single sin is hidden from Him. You might think you are hiding things from God, you might think you are convincing God your sin isn't really all that bad, but HE knows…He knows.

Whether a prostitute or not, we are all classified as sinners.

We all must live by FAITH in GOD our CREATOR, our REDEEMER, we MUST have faith in HIM. He is, He was, and He will always be.

Saved by FAITH because they LIVE by FAITH.

By the grace of God we WILL live by FAITH and be SAVED by FAITH, all by HIM and HIS LOVE.

May we have the FAITH of Rahab, a living faith, a saving faith.

In the LOVE of GOD always!

By Faith the Wall Fell

Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Jos 6:3  And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
Jos 6:4  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

Jos 6:5  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

Jos 6:6  And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:7  And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

Jos 6:8  And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
Jos 6:9  And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

Jos 6:10  And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

Jos 6:11  So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
Jos 6:12  And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:13  And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

Jos 6:14  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

Jos 6:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
Jos 6:16  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
Jos 6:17  And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Jos 6:18  And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
Jos 6:19  But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

Jos 6:20  So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

*******

Today we'd say this was stuff of fiction. People include this sort of stuff in their fictional movies that include a supernatural element. We watch those sorts of shows and note the 'special effects', knowing some are accomplished much more realistically than others. We can appreciate really good special effects that make something seem almost real within the story being portrayed. Bad special effects just leave us shaking our heads wishing for a better quality movie.

This was NOT a special effect along the lines of fiction. There were no camera men using tricks of their trade to manipulate the filming in order to make something seem realistic.  This REALLY happened.

The city of Jericho is under siege. 
Within the city are the BAD guys.
Without the city are the GOOD guys.
Within the city are those who do NOT believe in GOD.
Without the city are GOD'S PEOPLE.

After God's people were given their freedom from the Egyptians, Moses led them through the wilderness and after forty years Joshua led them through the lands becoming conquerors of the land promised to them.  Jericho was a part of the land promised to God's people.

Do you imagine for a single moment that Joshua would have acted on the commands of God if he didn't have FAITH in God to perform what He said He would? Seriously, you DO NOT generally do something someone tells you to do without believing what they are saying is true, without having that faith in their word.

If someone told you to go to the edge of a cliff and jump off it, that you'd really be okay, would you believe them?  Automatically you want to say NO WAY, I'm NOT jumping off a cliff for anyone!  I might believe that a person loves me, but asking me to jump off a cliff well that's just plain crazy.  So how do you keep believing in someone if you do not believe them in all things? How can you trust in some ways but NOT others?  Is it a real faith when you condition your believing upon doing only the things you desire to do? Seriously. There may have been a huge safety net filled with the softest padding ever just over that cliff but rather than believe that the person you say you have faith in would NEVER ask you to do something that would harm you, you decided NOT to believe in that person anymore.

You might quickly counter that with God asking people to go suffer through afflictions even unto death as many have and do, but the REASON those people choose to suffer is because they know the reward is so much greater than anything they suffer here and now.  They believed and believe that somehow ALL things would work together for good because they DO LOVE GOD. They have the necessary FAITH in God, a FAITH that believes and acts on that belief regardless of ALL circumstances! They don't jump in with- well just this one time I won't do what I know I should do, God will understand. They DO what they know they should do and KNOW God will reward them accordingly.  Their faith is allowed to GROW when they build upon it, and vice versa. A person's faith is allowed to fade away when they continuously choose NOT to live by it.

Joshua was given commands by the LORD and He relayed those commands to the people of God. The people of God FOLLOWED those commands.

Just imagine- you are told that you are going to march around a city every day in complete silence other than trumpets sounding and you are going to do this for six days.  Then on the seventh day you are going to march around a city seven times and then shout. After doing all that, following all those commands the WALLS to the city you've been marching around would FALL down allowing you to enter and take over the city. 

Who in their right mind would ever believe such a plan?

Joshua did.
The people of God following Joshua did.

They believed in GOD and though what was being asked of them seemed strange, they believed God would do as He said He would. The walls would fall down without any bombardment, without any attack on the walls themselves, they would simply fall down of their own accord. Of course it wouldn't truly be  by their own accord, God's invisible means would bring it all to pass.

What do you suppose would have happened if Joshua didn't believe?  He most certainly wouldn't have
marched around the city for six days not even once a day what would be the point? 
Joshua had to have had faith in God for God's plan to work. 

We need faith in God of we want God's plan for us to work.  Without faith that plan won't work and it will not be God's fault, it will be OUR fault!  We must LIVE by FAITH! That doesn't mean believing in God only when it suits our needs, our desires, our plans.  It means believing ALWAYS even when everything inside of us is telling us not to believe, that'd we'd be crazy to believe- THIS IS FAITH.

Do we believe? Do we have faith? 

BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE CAN HAVE FAITH!

We NEED FAITH.

Rev_14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The FAITH OF JESUS!

Please LORD all through YOU!

In YOUR AMAZING LOVE!

The Faith of Moses

Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

By FAITH Moses was HID for three months by his parents.
By FAITH Moses when we was matured REFUSED to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Moses CHOSE to SUFFER AFFLICTION with the people of GOD rather than ENJOY THE PLEASURES OF SIN FOR A SEASON.
Moses ESTEEMED the reproach of CHRIST GREATER RICHES than the TREASURES in EGYPT, because he knew the reward was ETERNAL LIFE.
By FAITH Moses left Egypt NOT fearing the anger of the king.
By FAITH Moses endured- because HE believed in the INVISIBLE GOD!
Through FAITH Moses kept the passover-the sprinkling of blood- so that the firstborn of His people would not die.
By FAITH Moses walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, yet the Egyptians drowned!

By FAITH!

Before Moses ever spoke with God, He, by FAITH chose God over living a life of pure luxury.

Sure we've seen movies and read books and so on all about the main character getting fed up with their superficial life of luxury and forsaking it, but it's so incredibly rare all we truly believe is only fictional people do something like that. Moses was NOT fictional. Moses was as real as you and I are. Moses chose GOD over everything else all by FAITH. He hadn't been given any special visitations by angels to convince him to do the will of God. He wasn't given anything tangible at all whatsoever to prove to him that the Egyptian ways were wrong.  Usually when a person is raised by a certain culture they grow up to accept that culture fully.  Moses didn't do that.  Moses realized he wasn't a 'natural born' Egyptian. And then Moses saw those people that He'd come from and knew that he was originally of them. He didn't thank all the Egyptian gods that He'd been fortunate enough to escape the fate of all his people. He felt the heavy weight of wrongness in the Egyptian way.  He CHOSE to give up all the luxuries KNOWING it would displease the leader of the Egyptians, knowing he would feel the wrath of that man who had the backing of every single Egyptian.   So not only was he choosing to deprive himself of a life of ease- he was incurring the anger of the most powerful man in all of Egypt.

TALK ABOUT FAITH!

We know so little about true faith, don't we? I mean come on. Look at our lives. We are constantly screaming for proof, screaming for a reason to really believe beyond faith. We allow our doubts to reign in us day after day after day not fully believing in God who LOVES us more than we can ever imagine. 

God Loves us so incredibly much.

We MUST believe! We MUST have faith!

The faith of MOSES is amazing!

He LIVED BY FAITH.

HE knew that the SAVIOR was HIS SAVIOR. He knew the TRUTH of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He believed in all that gives us HOPE.

By the GRACE of GOD may we too have this faith that MOSES had! 

PLEASE Lord HELP US! Help us comprehend our NEED for a real FAITH, that YOU ARE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE, OUR GOD, OUR CREATOR, OUR KING, OUR SAVIOR!

Please.

Thank you, Lord, all by YOUR LOVE AND GRACE.

The Faith of Joseph

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Gen 50:24  And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Gen 50:25  And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
Gen 50:26  So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exo 13:18  But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 13:19  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

Joseph made a prophecy- the children of Israel would be brought out of the land of Egypt and taken to the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When that prophecy was being fulfilled he wanted his bones taken from Egypt to that promised land.

It was by FAITH that Joseph made that prophecy. His FAITH that it would come to pass was a REAL ABIDING FAITH!

He BELIEVED!

We need to BELIEVE every single word of GOD!

JESUS SAID--

Joh_14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Joh_14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

If we have FAITH we KNOW HE WILL COME AGAIN UNTO US!

Were Joseph's bones taken from Egypt to the promised land a year after his death?

No.

We they taken two years after his death?

No.

Were they taken 100 years after his death?

No.

Were they taken 200 years after his death?

No.

What about 300 years after his death?

No.

Think about the length of time involved here. YEARS! Many, many years!

It came to pass just as Joseph prophesized.

How many people knew of that prophecy and as the years passed decided that Joseph's bones would just remain in Egypt forever, just like they would? It's safe to say a lot of people had to have believed they'd never be freed from Egypt's enslavement. It came to pass.

Jesus WILL return.

It's been thousands of years since Jesus made that prophecy, THOUSANDS of YEARS!

And Jesus isn't slack concerning that promise! 

Once that promise is fulfilled it means a whole new world.  It means something completely different from what we can imagine. It means the END of humanity as we know it, and while that is a GREAT thing because SIN and all its horrors will be no more, it's also the end of the chance for ANY more humans to be saved. The number of people that are saved from Adam to the last person will be all there are and NO MORE.  

Humans are sinners.
Humans have a Savior.
Humans will be saved.
Our Savior will save ALL that come to HIM, but ONCE He returns, ONCE it is all finished, all humans will be saved that are going to be saved.  No more will squeak in under the wire. There won't be any second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on -- chances.  All the chances will be over.

Just imagine what it has to take for our GOD to make the final determination that all who choose salvation have made that choice, and all who don't choose salvation never will choose it.

Throughout our lives people have had to make awful choices concerning who lives and who dies in a group of people. This is a decision that haunts many of them for the rest of their lives- and that's a human being who has the excuse of not being infallible. A human being can make the decision and then fall back on 'they did the best they could', and it'd be true.  God has to be make this decision and it has to be a perfect decision and one that will include ALL HUMANS that would choose SALVATION. There will come a time when GOD knows that any future human beings will NOT choose to be saved and that there is no more reason to wait, none.

He tarries, but He's NOT slack concerning the promise He's made to us.

Just as Joseph had FAITH when he made his prophecy.

We NEED to have FAITH that ALL JESUS' PROPHECIES WILL COME TO PASS!

We need to BELIEVE!

Our SAVIOR WILL RETURN FOR US! This is the truth! This is the Gospel of Salvation through HIM!


ALL IN HIS LOVE!

PLEASE Lord help us have the FAITH we need to believe fully in YOU and YOUR PROMISES!

PLEASE.

ALL BY YOUR GRACE!

Issac and Jacob- Blessed Using Faith

Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Giving a blessing Isaac  had to do so using FAITH.

Gen 27:27  And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Gen 27:28  Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Gen 27:29  Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

God give thee.

The blessing was for GOD to give Jacob the things that only God can give to a person.

We believe that we can give so much to each other but it is truly God who gives. Our pride has us believing we orchestrate so much, and Satan would have us believe that we do. Satan wants us to believe we have control over so much. Our pride gets us into so much trouble. We try to manipulate things an we are allowed to do so but only because God allows.  God is in CONTROL.

God BLESSES.

Through FAITH we believe in God's blessings.

By Faith Jacob believed God would bless those he blessed.

We all have to pray by FAITH, don't we?

When we pray we are talking to God. We, through FAITH, are speaking to God. 

FAITH.

A real belief.

Why would you talk to someone that you don't believe is really there?
Why would Isaac and Jacob ask blessings for their own if their was NO ONE to fulfill that blessing? They HAD FAITH.  They BELIEVED.

Today  we question God so much of the time.  We dare to question His reality, why because it makes us feel superior somehow to do that, to believe that there is NO ONE to rule over us, NO ONE created us, NO ONE has the power over us or anything we do.  We put ourselves FIRST and yet SO MUCH is out of our control completely. You'd think those things would give us a clue, wouldn't you? The fact that we control NOT even the breath we breathe, NOT the beat of our heart,  OUR own stature and on and on and on the list goes. And if you think because a doctor can prolong a life- restart a heart, artificially breathe for someone, that they are in control - think again.   God allows those hearts to be restarted and allows that breath to keep going. How do I know this? Because people do NOT live forever on heart and breathing machines- if they did we'd have storage for them wouldn't we? There'd be bodies of people well in to their hundreds now and there aren't. People love to imagine they have so much control, but they really don't. They make choices but who gives them the choices to make? The choices don't exist on their own. 

People will go to great lengths to deny GOD, but in the end they have NO answers. God IS THE ANSWER.

Through FAITH great men of God asked God to bless those they loved.  They believed GOD would give that blessing.

Do we believe God gives blessings?
Do we have the faith we need?

We need GOD to give us the FAITH. We believe and we NEED HELP for our UNBELIEF!

Abraham's Living Faith

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

By Faith.
By Faith.
We've been studying about Faith and we need to keep on studying Faith.

Sometimes we believe that once we've read something or studied it several times that it doesn't bear studying more, but the truth is, unless we are living all the truth we've ever studied we need to keep on studying.

Abraham LIVED faith.

Abraham was rewarded with the son promised to him, a son that by all normal conventions should have been denied him forever. That miracle son was born and that birth had to be amazing. The celebrations that had to have taken place, I mean, just imagine the way Abraham and Sarah had to feel when Issac was born.

God's promised son for them had finally arrived just as God said He would.

The road to that fulfilled promise was filled with a lot of bumps but it was a road that led to truth. We have to live on that road no matter how bumpy it gets. Even when the road seems washed out we have to believe that it isn't, that maybe it's ten feet under water but it's there! Faith.  God is THERE always! God is there! God is HERE! God is forever!

Abraham had his promised son and then…

Everything that Abraham imagined was turned completely upside down.

Do you imagine Abraham had to have thought that his faith had been tested to the fullest for all he'd endured waiting for Isaac? I mean years and years and years of having his faith tested and then…

Another test, the biggest test of his faith ever.

We aren't told much about the emotions going on with Abraham, we can only go on how we might feel, but we are NOT LIVING FAITH as Abraham was LIVING FAITH.

By all accounts Abraham should have been horrified, yet again, we are determining our reactions. Could Abraham's trust, his faith, have been so perfect that he wasn't the least bit horrified?

Gen 22:15  And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
Gen 22:16  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

He did NOT withhold his son, and HE COULD HAVE! He had that choice! He could have denied God's request. He was NOT forced to offer up His son to God. So many believe that God forces situations to get what He wants out of them but He doesn't!

The angel of the LORD said- because thou hast done this thing…

BECAUSE HE DID IT!

He didn't HAVE to do it!

Abraham's real faith, his living faith.

Do WE have this LIVING FAITH?

WE NEED IT!

All by the GRACE of God! All through HIS LOVE! Please LORD give us the FAITH WE NEED, faith as the faith Abraham held, all in YOU!

All These Died with Faith

Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise

Abraham by FAITH stayed in a STRANGE country- not his homeland. What's so important about that? A lot of people today are constantly on the move. A lot of people I would imagine have lived in the same place all their lives- happily. Yes, we've seen lots of movies and such about people wanting to leave their small dinky towns and go to the big city, and vice versa, but a lot of those movies end with the people wanting to go back to their birthplace.  There is something special about living in the same place your ancestors have. The roots run deep.  For Abraham having to leave all his family and his homeland and go to the land of promise sounds like a good thing- a promised land, but at the same time he was called to do it ALL by faith.  That land wasn't an easy land to live in, he had NO real home but tents. This wasn't luxury at all. He was enduring all this THROUGH FAITH. His life was a life of endurance living for a promise of a future for all his descendents.  He had FAITH. He lived pleasing God because He lived for others! Seriously. He was all about loving his fellow man and THIS is what God demands of us.

Abraham BELIEVED in GOD'S promises! He BELIEVED. He would NEVER EVER live to see his descendents number as the sand of the sea, or the stars of the sky but HE believed GOD would make this happen. He BELIEVED what seemed toe be impossible from a human standpoint.

Many men have lived with the idea of their lineage ending with them. If they are an only son without heirs. They live and die with this as a reality. Abraham was childless with his wife and it was only through her he would have a legitimate heir.  They passed their childbearing years and still they believed. There were a few doubts, but NEVER an outright disbelief. There was a lack of understanding, a trying to figure it out in their own way, but never a REAL disbelief, never!

Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

No. He wasn't wandering the earth looking for this city.  He was looking FORWARD to being an occupant of GOD'S Holy City. He knew that GOD had this city and He was promised this city just as WE are promised this city- all by the GRACE of GOD.

Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Sarah had FAITH as well. Did she laugh, did she question, did she try to work things out her own way? Yes to all of those. But she didn't lose her FAITH. She didn't lose her belief in GOD to do as He said He'd do.  We too live in a world that causes us to question, to doubt, to laugh and try to work things out our own way, but honestly none of that means we don't truly believe in GOD. Satan will try EVERYTHING to lead us to despair- a full doubt, a full disbelief one that is never retracted, one that never allows for a glimpse of hope.  As long as we have HOPE we can have FAITH, we can have BELIEF.  Sarah had faith, she had that bit of hope and that's all it took.  She placed her hope in GOD, not in herself, not in her husband, but in GOD.

Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Their faith was rewarded.

They didn't have a whole passel of children to start out the fulfillment of the promise. Abraham and Sarah didn't conceive child after child after child more than was possibly normal.  They had ONE child together. A SINGLE child was born to them long after they were past a human's ability to conceive. God ALONE performed the miracle within both of them to bring forth their promised child. God brought Abraham's seed back to life, and Sarah's womb as well.  Abraham was as good as dead concerning the ability to have children.  Sarah was also as good as dead concerning the same. Yet life came from them both, SOLELY by FAITH in GOD. Had they lacked faith they would NOT have realized the promise as it was beginning to be fulfilled.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

They ALL died believing!
They ALL died without receiving the promises fully realized.
They ALL had FAITH enough to believe the promises would one day be fulfilled even if it were far off.
They ALL believed, they embraced the promises being fulfilled at a much LATER time.
They ALL believed they were STRANGERS.
They ALL believed they were PILGRIMS ON EARTH.

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

They ALL sought a COUNTRY.

Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

They ALL by FAITH knew that the country offered by God in the future was better than any country they could possibly live in here on earth.
They ALL desired a HEAVENLY country.
They ALL desired to live with GOD in HIS country, in the CITY He prepares for them and no other.

They ALL DIED with this hope in them, every single one of them.

This FAITH, this AMAZING FAITH, we too need this FAITH, this BELIEF, this LOVE of GOD that goes so far beyond what we can truly imagine. Seriously, we need this FAITH.

God needs to be so real to us that we truly understand that we are PILGRIMS here on EARTH. We are STRANGERS here on EARTH. This sin corrupted earth is NOT the home we were designed for, not at all!

May God make this very real to us, very, very real!

Please LORD help us! SAVE US!

We believe Lord, we have Faith, help our unbelief, help our lack of faith. PLEASE LORD.

BLESS US!

All in YOU!
In YOUR love always!