I was so encouraged while singing "By Faith" this morning (lyrics to follow). The first verse states, "By faith we see the hand of God in the light of creation's grand design,". At prayer meeting last week, we read Ps 19, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (verse 1)
The verse of the song goes on, "in the lives of those who prove His faithfulness, who walk by faith and not by sight." I thought about my friend sitting in front of me. She experienced a house fire and has had issue after issue after issue getting the insurance companies and workers and contractors to just do what they are supposed to do. And through it all, she has continued to trust God and be a witness for Him, along with loving her husband, kids, and parents.
Verse 2 talks about our fathers "roaming the earth, with the power of His promise in their hearts..." They did not rule the earth with power, they roamed the earth, but always had the powerful promises of God Almighty!
I praised God that "the prophets saw a day when the longed-for Messiah would appear, with the power to break the chains of sin and death..." This was accentuated for me because we have been studying Luke this year and seeing Jesus drive out demons and heal all the sick again and again and again. There was no demon or group of demons too strong to drive out, nor any sickness or condition beyond His power!
And now we, as the church, are "called to go in the power of the Spirit to the lost, to deliver captives and to preach good news in every corner of the earth." Jesus stood up and read this in the synagogue:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Now we too can "proclaim good news to the poor". Because of Christ, captives can be set free, "the power of the gospel shall prevail"!
“By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight
By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign
We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight
By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave
By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth
We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight
By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name
We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight ”
