Two thousand years ago the Lord stated He would come quickly. The way God looks at time and the way we view time must be quite different. Our idea of "quickly" is not two thousand years.

This tells us that while we may receive the answer to our prayers instantly it also may be true that the promise will be fulfilled forty years from now. Time is not the important aspect. God always answers prayer, although sometimes He is not able to give us what we truly are asking for (not just what we think we desire) until many changes take place—often primarily in us.

The fact is, we have all eternity to get what we want and do what we want. There is no hurry. Although our flesh and soul clamor for gratification there actually is no hurry. Let us rest patiently with God while He prepares an answer for us sublimely above anything we could ask or think. (Consider the answer to the prayer of Abraham for a son!)

All things are possible with God. Let us have faith in God, wait patiently for Him, obey Him sternly in every detail, not faint because of fear, unbelief, or weariness, and in due season we shall reap.

What It Means To "Live By Faith"

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (Hebrews 10:38)

The expression "the just shall live by faith" originated in the Old Testament. The concept is not unique to the New Testament.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)

The righteous always have lived by faith in God. To live by faith in God is to follow God throughout our pilgrimage in this world rather than to trust in our own wisdom and abilities.

To not live by faith is to "draw back." "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

We are not to shrink back. Once we set our hand to the plow we are not to look back. The Lord warned us that if we look back we are not fit for the Kingdom of God. Lot's wife looked back.

It is not always easy to press forward in faith. But we must do this instead of shrinking back from the battle. God takes no pleasure in those who throw away their confidence, who are not willing to persevere, who turn away in fear and unbelief from the pressures of life, hoping to please their flesh and soul.

The righteous live by always pressing forward in faith and obedience to God. The righteous of all ages have lived by continuing onward in faith. The Law of Moses was a Divine device intended to keep Israel from sin until Christ came. But true, lasting righteousness never came to anyone by means of the Law but only by pressing forward with the person's eyes on the Lord whether the individual lived before the old covenant, under the old covenant, or under the new covenant.

So it is today. We are justified in God's sight when we keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus and move forward in Him each day.

Going forward with our eyes on the Lord is an extremely important aspect of scriptural faith.

To be continued.