NOVEMBER 15, 2016

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” 
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

EZEKIEL 10-12

18“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(11:18-21) 

HEBREWS 11:1-19

1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.

3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5By 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.”^a For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^bconsidered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^c 19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

JOURNAL 

I sometimes think that the most difficult way to live in this world is when there are no obvious enemies...when there is no "obvious" oppression.  I admit that I sometimes long for a collective cause or enemy. I think that is why natural disasters get my juices going...I know I'm not alone in that. I know other men that have confessed that sometimes they want the hurricane to come their way...they want the snowstorm to to pile up feet of snow and trap them in. It sounds crazy that we would secretly want a fight, an enemy, a challenge - even at the risk of personal harm.

Yet I think this is because we were made for conflict. We were made to thrive in difficulty. I think it's because it forces us to face our limitations, draw on our talents and band together as community, family etc. 

That would mean that the greatest threat to our heart and soul is not conflict and suffering but rather ease and comfort. The reasoning would be that if ease and comfort draw us away from our need of God and others...conflict and difficulty actually draws us to God and others.  It seems so backward and opposite of my emotions at times...yet this is truly one of those trust moments...to willingly wade into conflict requires faith and hope in things not seen...but this puts us right in the middle of the heart of all those heroes spoken of in these verses...seeking refuge and strength in God. 

1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.

HEBREWS 11:1-2