Faith that conquers is great faith, but faith that continues is even greater. In Hebrews 11 the Old Testament heroes conquered kingdoms, performed great acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness they were made strong, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight. But that was not always the case…Others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mocking’s and scourging’s, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawn in two, tempted, put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins, and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (Men of whom this world is not worthy) wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. (vv.35-38). If they would have recanted their faith they would have been delivered, but they endured suffering because they were looking for a heavenly and eternal existence, not a temporal one. They did not fear death because they viewed their trials through the eyes of faith. “God help us to see our trials the same way.”

To grow our faith, we need other people: Battle Formation: While the Roman shield was carried by an individual soldier, it was most effective when combined with the shields of other soldiers.

In Paul’s day, archers of the Roman army would put cotton like material on the tips of their arrows and soak it with pitch. Before they shot the arrow, they would light the material. It would burn slowly but it was very hot. When the arrow hit the target, the pitch would splatter and start little fires, sometimes even the soldiers garments were set on fire.

To prevent this the soldiers would get into battle formation called the tortoise or phalanx. This is called the shield of faith; they would lift their shields and interlock with the soldier next to them. This shield of faith is utilized in community. Sometimes God will strengthen us when we are all alone but most often he strengthens us through the words or presence of other people in our lives. So do not neglect the benefit of following Jesus as a part of a community of believers, and let God grow your faith alongside, and as a part of His people.

God never intended for people to follow Christ alone. To grow faith that dispels your fears, you need other people. Faith is Contagious! “Every Word of God is tested; he is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” As long as you believe God, your shield is up. When you believe Satan’s lies, your shield comes down.

Faith is the most important element in life– without it; it is impossible to please God. At the core, faith is an act of trust by which we commit ourselves to someone or something. Faith is believing in the object of our trust. Believing in ourselves. Believing in another person. Ultimately, believing in God.

Faith is so important that it is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible!

The power of our faith rests in the object of our faith. At the foundation of all love is belief in the object that is loved. If we do not believe in a person we cannot love him or her. The same is true in our spiritual journey. We must begin with God: believing that He exists, believing that He cares, and believing that His love is real. “There is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear” (1John 4:18).

The object of Abraham’s faith was not just the promises of God. His faith rested in God Himself. The key to the Christian life is our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial and atoning death for our sins. We do not only believe that He died on the cross as a fact of history, but we believe that He died for our sins personally.

When we trust what Jesus did for us on the cross, we receive the gift of eternal life. (John 3:16-18) God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

What Abraham believed in his mind and heart, he put into action with his life. He turned trust into travel and experienced God’s grace and power along the way. Despite his imperfections God blessed him and Sarah with their promised son Isaac. Through them the nation of Israel was born- the lineage of Jesus Christ was begun. The plan to bless the world with a Savior continued to develop. God’s plan rested on the shoulders of a man who practiced faith.

I pray that we will be like the saints of old. Each one of them trusted God in a unique way. Their confidence in God’s promises resulted in personal obedience to His will for their lives. They clung to the hope that God would eventually triumph over what was challenging them. May we believe the same!