“It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27 NLT)
Have you ever marveled at the accomplishments of someone who is really good at something? At Christmas time I have to listen to David Phelps sing O Holy Night, in a way I had never heard it sung before.
It’s also interesting to me that no one had ever run a mile in less than 4 minutes until a 25-year-old medical student named Roger Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. It was commonly believed to be a physical impossibility, yet once Bannister broke the record others have also. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men’s record holder for the Imperial mile with his time of 3:43.13.
We often read the Bible with the proverbial “rose-colored glasses,” holding people who to us are “giants” of the faith, with such esteem we can’t imagine our lives being lived with anything near the kind of faith they possessed. In our minds they accomplished the “impossible.” And the truth is, they did! But nothing is impossible for God, and He is able and willing to empower and enable me and you to do “impossible” things in and through our lives if we’ll only trust and rely on Him.
The verse from Hebrews above, noted that Moses was able to accomplish the impossible because “he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” That sounds very spiritual yet seems unattainable to people like us. But is it? The invisible becomes visible in the heart and mind of those who dare to keep their “eyes” on Jesus”
In Hebrews 11:1-2a we read: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down the mountain after experiencing the miraculous vision of Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah, a desperate father brought his demon-possessed son, whom the other disciples couldn’t heal, to Jesus. Of course, Jesus healed him instantly, but this baffled the disciples who had tried and failed.
“Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” To which Jesus said: “You don’t have enough faith” Then He said: “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matthew 17:19-20) What’s Jesus’ point?
Simply this: our walk with Him is faith-based, faith-lived, and faith-dependent. Did you notice what the disciples asked Jesus after being unable to heal the demon-possessed boy? “Why couldn’t WE cast out that demon?” Because WE have no power except it’s given us through faith in the only One who can!
The reality is, it’s impossible to live a life of faith in Christ in the energy of the flesh. The longer we walk with Him and the more we saturate our heart, mind, soul, and strength with His life and love, the more the invisible becomes visible, and the more the impossible becomes possible!
We’ll look at this a little more closely in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 