|
Hall of Faith
by Yewande Erinle When I read Hebrews 11, I imagined myself walking through the rooms and hall ways of a particular mansion in heaven called the Hall of Faith. I imagined Jesus taking me to this mansion, and as we walked in, I saw huge pictures of each person mentioned in Hebrews 11; from Abraham the father of faith, down to men and women who may be unknown to you and I but obviously very well known to God. These picture frames are proudly mounted on the hall ways of the mansion, like Grammies and as Jesus took me round, He smiled proudly at each picture. I decided to take a closer look at each one and so I turn to Jesus to ask if I could take a closer look, but before I could open my mouth, He said 'go ahead dear, it's my pleasure' (of course! He knows my thoughts.. I said under my breath). Anyway, I walked over to one of the pictures, the frame was made of gold and precious stones, just like all the others. As I looked, I noticed that the picture was not still, it was a moving picture, almost like a movie if you like and it showed the life of a certain man on earth, so I turned round to ask Jesus who it was and before I could ask, I heard Him say, from the other side of the room, 'that's Abel, don't you recognize the picture?' So I take a closer look, and yes it was Abel, I could see Him laying down His sacrifice, a pleasing sacrifice and even though in that picture Abel could not see God at the time he gave His sacrifice, God was smiling down at him while enjoying the sweet aroma of His sacrifice. The picture showed every detail of Abel's faith filled life. I moved over to the next one and this time with Jesus by my side. This moving picture was of a man, constantly talking with God. I knew He was talking with God, because He would retire to a quiet place and just spend time telling God about his day and asking about God's day. Every time he came to that quiet place, I could sense the excitement as God smiled at Him, they took walks together and they laughed together, it was a relationship like no other and the strangest part of it was; while I knew it was God this man was with, I did not see Him (God I mean), I just knew. He spent so much time with God that He never wanted to go home. Finally I saw the scene where a mighty hand took his own little hand and gently lead Him away. I said to myself, that has got to be Enoch, I know that because I've always said to God, 'I want to walk with you like Enoch did' and by faith I am. Then over to the next picture; it was that of Noah, anyone would know Noah! I thought to myself. Look! It's the ark! I said to Jesus and He simply smiled. Noah believed that He heard God's voice and that God meant what He said when He spoke to Him about rain and building the ark. Noah believed and by this He saved future generations. I searched myself for a minute there; I find it difficult to trust that I hear God and even when I know it is Him speaking to me, I doubt that what He has said will come to pass. I may believe Him for a few days, but when the enemy brings in reason or causes me to think about my situation or environment, I begin to question whether I heard God and whether He can really do what He said He would do. Now here is a man, who had never seen rain or heard of it in his life time, He heard from God that it would rain and He believed God and obeyed Him, following God's instructions to the letter. I repented immediately. Then it was father Abraham. Now all the photo frames I had seen so far had inscribed at the bottom, the word 'FAITH' in capital letters, but Abraham's one had inscribed on it 'THE FATHER OF FAITH'. Now his moving picture was quite long, from when God called him out of his father's house to the time he went to offer up Isaac as sacrifice, which by the way brought tears to my eyes and Jesus turned round, looked at me sternly and said ever so sweetly 'no crying in heaven' and I laughed as He wiped away my tears. I went from picture to picture, some I recognized and some I had to turn to Jesus for an introduction. I saw Apostle Paul's picture as well, but if I were to write about that, I'd need a whole book. Then there was one frame, it wasn't like all the others, this one was made of stone. This was like no earthly stone, it was very simple and yet the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And in the picture was the Cross of Calvary, with all sorts of baggage at the foot of it. There were things constantly being nailed to the cross, burdens laid at the foot of the cross, tags with names of different types of sicknesses and diseases (that used to belong to different people) nailed to the cross. I asked Jesus why it was there and He said, 'well by faith at the cross, people exchanged their hopeless situations for a more hopeful abundant life on earth and for eternal life here with me, and by faith I stretched myself out on that cross so your picture can be in this hall of faith along with the rest of us who have obtained a good report by pleasing our Father. I asked why the frame was made of stone, and as He laughed, He said, 'why, that's the rock; the rock of your faith, the foundation of your faith', the word of God. Then I remembered Romans 10:17 so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (KJV). Now while all this is just my imagination, I have no doubt that all these people mentioned in Hebrews 11 and so many others that lived a faith filled life, pleased God. They must have, their lives were used as faith examples by the Apostle. And if Paul, the apostle used them as examples then God must be using them as examples for us too, which means that it pleases God to talk about them, because they pleased Him while they walked the earth. Look at verse 6 of the same scripture; But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (KJV). My fellow brothers and sisters, if you want to be a God pleaser, you've got to start living that faith filled life. Start with the simple things like believing that Jesus loves you and that He died for you on that cross and He rose to give you a life filled with love, fun, victory, success, peace joy, and so much more. Believe that He wants to show others your picture in that Hall of Faith. Let your life be fitly framed by faith, enlarge your territories and leave by faith daily, that your life may please the father. You know what? Every time I read this scripture, I see my picture in the hall of faith with the inscription 'DAUGHTER OF GREAT FAITH'. His love and mine, Yewande Erinle. Copy Right 2009 Yewande Erinle My name is Yewande Erinle, and I love to write, but much more than that, I love the Lord and writing only takes me deeper and deeper in Him and in His love. please see the link to my blog; http://kingdompearls-pearl.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |