Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

25 July 2025

Reading From Acts 26

“Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?”

—Acts 26:8

     I believe in miracles because I believe in God.  This is a profound statement of faith that every follower of Jesus needs to accept.  Our entire system of belief depends on the reality of the resurrection.  We serve the Living God!  If He is not alive and He will not come again, then our hope is in vain.  Jesus took the sins of the whole world and all of time upon His shoulders as the Lamb of God and was sacrificed in my place, in your place, in the place of whosoever will believe and receive Him. 

     God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.  We know from Scripture that God spoke and stars, planets, moons, elements, living creatures came into existence and He formed man from the dust of the Earth with His hands.  If God has the ability to accomplish all of this without even exerting Himself, why is it so difficult for His sons and daughters to accept miracles of all kinds from Him?  Our salvation is by grace through faith, not of works.[1] 

     This is why it puzzles me when Christians accept by faith that Noah, the flood and the ark were real, but then they try to reason out using naturalistic arguments as to how all the creatures fit onto the boat and how they stayed alive.  Same with the Red Sea.  Surely the God who created the water and the wind can do whatever He pleases and part the sea of trouble for His children.  Instead of taking Him at His Word, we have to come up with a scientific explanation as to how this might have happened so that we and others will be somehow be more willing to accept the story and accept the God behind it. This is not how faith works.  God and His Word should not have to be scientifically proven to be true.

      I am not saved by grace through science.  I am saved by grace through faith.  We must believe and receive.  Yes, it is wonderful deeply satisfying to see when science confirms the written record of divine revelation, but I am not waiting until science proves Jesus to be God before I will trust in Him for salvation, power, healing and hope.  Today is the day of salvation and if tomorrow science proves the Bible to be true from cover to cover, bless God.  But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord regardless.

“O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   You are my God.  There is no one greater than You.  I do not worship anything You have created, including my own intellect or the opinions of experts, because You are the Alpha and the Omega and there is no higher authority than You.  I pray that You increase and strengthen the faith of Your sons and daughters.  Empower us to take You at Your Word and stand upon Your promises for You are our sure foundation.  Thought the storms of doubt might rage, our anchors hold fast in You and we will not be swept away.  Encourage Your family to keep the faith, Lord.  Remind us by Your Spirit of Your awesome deeds and help us in our unbelief.  In the strong and mighty Name above all Names, even Jesus Christ I pray these things and praise You.  Amen and amen.”

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

³ By 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.

⁴ By 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.

⁵ By 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. ⁶ And 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.

⁷ By 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.

⁸ By 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. ⁹ By 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. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And 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.

¹³ All 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. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, 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.

—Hebrews 11:1-16

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[1] Ephesians 2:8