And most of us know these verses. So notice in verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You know, our nation was founded on people willing to take great personal risk. And this past week, it's one of the things that we're trying to do. We have a number of courses now in Baptist history, on Baptist distinctives. And part of that is because in America we're starting to lose our heritage. And it's not just in U.S. history. In U.S. history they've started to rewrite history. But that's also happened kind of in Baptist history. So there's, we learned about this this week. It was reviewed. I've known about this for many years. But there is a man in the late 1800s called William Whitsitt. And what he did, he was a well-known professor, very scholarly, and Dr. Whitsitt came up with this idea that the Baptists started between 1636 and 1640. And he promoted that and propagated that, and so guess what? Tons of universities and seminaries started teaching that the Baptists started in the 1600s. And yet, that's not true. You can go way back, and there is a line, and they weren't necessarily called Baptists. The Anabaptists weren't really called Baptists, right? They were Anabaptists, which means re-baptizers. But you can go way back, and that's what we tried to do last week, is show way back, there was, right after Christ returned, there was groups of Christians that held to what you believe. right here in this church. There was a group called the Monetists, there was a group called the Donetists, there was a group called the Pauletians, and the Waldenses, and the Awagenses, and here are all these groups that were there, and what were they? They were our, that's our heritage. They were our forefathers, and those men and women were people that were willing to take great risk. She mentioned some of the horrific, or just referenced some of the horrific punishments and persecutions that some of these, our forefathers, endured. And why did they do it? Because they had faith in what God said. And this evening, that's what I want us to consider. You know, today safety is more important than stepping out and risking something to gain freedom. We've seen that over and over and they'll take away maybe some freedoms in the sake of what? Safety. And faith is willing to step out sometime when God tells us to do something. In the Bible, there are over 230 verses that use the word faith. Almost all of them are found in the New Testament. Faith is something that is, it's something very important for us as Christians today. And thus we have a whole chapter dedicated to the idea of faith. Look at chapter 11. Notice what it says. In verse three, through what? Faith. Verse four, by faith. Verse five, by faith. Verse six, but without faith. Look at verse seven, by faith, Noah. Verse eight, by faith, Abraham. Do you think that there's a point here in Hebrews chapter 11? It's very important. We have, in the Bible, we have forefathers that stood and lived by faith. And yet today sometimes we say, well, I was saved by faith. But we aren't just supposed to be saved by faith. We sing a song. One of my favorite songs is a song called Living by Faith. I care not today what tomorrow may bring, whether it's sunshine or shadow or rain. My Lord, I know, ruleth over everything, and all of my worry is made. And it's living by faith. Living by faith. So, we are instructed to live by faith. Doesn't the book of I Corinthians tell us not to walk by sight, but to walk by faith? So it's something that we're supposed to do. It's something that we're supposed to live. And so this evening, I want to look and consider this idea of faith. Let's open in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for tonight. I thank you for those that came, and I pray that you would bless us as we consider this idea of faith. I pray that you would use it. Lord, as always, do that which I cannot do, and that is speak to hearts. We ask and claim your power in Jesus' name. Amen. So, the idea of faith. If you back up a little bit, and verse 38. So, we're in chapter 11, so back up to chapter 10. Look at verse 38. Notice what it says there. So, chapter divisions aren't necessarily inspired or preserved for us. I'm glad that some guy, I think it was in the 1700s or something like that, he split up the Bible and he put chapter divisions and verses. And I'm really glad because, I mean, if somebody got up and said, hey, turn here, and there was no chapters and verses, we'd be turning a long time. Right? But sometimes there's a thought that is being carried on through chapters. And actually, the book of Hebrews, I believe, is all building with this idea of living by faith. So look at chapter 10 and verse 38. It says, Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Most of us have heard of a man named Martin Luther. So Martin Luther in the 1500s was a Catholic priest. and uh... he was he was kind of a sign to this uh... To teach, you would think if you were an aspiring Catholic priest and you're wanting to have a prestigious position, you're hoping maybe to have a teaching position in one of the biggest universities. Well, what happened to Martin Luther, and it must have been he was a rabble rouser or whatever, they stuck him in this little podunk town And then they said, you're gonna be a professor. And then they said, and you're gonna teach the book of Habakkuk. Now, I would wanna teach the life of Christ. So it probably wasn't a huge thing or something to write home about when Habakkuk chapter or Habakkuk was the one that you were supposed to teach. So in Habakkuk chapter three, all right, I'm gonna turn there. All right, if you don't know where it is, I'm having a hard time finding it too. All right, in Habakkuk chapter. Actually, I think it's chapter 2. Yep, Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. Notice what it says if you're there, but if not, I'll read it. So, Martin Luther is assigned to teach the book of Habakkuk, and he's studying it, and he finds this verse in Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his Faith. So, he finds that verse and it intrigues him. And guess what he finds? That verse is found three other times in the Bible, but it's found in the New Testament. So he starts studying them. The first time it's found is in Romans chapter 1. And in Romans chapter 1, I believe that the Bible is teaching us about the just part of the just shall live by faith. Then it's found in Galatians. And in Galatians, I believe that it's not teaching about the just. I believe it's teaching about the just shall live. And it's teaching how to live by faith. But then, the last time is found, and we just read it in chapter 10 and verse 38. Now, the just shall live by faith. And guess what the context is there? It's faith. And Martin Luther, guess what he started ringing in his head? You know what? We have to be saved by faith. You have to be saved by faith. So here in the text, and if you're following along in the outline, we're going to consider living by faith tonight. Living by faith. So how do we live by faith? So the first thing you've got to do if you're going to study something is define it. So that is our first blank there, the definition of faith. Definition of faith. I have a quote by R.A. Torrey, I think it might be there, listed out. In a book that he wrote called What the Bible Teaches, this is what he says, to believe God is to rely upon or have an unhesitating assurance of the truth of God's testimony, even though it is unsupported by any other evidence, or to rely upon or have an unfaltering assurance of the fulfillment of His promises, even though everything seems against fulfillment. Now, that's wordy, but it's a lot of meat right there. It's helping us understand what faith is. Now, any good Baptist preacher, if he's going to find a definition, yes, he goes to the Bible. But next to the Bible, guess what he has? He has Webster's 1828 Dictionary. All right? If you've never heard that, you'll hear it. All right? So, he has Webster's 1828 Dictionary. So, this is what Webster says in his 1828 Dictionary. In theology, it is the ascent of the mind or understanding of what the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures. Simple belief of the scriptures. So it's an understanding. So my faith is understanding what God has said and it's in scripture. So we saw auditory. We saw what Webster says. So what does the Bible say faith is? Look at Hebrews 11 1. There is a literal scriptural definition in the Bible of faith. Faith is what? The substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. So what's interesting is that word faith Faith properly means a persuasion of the heart. It means that which is placed under. Then we have the word substance. Did you say faith is the substance? So we're there in Hebrews. Go earlier in the book of Hebrews. That's why I believe that the book of Hebrews, go to Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 14. That's why I believe the book of Hebrews is all teaching us about faith. It's building a message and the message is live by faith. Look at Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 14. See if you can find the word substance in here. It is. Remember when you study a word etymology of a word, you can find other ways that it's used. So look at in Hebrews 3.14, For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. So guess what word is the same word as substance? Confidence. So faith is a substance, it's a confidence. That means it's placed under something. So what is it placed under? Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. So, all right, I'm the seminary guy, you know, so I'm always teaching or trying to help guys learn things. So when you're coming to a subject matter, What personalizes it to you is when you make up your own definitions. Now, that can be dangerous. It can be dangerous. So, on certain words, though, study out what the Bible says, study what other people say, and then come up with a definition that helps you, it resonates with you, helps you to understand. So, this I call the Dameron Definition of Faith. This is the Dameron Definition. Faith is that spiritual muscle exercised when we believe God's Word and act upon it, no matter what our flesh, circumstances, or others say. So let me say it again. Faith is that spiritual muscle exercised when we believe God's Word and act upon it, no matter what our flesh, circumstances, or others say. The reason I say it's a spiritual muscle is in the Bible, as I studied it, guess what the Bible tells me to do? Exercise my faith. So what do you exercise? Normally you exercise a muscle. That's why I consider, and the Bible also tells me, and we'll talk about this a little bit later, the Bible tells me that my faith needs to grow. And so my faith needs to grow, it needs to build. That seems like it's a muscle. It's a spiritual muscle. And spiritual muscles then grow by a little bit of resistance. And you'll see later in the message that God does that to us sometimes. He puts a little bit resistance and sometimes we lash out at God and sometimes we get mad at God and what is he trying to do? He's trying to expand our faith so we learn to live by faith. And also, sometimes when we look at circumstances, circumstances make us not believe that God's working. It reminds me a little bit of Peter. Remember Peter, when he hopped out of the boat? He was like, Lord, is that you? Man, this is awesome. I'm going to walk on water. And then, guess what Peter did? He got his eyes off of Christ, and he started sinking. That's many times what happens. We have to have faith in Christ. We have to trust in Him. So, the first thing that we looked at is, number one, the definition of faith. Number two, then, on our outline, as far as living by faith, is we have to learn to have a dependence. What is the dependence of our faith? What is the dependence of our faith? So, I say this, faith alone is useless. You'll be like, whoa, what? Yes, faith alone is useless. Faith is only valuable if it is tied to the right item. So for instance, in our society, it's like believe in yourself. Oh really? Well, I know I'm an idiot. Alright, so if I believe in myself, I don't know that I'm gonna get very far. Believe in yourself. Well, the Bible tells me some opposite things of that. It tells me that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? It tells me in Isaiah that all of my righteousnesses are his filthy rags. I mean the best that I got to offer is his filthy rags. Wow, that's not very good. So the dependence of our faith. Our faith is not then in ourselves. Our faith is tied to an omnipotent God. So think about that. My faith is tied to an omnipotent God. Faith links us to the omnipotence of God, makes us more than conquerors. Somebody said this, listen to this statement, a strong faith in the wrong object achieves very little. Now has that happened to you? That's happened to me. A strong faith And a weak object achieves very little. You know, I have had faith in the government. I was like, all right, this is going to change it. And it doesn't. You know what, if we get, and I'm all for voting, I'm all for doing everything. If you study scripture, I've actually done a study on that. As far as a Christian in government and civil government, you know, that's one of the things that God made. He made the family, right? He made the church, or He made the home, He made the church, and He established governments. All right, so as much as possible, I'm going to try to help. But you know, sometimes I put my faith in that instead of God. And I'm like, oh, well, if I do this and I put all this energy into this, but faith, a strong faith in the wrong object achieves very little. But listen to this, a weak faith in the proper object can accomplish great things. Has that biblically backed up? Yes. If I have faith as a grain of mustard seed. Now, if you've ever seen a mustard seed, I'm saying it's small. All right? It's small. Now, I might have had faith like that sometimes. All right? Maybe. All right? But it says that you can remove mountains. You can say to this mountain, remove hence, and it removes. So how is that possible? Well, it's because it's my finger. You know, I'm like, move. Like, no, it's not your finger. What is it? It's because of a weak faith in a strong, powerful object, and that's God. My illustration or the funny thinking on this is, of course, if you're going shopping and you've got to remodel your home or a room or something like that, as a Christian, obviously you go to Hobby Lobby. I mean, that is so Christian. When you walk in, they're playing Christian music. I mean, they're just so friendly. I mean, they're closed on Sunday, obviously. I mean, they are just straight as an arrow. So you go in there, and you're like, all right, I need something to put on my wall to show people that I am a Christian. And you find it, and maybe there's a sketch that you can put on the wall, or maybe even a picture, and it says, believe. Even at Christmas time, you see that, it says, believe. You walk in, you're like, see? You're like, believe? Like, yeah. I mean, you get it? I'm a Christian, believe. I'm like, well, I believe I'm hungry. All right, so is that, I mean, what do you, I believe that, I believe in Santa Claus. You're like, wait a minute, what do you mean believe? You see, sometimes we even, we get caught up in that. Belief alone is useless. And belief in the wrong object is useless. So the dependence of my faith has to be tied to God. A few years ago, I was discouraged. I was kind of down and going through just some hard things. And I went to God, and I was kind of crying out to him, and God was like, hey, you can trust me. You need to rely on me. And God led me to a phrase that God is able. You know, the little kids sing that song, he's able, he's able, I know he is able. And God led me to that song, God is able. And guess what was interesting to me as I studied it? In the Bible, now watch, you guys are going to mess up this illustration. Guess what book of the Bible has the phrase, God is able the most time? One of you is probably going to mess it up. I was in a church recently, I did that, and somebody yelled, I was like, for real? I didn't even know this. It's the book of Daniel. Once you hear it, you're like, oh. Because it's used the most time with the life of Daniel. Even Daniel 6, but it's found other times besides Daniel 6 that God is able. Remember the king even came and says, is your God able? Yes, he is. And God strengthened my heart just with that phrase because, you know, I was doubting and I was maybe thinking that I could do something. I was relying on my flesh. But guess what God does? God says, wait a minute, don't rely. The arm of flesh, we sing it, the arm of flesh will what? Fail you. You dare not trust your own. So guess what I have to do? I have to learn that God is able. So my dependence is upon God. So that is point number two. So let's go to point number three. And this is the one that sometimes I don't like. So there's the definition of faith. We have the dependence of our faith. So number three, the development of our faith. So look a couple chapters later to the book of James, James chapter one. Notice James chapter one. the development of our faith. James chapter 1, look at verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. So that idea of temptations, this is not sin, this is a trial. So that word temptation is the idea of a trial. So James tells these believers, count it joy when you fall into all kinds of different trials. Look at what he says, knowing this, that the trying of what? Your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." So guess what? There's two things, and there's other things that you can study out in Scripture, but I found two specific things that God says this helps you develop your faith. Guess what the first one is, and I didn't like it. My faith is built by trials. I'm like, no, I want it easy. All right, but think about that. If faith is a spiritual muscle, And faith is a spiritual muscle. When I was younger, man, I loved playing soccer. I really loved playing soccer. I think I started in like third or fourth grade and played all the way through high school and college. I just really enjoyed it. But guess what? By the time I was in my upper years as a junior and senior, sophomore, junior, senior, Guess what I knew? When soccer season was coming in the fall, I practiced and there was a few of us that would get together and we'd practice all summer because we were pushing ourselves because we wanted to have a good season. Guess what I was doing? I was building endurance. I was strengthening those muscles. It took resistance, didn't it? So guess what? A trial. Something hard comes into our life and it could be financial hardship, It could be family hardship. It could be something just really personal. It could be something physical. It could be a death in the family. All of those things, they're trials. They're hard. All right, I'm not gonna sit here and say, you know what, those trials, they're easy. No, they're called trials because it's hard. It's not really easy. But guess what God does during those times? He's pushing you a little bit. He's saying, hey, trust me. There's something about us when it's going easy, the life of ease. Oh man, why do I need God? And I see that some, I see that some in America. You know, I see that sometimes in America you're out knocking on doors and you come up into a neighborhood and here's a house basically bigger than, I don't know, the state of Delaware, and you're like, Oh my word. And you knock on the door and the butler's assistant, not even the butler, he's got an assistant, comes and he answers the door and you're like, well, I'd like to just talk to you about the Lord. And there's this idea like, what? I mean, look at us. We don't need God. But you know what I do find? Everybody has struggles. And it's during those times that sometimes even a lost person starts turning and seeking and saying, hey, so, I mean, is there more to this? I mean, basically, I just live here, I think about the world, I just get all I can. Why do you think that Bill Gates is trying to come up with a solution to death? Well, he's not a young pup anymore. But guess what, he's not gonna find a solution. Because the Bible's already there in Hebrews chapter 9. What does it say? It's appointed unto man once to die. And after that, the judgment. You're not gonna find it. But sometimes when you have all that, you're like, well, I can do this, I can do that. No, we understand that with the unbeliever, but as a believer, guess what we have to understand? God sends trials into our lives to toughen us up. So, we shouldn't whine about them. Notice what it says there in James chapter 1 and verse 2. It says, count it all joy. First Peter kind of has that same idea. If you study the book of First Peter, First Peter was written to a group of Christians that were suffering. If you're ever going through a hard, hard time, I strongly recommend study the book of First Peter. It'll encourage your heart. because somebody else was suffering too. Sometimes when somebody else is suffering it helps you because you're like, oh yes, suffering is one of the things that God brings into our lives to push us in this area of faith. But then notice in 2 Peter chapter 2, so the first thing in the development of our faith, is faith is built by trials. But then look at 2 Peter 1 and verse 4. So this is written to believers. How do I know that? Verse 3 and 4. He's given us His divine power. He has given unto us all things that depend on life and godliness through the knowledge of Him. that have called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature." When you partake of the divine nature, you're saved. Okay? So, these are saved people, but notice in verse 5, and besides this, so now we're saved, besides this, giving all diligence, notice what he says, add, To what? Your faith. Add to your faith. And there's seven things that he tells us to add to our faith. This would take you the rest of this year. Every day, just take one of these and work on them. Notice what he says. Add to your faith. Virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Notice verse 8. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful. Know what I find with a lot of people? We don't let God do His work developing us with trials. We crab and complain when a trial comes. Instead of saying, alright God, you're exercising me. Help me to grow in this in faith. Then the other thing that we forget to do is the Bible says add to your faith. So God is doing something with our faith and then God says also you do something with it. So as a lazy Christian, guess what I do? I sit back, And that's kind of America, right? I'm in my Lazy Boy, eating my Doritos, I don't get up, and the most I do is the clicker. And then after I've done that over and over for basically 20 hours a week for a matter of 10 years, and then I go to the doctor and he's like, hey, I think there's something wrong with your back. I think there's something wrong with your legs and you're like, I don't understand. I don't understand this. I've sat and done nothing and I've eaten Doritos and Twinkies and HoHos for 20 hours a week. I just don't understand why I'm not just a picture of health. And guess what I forgot to do? I forgot to get up and exercise physically. So, spiritually, there's people all around America. There's probably people in Wilmington that are saying they claim to be a Christian and then they don't add to their faith. And what should be one of the things? I should come to a place of faith every time the doors are open and add to my faith. I'm growing. I'm working out that muscle because God says it's up to you to do some of that. It's up to you to add brotherly kindness and charity and temperance and patience. All of those things you're supposed to be doing. And guess what that does? It builds my faith. So the development of my faith is developed. We see two things right here in Scripture. By trials. by me adding to it. So lastly then, so we said that there is the definition of faith. We said this is the dependence of faith. Then thirdly, the development of our faith. So fourthly, how do I display my faith? And I think I have three blanks there. First, and prayerfully tonight, everybody here understands this. First is, I must be justified by faith. I should become justified by faith. The book that talks about justification, remember the just shall live by faith, the word just? Guess what book it is? Romans. So in Romans chapter 3, we see that word used over and over. Romans 3.24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith and his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Then in verse 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So the first thing that I can do to build my faith and live by faith is to be justified. That means get saved. I get saved. I need, that is learning justification. Then the second way is found in James chapter 1. We were there, but in James chapter 1, most of us know these verses, James chapter 1 and verse 22 through 25. James 1, 22 says, Then we see this also in James 2 in verse 17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. So how do I display my faith? I should become justified by faith. I should live out my faith to others. I live it out. That is that James passage. So, many times we talk about that. Have you ever met somebody like, I don't go to church, there's way too many hypocrites. You're like, well, yeah, and if you come, there'll be another one. Because you just said you're a Christian and you're not going to church. I'm pretty sure that's the epitome of a hypocrite. But guess what? At church, guess what's going to be at church, sinners? Until we get to heaven, All right, unless you guys have some secret. All right, I know there's some people that teach sinless perfection, but I've met some of them and I'm pretty sure they sinned when they talked to me. All right, because I didn't agree and they were really mad. So sinless perfection is impossible here on this earth. So when I come to church, I understand, you know what, there's gonna be sinners there. But we're coming here to church to get better. I'm coming here to learn. Alright, that's why I'm doing it. And also, every day, I'm trying to learn. I'm trying to move towards godliness, towards Christlikeness. So that is living our faith. You know what the world needs? The world needs to see some good Christians. That when tough things happen to them, they're not cussing and swearing and doing all kinds of crazy things. I've met some people that have testified. They said there was a Christian nearby us and something happened and they were different and it turned them to God. You know what they did? They were exercising their faith. They were showing it. They were displaying it by living it out. But then in Romans chapter 9, the last thing that the Bible tells us to do, we should be active in sharing our faith. So, a well-known verse is in Romans chapter 10 and verse 9 and 10. that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. But just a few verses down. You go down to verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Those are awesome verses. But the context then says this, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? And you'd say, man, I'm glad I'm not the preacher. You got to understand, remember study of words, etymology? That word for preacher there means any Christian. That's the idea of go ye unto all the world and preach. You're like, oh, it's just for the pastor. No, no, no. The Great Commission is for every one of us. So how do I display my faith? I display it by trusting in Christ personally. Then I display it by living it out. But then I also display it by telling people, hey, have you heard about Jesus? Jesus is, you know, you might be going through a tough time. Maybe it's a neighbor, and they're going through a tough time, and so you cook something, and you come over and you hand them, so that's displaying a love for them, isn't it? You cook something for them, you know that they're going through a hard time, and you say, hey, I know you're going through a hard time, but you know what, Jesus changed that for me. Maybe they'll turn to Christ. You see, they need to hear it, too. How are they going to hear without a preacher? How are they going to hear? Oh, well, it'll just happen. No, no, guess what? I know the Calvinists say that, but guess what the Bible says? The Bible says that you have to go and tell them. The Bible is telling us that we need to be people of faith. I was reading this afternoon, actually, with this idea of faith, and I was looking one man put it this way, there are different types of faith. There's natural faith. It's a faith in the bank where money will be safe. Sometimes I sometimes hesitate, I'm checking my bank account. But that's a kind of a natural faith. There's an intellectual faith. An intellectual faith is a lady that is baking a cake and she's following a recipe and guess what she's saying? All right, now how in the world does salt and baking soda and eggs and all of this stuff that basically if you just went there and like salt, baking soda, jump up and down, you're like, I don't know that that's going to turn into a cake or a cookie. All right, but guess what? Intellectually, she says, I'm going to put these together. and it turns into something really, really good. It's intellectual. There's historical faith. For instance, historically, and we talked about that at the beginning, there's some people that go back and they say, well, that didn't really happen, and they try to erase it. Well, you know what? I know there's even people that say, well, there was no, during World War II, there was no Holocaust. You're like, well actually I have a lawyer friend and he's a Jewish lawyer and his wife travels because her mom was one of the only survivors. So like someone that says there was no Holocaust, she's looking at him like you're crazy. She has no other family. So there's historical faith. Then there's saving faith. But you know what the Bible tells us? We need to learn to have victorious faith. You know what the Bible says in 1 John? And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. You know what God wants us to have? A strong, victorious faith. There's a song that we sing. It was written by a lady named Eliza Hewitt. Eliza Hewitt lived right near here in Philadelphia in the 1850s. She was born in 1851 and upon graduation she became a teacher but she suffered a severe spinal problem and so that made her an invalid for the rest of her life. She was pretty despondent because she wanted to be a teacher and she couldn't be a teacher. But she learned that she had a knack for writing poetry. So she started writing hymns. And at the age of 40, she wrote this, My faith has found a resting place. not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living One. His wounds for me shall plead. My heart is leaning on the Word, the living Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through His blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died, guess what, for me. Know what she found? She found that her dependence, her faith, her faith needed to be alive. And although that debilitating spinal accident took away something that she thought, this is what I want to do. She found that she could trust in the ever-living one. She could trust, and her faith found a resting place. It depended not on circumstances, not on her feelings, but on God. And that came through God and His Word. God helped us to have a living faith, and we learn to live by faith.