Hebrews 12:1-2
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

Hebrews 12:1 is a call to constancy in the Christian profession; it is an exhortation unto steadfastness in the Christian life; it is a pressing appeal for making personal holiness a supreme business and quest. In substance, we can compare Hebrews 12:1 to Matthew 16:24; Romans 6:13; Second Corinthians 7:11; Philippians 3:12-14; Titus 2:12 and First Peter 2:9-12. It gives in brief the Christian’s two fold duty: the duty of mortification and of vivification – the putting off of the old man, and the putting on of the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24). Or like someone has defined it: -

Mortification is the process whereby the lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and vivification, is the process by which the life which God has put within us is made to be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. 

We are enjoined to “run the race that is set before us” and second – “lay aside every weight” and in the third place there is the essential grace of “patience in running” and lastly, the encouragement of “the great cloud of witnesses”.

Hebrews 11:1-3
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” 

Reference: The Many Faces of Faith: Key to God's Treasury by Michael Taylor

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Verse 1)
In this definition, we see the two acts of faith. It is the substance; it is also the evidence. In other words, faith substantiates or gives substance to our hopes, and demonstrates things not seen.

There is a great deal of difference between the acts of faith and the effects of faith. The effects of faith are reckoned up throughout Hebrews Chapter eleven; but the acts of faith are only in verse 1. As the matters of belief are yet to come, faith gives them a substance, a being, as they are hidden from the eyes of sense and carnal vision and reason; faith also gives them an evidence, and convinces men of the worth of them; so that part of these acts belongs to the understanding, the other to the will.

Reading: Revelation 19:1-10

Someone has said; “the last thing to lose is hope”. Without hope there is no life. You can live seven days without food, three days without water, three minutes without air, but less than a second without hope. What then is hope? Hope is the joyous expectation of the future. It is the basis on which life and even resurrection are hinged. What is the Christian’s hope? We shall discuss a number of issues that constitute the blessed hope of the Christian.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, NIGERIA

Four clergymen were discussing the various translations of the Bible. One liked the King James Version because of its beautiful English. Another, the New American Standard Version Bible of 1971 because of its literal and accurate translation of the original Hebrew and Greek. The third likes the James Moffatt translation for its up to date vocabulary. The fourth was silent. When asked to express his opinion he replied, ‘I like my mother’s translation best’. The others were surprised. ‘I didn’t know your mother translated the Bible’ one said. ‘Oh yes’ came the reply. ‘She translated it into life and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw’ -J.C. Mitchell.