Faith Obeys God | Daily Broadcast

Devotional

Day 1: When Idols Fall Before the God Who Appears

Abraham knelt before handmade gods until the God of glory crashed into his routine. This theme explores how divine interruption dismantles counterfeit loyalties. God’s uninvited appearance to Abraham—a man content in idolatry—reveals grace that initiates faith. Obedience begins not with human striving, but with God’s self-revelation that shatters false securities. True faith responds to the God who speaks first, calls decisively, and rewrites life stories. [02:25]

"Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, and they served other gods." (Joshua 24:2, ESV)

Reflection: What “idols” have quietly claimed your allegiance? How might God’s disruptive grace be inviting you to turn toward His voice today?

Day 2: Obedience Grows From the Tree of Faith

Faith and obedience relate like apple trees to fruit—distinct yet inseparable. Abraham’s journey shows obedience as the natural overflow of trust in God’s promises. Just as apples depend on the tree’s health, holy living springs from faith rooted in Scripture. Legalism mixes these realities; license separates them. But vibrant Christianity cultivates the soil of belief, knowing right actions will follow. [13:11]

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8, ESV)

Reflection: Are you trying to manufacture spiritual fruit through effort? How might watering the roots of faith in God’s promises change this?

Day 3: Living in Tents While Longing for Foundations

Abraham dwelled in temporary shelters while seeking an eternal city. This tension between “already” and “not yet” defines Christian perseverance. The promised land disappointed—occupied territory requiring patient faith. Like Abraham, believers today navigate broken systems and unmet hopes, sustained by vision of God’s unshakable kingdom. Earthly tents remind us: true home comes through Christ’s return. [22:10]

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1, ESV)

Reflection: What current “tent experience” tests your patience? How does the reality of Christ’s prepared place steady your heart?

Day 4: The Mixing Bowl Misery of Confused Grace

Mrs. Drake’s spiritual darkness came from seeking in the law what only gospel grace provides. This day warns against blending faith and works—like mixing cake ingredients until distinct elements disappear. Justification comes through faith alone, yet transformed living naturally follows. Peace perishes when we audit our obedience rather than resting in Christ’s finished work. [09:19]

"Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you subtly equate performance with God’s approval? How might embracing “faith counted as righteousness” shift this?

Day 5: Buffet Religion and the Danger of Selective Faith

Faith isn’t a spiritual smorgasbord—choosing God’s promises while avoiding His commands. Abraham’s story rejects compartmentalized belief that claims Christ but avoids costly obedience. True faith, like roots sustaining a tree, transforms all of life. James’ challenge echoes: dead faith saves no one. Living trust in Jesus inevitably reshapes priorities, relationships, and choices. [12:15]

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:14,17,26 ESV)

Reflection: Does your faith selectively embrace God’s gifts while avoiding His demands? What one area needs alignment between belief and action?

Sermon Summary

Hebrews 11 sets Abraham before the church as the man who shows that faith obeys God. God called Abraham when Abraham was not seeking him, not loving him, and not walking in some special holiness. God appeared to an idol worshiper, stepped into his life uninvited, laid claim to his life, his love, and his loyalty, and Abraham’s life was never the same again.

Faith obeys because faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised. Obedience springs from faith, but faith and obedience must not be confused. The mixing bowl picture warns against blending them together until a person starts looking for peace in obedience to the law instead of in believing the gospel. Faith is not obedience, and obedience is not faith. Justification comes by faith, and righteousness is found in Christ, not in the self.

Faith and obedience must not be separated either. The buffet lunch picture warns against choosing faith because it tastes like forgiveness and heaven, while passing over obedience because it seems hard to chew and swallow. The obedience of faith means that where real faith exists, obedience will follow. The apple tree gives the right picture. The apple is not the tree, but the apple grows from the tree. If obedience is desired, the tree of faith must be planted and rooted deeply in the Word of God.

Faith also demands patience. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. God gave no map and no brochure. Faith has the glory of simply not knowing, because faith walks by trusting what God has revealed while waiting for what God has not yet made plain. Abraham reached the promised land, but lived there as in a foreign land. He owned not even a foot’s length of it and lived in tents on the promise of God.

Faith anticipates the future God has prepared. Abraham endured because he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. The deepest thirsts of the soul cannot be satisfied in this world, because the believer was made for another world. God has appeared more clearly in Jesus Christ than he did to Abraham, and Christ still calls, “Follow me.” God has prepared a city, and Christ has gone to prepare a place where every promise will be marvelously and forever fulfilled.

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Key Takeaways

1. Faith and obedience must not mix Faith is not obedience, and obedience is not faith. When obedience becomes the ground of peace, the soul starts searching in the law for what can only be found in the gospel. Righteousness is not discovered by looking inward, but by looking to Christ, where faith rests and peace is given. [07:20]
2. Obedience grows from rooted faith The apple tree picture keeps the relationship clear. Obedience is the fruit, not the root, and fruit grows as faith puts down deep roots into what God has revealed and promised. The Christian life does not become more obedient by staring at fruit, but by nourishing the living tree of faith. [13:44]
3. Faith waits in the not yet Abraham reached the promised land and still lived as a stranger in tents. The fullness of the promise was real, but it was not yet in his hands. Faith needs patience because God’s people often live with true promises, real grace, and unfinished fulfillment all at the same time. [23:20]
4. The city steadies patient faith Abraham endured because his eyes were fixed on the city whose designer and builder is God. Human cities cannot bear the weight of the soul’s deepest hopes, and human progress cannot create the world the heart was made for. The heavenly city gives patience because it tells faith that every earthly frustration is not the final word.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:18] - Living by Faith Resumes
[01:08] - Abraham Called by God
[03:31] - The Obedience Faith Brings
[05:09] - Beware the Mixing Bowl
[10:46] - Beware the Buffet Lunch
[13:11] - The Apple Tree Picture
[15:52] - The Patience Faith Demands
[18:32] - Living in the Land of Promise
[22:46] - The Christian Life and the Not Yet
[25:17] - Looking Forward to the City
[31:28] - God Has Appeared in Christ
[33:45] - God Has Prepared a City

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Hebrews 11:8-10
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” [01:08]

James 2:14
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” [12:27]

John 14:1-3
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” [34:07]

Joshua 24:2
“And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.”’” [01:45]

Observation questions

According to Joshua 24:2, what was Abraham’s background before God called him, and what does that show about the way God entered his life? [01:45]
In Hebrews 11:8-10, what details show both Abraham’s obedience and his uncertainty at the same time?
What are the three pictures used to describe the relationship between faith and obedience, and which one gives the right picture? [05:09]
In Hebrews 11:9-10, what contrast is seen between Abraham living in tents and Abraham looking forward to a city with foundations? [25:17]

Interpretation questions

Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed.” Why is it important to keep faith and obedience distinct, while still refusing to separate them? [07:20]
James 2:14 challenges a claim to faith that has no works. What does that add to the picture of Abraham’s faith, and how does it expose a merely verbal or comfortable faith? [12:27]
Abraham went out not knowing where he was going, and later lived in the promised land without possessing it fully. What does that suggest about why faith requires patience, not just at the beginning of the Christian life but all along the way? [23:20]
Abraham endured by looking forward to the city whose designer and builder is God. How does that future hope help explain why this world cannot carry the full weight of a believer’s hopes and desires? [25:17]

Application questions

When obedience feels weak or inconsistent, where does the heart usually look for peace—in personal performance or in Christ? What tends to reveal that in daily life? [09:39]
Obedience is fruit, not root. What might it look like this week to put down deeper roots into what God has revealed and promised, instead of only staring at areas where change is still needed? [13:44]
Faith does not get a full map in advance. Where is there a particular area of life right now—family, work, health, future, ministry—where following Christ means going forward without knowing exactly where the path leads? [16:09]
Many believers expect that once they have come to Christ, life should quickly feel settled and complete. Where has the “not yet” of the Christian life been especially hard to accept recently? [23:20]
Abraham lived in the land of promise as a stranger in tents. In what ways has life lately felt temporary, fragile, or unsettled, and how might that be reminding the heart to hope in something more lasting? [32:46]
The deepest thirsts of the soul cannot be satisfied in this world. What hopes or goals have recently shown their limits, and how can that disappointment become a help rather than a defeat? [29:09]
Jesus has prepared a place for his people and will come again to bring them to himself. How could that promise steady a troubled heart in one concrete burden being carried right now? [34:07]

Sermon Clips

Faith is not obedience, and obedience is not faith. The distinction is really, really important. The Bible says we are justified by faith. But, if you get faith all mixed up with obedience, then you'll end up thinking actually that you're justified by obedience. And since your obedience is never complete, well, then you would never be able to have real and lasting peace. [00:07:23]

But the connection is obvious. The apple springs from the tree. The apple is formed by the tree. There is no apple without the tree. If you want apples, what do you do? You plant an apple tree. If you want obedience, what do you do? You plant the tree of faith. Because it brings forth the fruit of obedience. By faith, Abraham obeyed. [00:13:22]

Not yet are we free from sin's presence or from its power. Not yet do we enjoy lives of perfect peace. Not yet are we free from sickness and from disease. Not yet is the church without stain and wrinkle. Not yet have the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so not yet do we live in a world of righteousness and justice and peace. And faith demands patience [00:23:26]

Isn't that very striking? When God called Abraham to a life of faith, he didn't tell him what that would involve. Didn't tell him where it would lead. He went out not knowing where he was going. God didn't give him a map to show where he would go. God didn't give him a brochure to say what his life would be like when he got there. [00:16:09]

Faith finds peace in believing the gospel. Faith finds peace in the gospel that obedience to the law can never produce. And faith finds righteousness in Christ that we can never ever find in ourselves. [00:10:22]

She was trying to find peace in obeying the law when the only way to find peace is in believing the gospel. And she was looking for righteousness in herself when true righteousness can only be found in and through Jesus Christ. And she says, "This was the fountain of all my misery." [00:09:39]

Now, friends, faith and obedience are not like a buffet lunch. Which is why, by the way, Paul speaks about the obedience of faith. A person who thinks that to be a Christian is simply to add belief in Jesus to an unchanged life needs to hear the challenge of James. [00:12:05]

He was looking forward. He was looking forward to what? To the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God. You see what this is telling us? When Abraham got to the promised land, he realized that God had more in store for him than he would ever experience in this world. [00:25:17]

And as we see from our Lord Jesus at the cross, the Father is under no obligation to answer the question. We walk by faith, not by sight. And that demands patience because of what we do not yet know. [00:18:09]

So, you see, as faith puts down deep roots into the word of God, gradually and increasingly, and it probably be quite small at first, obedience will grow. Faith is a living tree that is bursting with fruit. [00:14:00]

God appeared to Abraham. Laid claim to his life, his love, his loyalty. And Abraham's life was never the same again. Now notice how Abraham responded when God called him. By faith Abraham obeyed. [00:03:03]

Abram served other gods. He worshipped idols. He worshipped gods of his own making. He didn't even know the god who made him. But one day God appeared to Abraham as he had appeared to Adam and to Eve in the garden. [00:02:00]

He lived in tents. He lived on a promise. He endured in the promised land knowing that one day God would fulfill his promise. One day God would give him a child. One day God would give to his descendants the land, but that day was not yet. [00:21:02]

Well, we're told that by faith Abraham obeyed. That's how he did it. In other words, he believed what God had revealed and he trusted what God had promised and that was how he obeyed. His obedience sprung from his faith. [00:04:18]

We've seen that faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised. It's what faith is. And Hebrews 11 teaches us through a series of examples, each of which illustrates an aspect of the faith to which we are called. [00:00:15]

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