Moses – Keys To Effective Faith

“Moses – Keys to Effective Faith”

Hebrews 11:23-29

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LkHysJqs8

We are continuing in our series on the faith of our forefathers as found in Hebrews 11, or God’s Hall of Faith. Now, this chapter is filled with ordinary people who accomplished extra-ordinary achievements. These men and women also weren’t perfect, in fact, they were far from it. They often failed, but they continued by faith and reached their God given potential and goal. The purpose of this chapter, therefore, is to encourage and give us the faith to continue.

This morning we are going to be looking at Moses, who in many ways was considered to be the greatest man in the Old Testament. Moses was given the Ten Commandments and the Law. He wrote the first five books of the Bible. He led the children of Israel out of captivity from the greatest power of that time, that is, Egypt. But he was also a person like you and me.

And so, the question becomes, why was God able to use Moses so effectively for His kingdom? Well, according to the writer of Hebrews it was because Moses was able to identify and settle some of the most basic questions in life. These are, “Who are we,” What are our choices,” “What is most important,” and “What are our goals?”

I’d like to deal with these questions in what I am calling the Keys to Effective Faith.

Be Ourselves

In other words, we need to be who God created us to be.

We should never try to be someone we’re not. God made each of us for a purpose. When we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we’re agreeing with God that He has a plan and a purpose for this present world, and that we are a part of it.

There’s nobody else who can do what God has called each one of us to do, or to be who God has called each one of us to be. Moses had to deal with this right off the bat. He had what you might call an identity crisis. When he was born, the Egyptians were putting to death all male Jewish babies. So, his mother put him in a basket and set him afloat on the Nile River where Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as her own son.

Moses was born Jewish, but raised Egyptian. So, he had to decide who he was. This was an important choice because it determined who he would be for the rest of his life. If he said, “I’m an Egyptian,” he would live a life of ease, and his life would be one of fame and fortune, being a part of the royal family.

If, however, he said that he was a Jew, then he would be humiliated, kicked out of the palace, and sent to live with his own people as a slave. But even through Moses saw how badly the Jews were mistreated, he made the decision and chose who God created Him to be.

The writer of Hebrews said, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.” (Hebrews 11:24 NKJV)

The word, “refused,” literally means to reject, deny, and disown. Moses cut himself off from a promising career as an Egyptian because he refused to live a lie. Instead, he wanted to do what God had created him to do, and to be who God created him to be.

There’s something liberating when we’re ourselves, and who God created us to be. And if I can say, the quickest way to an ulcer is to try to be someone we’re not. And so, to live an effective faith-filled life, we need to be ourselves.

But you might be wondering, “What has God created for me to be?” As a Christian God created us all with a purpose and a plan.

The Apostle Paul said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)

And the greatest work any of us could do is to be ministers of the gospel message, that is, the good news of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then to love our neighbors as ourselves. So, how can we love others as God calls us to do? Well, it’s by telling them about God’s love. How Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for our sins so that we can have eternal life with Him in heaven.

So, we need to be who God has created us to be. This is the first key to an effective life of faith.