HEBREWS 11:13-14
‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.’
Imagine that there is a ladder made of several words with Receive being the first rung and Confess the last, Seen, Persuaded and Embraced being several rungs in between. To reach the top means climbing that ladder one step at a time. Climbing the first gives you the chance to go on to the second and the third and so on until you reach the top where you will see the promises made manifest.
Receive literally means “to take or get something that is given, paid or sent”; “to let/enter one’s household or company; welcome”. From these two definitions, it is apparent that God fulfils the first definition by giving or sending something i.e. the promise(s). We fulfill the second definition by “taking”, “welcoming or letting to enter” into our lives that which was sent. God gives the promise(s) we take that by welcoming into our lives the same. Once that is complete or done, then we would have received.
The next rung is See, that which had been previously received. To see is defined as “to have the power of sight; view with the eyes; to understand the importance of”. It is important to understand that the giving and receiving of the promise(s) of God is a spiritual transaction. As a result the seeing cannot be a physical activity, but spiritual. This power of sight in question and viewing is not done with the physical eyes, it’s done with the mind and so the power of imagination comes to play. In the place of meditation we convert that which we have received by hearing into pictures (Genesis 1:3-4 Habakkuk 2:1).
Persuasion which is the next step is a result of these pictures. One of the definitions of see is “to have experience of”. The experience of seeing that which was heard after meditation produces in us an experience that dispels doubts and brings certainty. Without this persuasion, the tendency to doubt the ability of God to keep His Word towards us is increased (Romans 4:20-21).
After persuasion comes Embrace. This is defined as “to take in; include; to take up readily or gladly”. When we look closely at include as a definition of embrace it tells us that after being persuaded, including that truth enables the consciousness of the individual make it readily become part of everyday living. When we embrace a promise, it makes the promise(s) part of our day to day lifestyle and that modifies our behavior beginning (specifically) with our speech.
The first steps of the ladder of faith occur internally and to give expression to these inward realities is through our speech. Thus, the next step in faith is confession or declaration. Confession is thus defined as “to tell or make known”. Whilst the act is confession (which basically demonstrates the use of speech) the method employed is Declaration. Literally, declare implies “to make known in a clear or formal way; to state as if certain”. There are many methods by which speech is put to use i.e. to insult, harangue, gossip etc., but one way to put it to positive use is to regularly declare God’s promises! Declare that which has been given to you and processed according to the rungs on the ladder of faith.