Genesis 4:24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

What is the difference between faith and presumption? In this passage, we see Lamech boast to his wives that God had protected Cain as a result of his killing Abel; so likewise, God was going to protect him.

Christ revealed to us the examples of two individuals who had great faith. Christ told us that the Centurion who had proclaimed that Jesus could heal from a distance, and the foreign woman who insisted that Jesus heal her daughter because even the dogs were entitled to scraps both had great faith.

In the book of Hebrews, we are given many more individuals whom God recognizes for their faith. These individuals believed God and did many wonderful things. Nowhere in Hebrews chapter 11do we see that God mentions the great faith of Lamech. Some might argue that Lamech is only mentioned in these six verses. However, God took the time to recognize Enoch’s great faith and Enoch was basically only listed in a genealogy with one verse telling us that he walked with God.

If Lamech was exercising some great faith, God would have made sure that we knew that Lamech was a man of faith. Instead, God has this passage in the Bible to illustrate to us a caution against presumption. While we do not know what ever happened to Lamech, we do know that God could have taken the life of Lamech at any given time. Lamech may have boasted all he wanted, but his words were in vain when it comes to the power of God. God could end the life of Lamech at any time, and even if God did not immediately judge Lamech for committing murder, we do know that eventually, God did judge Lamech.

Christ commanded us that we are not to fear man who can only take our life but that we are to fear God who not only can take our life but also our soul. Lamech can boast all he wants about his ability to commit murder and not be punished, but ultimately, we should not fear people like Lamech, we must fear God.

The difference between Lamech who presumed the protection of God and Abraham who is in God’s Hall of Faith is a relationship with God. Lamech did not understand who God was and he simply presumed he would be protected by God. Abraham had a relationship with god and Abraham strived to live his life in a way that was pleasing to God. Abraham feared God and what God could do – Lamech did not fear God and did not care about how God desired him to live his life.

If you want to be known for your faith rather than your presumption, you need to take the time to start getting to know your Creator. As long as you act like God owes you something, you will be guilty of presumption. Instead, when you start taking the time to understand who God is and start asking HIM to show HIMSELF strong in your life, then you can start experiencing the joys of great faith.

When you do not fear the Lord, you will pursue that which is right in your own eyes. However, great faith will require temperance in your life. You will have to demonstrate self-control not to indulge in the things of this world so that you can have the vision necessary to walk in faith. Until you put aside the things of this world, you will never be free to fully serve God.

Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

You understand that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Thus by application, if you have knowledge of the ways of God and you allow that knowledge to be applied to your life, then the years of your life shall naturally be prolonged. However, when you choose to do that which is right in your own eyes, your life will not be as long.

The wages of sin is death. Prior to the first sin entering the world, Adam and Eve were to live forever. However, because they did not fear the Lord and they did what was right in their own eyes, their lives were shorten. Even after sin entered the world, man was living over 900 years. However, people continued to do what was right in their own eyes and the earth was destroyed by a flood. As a result, the life span of man was greatly reduced.

One who understands that his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, understands that he or she must live her life differently. When one chooses to live their life according to the fear of the Lord they are not going to do things that will harm the body. Smoking, becoming an alcoholic, and fornication are all acts that are done without the fear of the Lord and all of them can greatly shorten ones life.

Living your life in the fear of the Lord will cause you to seek the will of God. This means that you will spend plenty of time meditating upon HIS word listening for HIS still small voice. When you understand the still small voice of God, HE will direct you in the way you are to go. Understanding that God is in control will allow you to be content with where God has put you and because of that contentment, you can have peace even though you are facing trials. When you are not stressing out you’re your circumstances, you will not experience the consequences of stress that can shorten your life.

One who fears the Lord understands that Christ commanded us in the Sermon on the Mount not to worry. Jesus said not to take thought for your life but instead seek ye first the kingdom of God. If you are constantly worried about the things of this world, the things of this world will consume you. However, if you take your time to think of the things of God, you will experience the peace that passeth all understanding. The treasures of this world not only are corruptible, but if you spend your time pursuing after them, they will corrupt you and can shorten your life.

If you were to do the math, you would discover that Methuselah has the longest recorded life-span of any individual. It is also interesting to note that Methuselah apparently died the same year that the flood came. A question thus arises, did Methuselah die in the flood, or did God hold off the flood until one of his few remaining faithful servants died? We do know that Methuselah was the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah and thus it appears he probably was a righteous man.

Have you allowed your knowledge of the ways of God to change your life? Do you live your life by different standards? If you put God first in your life, God can use you to serve HIM. God is your Creator; HE thus ought to know the best way for you to live your life to the fullest. Learn to start living your life in the fear of the Lord.

Psalms 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

The question is, do you desire God? No, we are not talking about a desire for the blessing of God; we are talking about a desire to talk with God, to hear HIS still small voice. Do you long to just talk with God about what is going on in your life? Yes it is easy to spend your time reminding HIM about the provision, direction and protection you need. Nonetheless, God desires something more, something like what HE had with Adam in the garden where Adam had no need and they were able to fellowship together.

You know that Enoch never died because of his close relationship with God. Enoch by faith put his relationship with God first and he was rewarded by never having to face death. Enoch walked with God. This does not mean that he did not share with God his concerns, but it means that he was probably like David in that he developed a heart after God’s own heart.

A dear needs water. If it does not have water, it will lose its strength and eventually die. If you are going to grow as a Christian in your walk with God, then you need to have more of a relationship with God then just constantly asking HIM for the things that you need. If you are going to grow spiritually, you need to learn the heart of God. You need to learn not only God’s direction for your life, but also what HIS burden is for those around you. As you draw closer to HIM and learn to develop a close relationship, God will be able to use you more because of your spiritual growth.

Think about a thirty-year-old adult talking to his parents. If the son every time he talked to his parents was mentioning how he needs money, the relationship would not be very good because the son only sees his parents as a bank and his parents do not feel like their son really knows them. God is the same, what relationship do you have with HIM if you see HIM only as Santa Clause, something to make your requests known to.

God desires that you desire a closer walk with HIM. HE desires that you put HIM first in your life. Not only does HE desire to provide for your needs and to direct you in the way you are to go, HE longs for you to have time of prayer with HIM where you are able to just communicate. Seeing God as something more than the One you make your petitions to, the One in whom you are to ask forgiveness of, and the One who you should praise is not easy. However, God has commanded us to pray without ceasing. As you go about your daily walk, you need to learn to talk with God about the things that you see and the experiences that you face. God needs to be a part of every aspect of your life.

Learning to desire God is not easy. It starts with you adding virtue to your faith. Virtue requires that you think about the things of God. You need to think about that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report. As you fill your mind with the things of God, you will not have room to allow the worries of life to consume you. As you allow tomorrows troubles to be dealt with tomorrow, this allows you to concentrate today on God’s goodness. As you fill your life with seeking a deeper friendship with God, God will be able to bless you in ways that you never expected. It is time for a spiritual checkup! Do you really desire a closer relationship with God?

I Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

Paul thanked God that the church of Thessalonica was growing in the faith and that there was love one to another that was abundant. Paul understood the principle of encouraging others and thus he started off his letter to them letting them know the things that they were doing right and that they needed to continue doing in their lives.

Just as a newborn baby does not stay the same size the rest of their life, so to must we continue to grow in the faith. However, unlike humans when there comes a time that we stop growing, that day should never happen with regards to our faith. God has given us a spiritual journey and he does not want you to stop until HE calls you home. It is your duty to God to every day draw closer to HIM. Your faith and relationship with God should be better today then it was yesterday. Your relationship with God should be better next year then it is today.

Spiritual growth is very important. Just because you have heard from God one day, it does not mean that there is nothing else for you to learn. God has many rich and deep truths for you to learn. It is HIS desire that you continue to seek HIM and HE will draw you closer to HIM. Enoch allowed his relationship with God to be so close that God simply took him home without death. Enoch strived to walk with God and he did walk with God.

As long as you are marching forward for the cause of Christ and increasing your faith, it will be harder for Satan to cause you to sin. However, as soon as you stop moving forward and stop growing in the faith, you will be in a position where Satan can more easily cause you to stumble. Think of it this way. If you are standing still on a busy sidewalk and someone ran straight into you, which direction would you go? Most likely you would step backwards, the direction that you were bumped. Now think that you are walking forward on that same busy sidewalk and someone ran into as before, which direction would you go? Most likely you would not go backwards. Possibly both of you will come to a dead stop, or possibly it would bounce to the right or the left.

Your ability to continue to grow in the faith is necessary in order for you to avoid many temptations that you face. If you stop growing, you are giving Satan the opportunity to cause you to stumble and fall short of the glory of God, tarnishing your testimony. Your growing in the faith is one of the tools you need in order to ensure that you can do many great things for HIM.

Stop and examine your life today. Do you feel that you have grown in the faith over the last week, last month, or the last year? If not, what do you need to do in order to ensure that you are drawing closer to God? Paul commended the church in Thessalonica for their growth in the faith. It is time that you start putting more emphasis in your spiritual growth. You cannot afford to continue to just get by spiritually. Instead, your spiritual life needs to continue to grow. Grow in the faith so that you are able to overcome the temptations of the evil one. Grow in the faith and please your Creator.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

What is our purpose here on this earth? Our purpose on this earth is to bring glory to our Maker. We bring glory to our Maker when we live our lives in such a manner that the world through us sees an Almighty God. It is our duty to live our lives so that HE who made us is pleased with us. However, as we study this verse, we learn something very important about pleasing our Maker. We cannot please our Maker if we do not have faith.

It is impossible to please God without faith. While there are many things you can do, you cannot please God absent faith. So how do we please God by faith? This verse breaks out faith in the simplest form. If we but follow this verse, we will be assured that we will not only live our life by faith but more importantly that we will please God.

First thing you must do is you must come to God. You cannot sit back and wait for God to come to you. Remember, HE is perfect and you are a sinner who has fallen short of HIS glory. You have sinned; you need to make the effort to find God. Once you find God, you can confess your faults and seek HIS will for your life.

Second thing you must do is you must believe who HE is. Hopefully, if you took the time to seek God, you understand who HE is. However, too many people see God as a Santa Clause and not as their Creator God. Be like Enoch and believe that HE is God and worth pleasing. In addition, believe that HE desires to reward you for diligently seeking HIM. This does not always mean financial rewards. God can reward you many ways, and probably most importantly, HE can reward you with a closer relationship with HIM.

Remember, David had a heart after God’s own heart. Yes, David did sin. However, even though David sinned, because HE had a habit of diligently seeking the Lord, the Lord rewarded David by not utterly destroying David and preserving David’s name on the throne for many generations.

It is one thing to seek the Lord, it is another thing to believe in your heart that if you find HIM, HE will be waiting for you and will reward you for your diligence. Take an educated individual who lived 200 years ago. Put them in a rocket that is about to launch. You can give them 100 books on the evolution of aviation in the last 100 years. You can tell this individual all the success stories of man flying. This man can take everything that you have told him and prove it scientifically and thus belief that this rocket will take him to the moon. However, until this individual actually steps into the rocket and pushes the button, he will not have yet demonstrated faith in the rocket.

Faith is taking your head knowledge and turning it into heart belief. It is taking that which you read and not only understanding it as a true principle, but believing it, and acting upon it. You cannot play lip service to God and expect to please HIM. Instead, you must understand that HE has told you that if you seek HIM, you will be rewarded for your effort. As you turn your understanding into belief, you will exercise your faith, and you will please the Lord. You cannot please the Lord absent faith, and you will not have faith until you take God at HIS word and believe it in your heart.

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

We do not know much about Enoch. However, what we do know about him is this, he never died. Enoch and Elijah were the only people ever to live and not die. Enoch was not translated because he lived a good life. Enoch was not translated because he was a good example to his fellow man. Enoch was translated because of his faith that he had in God. Enoch had such a close walk with the Lord that this relationship pleased God.

Death is a curse of sin. When man sinned in the garden, death entered the world. We know that prior to sin, God walked in the garden and communed with man. We also understand that between Adam and Noah that only two men are referenced as having walked with God, Enoch and Noah. Both men are listed in God�s hall of faith. It is evident that Enoch so desired to have fellowship with God that he sought to have the same level of fellowship that God had had with Adam and Eve. It was because Enoch�s faith that God spared him the consequences of sin.

God desires to speak to us. He is not Santa Clause that gives us whatever we want whenever we want. Instead, HE desires to have a personal relationship in which we listen intently to HIM and communicate our thoughts and desires to HIM. Most people treat God either as a Santa Clause or as this mighty being which does not wish to be disturbed by our requests. However, God desires that we develop a relationship like HE had with Adam and Eve, the kind of relationship that enabled Enoch to never die and for Noah to build an ark and save his wife, his three sons, and their wives from utter destruction.

You cannot have a close relationship with God like Enoch had absent faith. It takes faith to understand that God still desires to have a close intimate relationship with those whom HE has created. Remember that God made us in HIS own image. The best example that we have of what God desires our relationship with HIM to be like would be that of an elderly couple who have been married for fifty years. This elderly couple has been through many good times and bad times. They have grown closer together through adversity. The couple can say things to each other without ever having to utter a word. They do not come together just to ask for something from the other person, but instead, they are just able to enjoy being in each other’s company. They understand just how much their partner is a part of their life and how lonely they would be absent their other half.

Do you walk with God like Enoch? Remember, the young couple just starting out will never have as intimate of conversations as the couple who has been married for 50 years. It takes time, desire, and energy to develop a relationship with God like HE yearns for you to have with HIM. Your walk with God can grow by faith as you seek to establish a closer relationship with HIM. Just because you demonstrate the faith to walk with God, it does not mean that you will not see death. However, if you develop the faith so that you are walking with God, you probably will be doing great things for God that will be a testimony to the world of the power of God. It will take faith to develop the relationship that God desires you to have with HIM. Are you willing to stretch your faith to that level?