Faith is...

by Melissa J | More from this Blogger

15 Jan 2007 04:27 AM

What does faith mean to you? I've defined faith as being able to put my trust in God believing He knows better than me. The Bible defines faith for us:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

By faith we know there is wind, not because we see the wind, but we see, feel or hear the effects from it. I believe it's the same with God; we don't see Him in a physical sense, but we do see His creation and the impact of His goodness.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

In the book of Hebrews, the Bible lays out some examples of faith from prior stories:

• Abel offered his best sacrifice to God in faith and is said to have been righteous for doing so.

• Noah prepared the ark in which the invisible Lord instructed him to build in preparation for the Great Flood.

• Abraham went in faith to receive his inheritance even though he did not know where he was going. God's promise of Isaac was fulfilled in that land. Later, Abraham prepared in faith to offer Isaac as a sacrifice as the Lord as instructed. Isaac did not need to be sacrificed as the Lord was pleased with Abraham's obedience.

• Sarah held out in faith for her promised son Isaac whom she bore in old age.

• Moses was hidden in faith for three months as a baby and was spared death by the king, later being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses later led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, kept the Passover, and divided the Red Sea.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Jesus did all things in faith and taught us to do so as well. He tells us in Matthew 17:20-21, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

There are so many scriptures on faith in the Bible. In James 1:6 the Bible says, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind." The Bible tells us how critical faith is and that "... whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23) If we should lack faith, the Bible assures us, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)

I hope you will choose to be inspired in faith by the works of God all around you. Even though we don't see Him in the flesh, He's left his mark in this world and hopefully in your heart as well. As much as the enemy would rather have people choose not to believe God's presence and word, it is real and my prayer is that your life and mine will be a testimony to that.

Scriptural reference is quoted from the NKJV.

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Linda Hansen (1796) 15 Jan 2007 07:38 AM

Great reminder. Without faith, we have nothing to believe in or hold onto. Art

mama2riley (24481) 15 Jan 2007 03:50 PM

Great definiton MJ. Faith is the key to salvation.

swellen (70) 16 Jan 2007 11:48 PM

Excellent blog. A good illustration of the difference between faith and 'intellectual' belief is a chair - you may believe that a chair will hold you when you sit on it, and you may state this belief to all and sundry, but the only way you'll demonstrate you have faith that it will hold you is by sitting on it. Faith, as those references from Hebrews show, is about acting on a belief, not just stating it.