Faith is essential
Day 30
by Gini Crawford, MSW
The nitty-gritty of Biblical faith
An older teenager was told to join a gang. They would provide for him and keep him out of jail. He didn't want to join but felt he was stealing like them anyway, so why not. About that time, someone told him that Jesus had died for him so that his sins would be forgiven. The teenager was surprised anyone would want to forgive him, much less the God Who created everything. He put his faith in Jesus instead of a gang.
Biblical faith is having a firm conviction of God's existence and an assurance His Word is true, which gives you have a trust in God (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:6) that leads to a changed life, godly action and conduct (James 2:14-18). Biblical faith allows our relationship with God to go from being one of separation to one of great intimacy and hope. Faith and belief are used interchangeable in the Bible.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 ESV®
Biblical faith has you depending on what is true. What if I believed I could fly so I wanted to jump off high buildings. You would have every reason to think of me as crazy, because my belief is in something false. When you have faith in something you are saying, "This is my reality that affects my life." So it is smart to have faith in something that is true such as God and His Word, or it may kill you. (John 8:31-32, 17:17).
Biblical faith is so much more than a word. I have heard people say, "just have faith". It seems like to me they are making faith a magical word that they expect will give them an assured result. What comes to my mind here is, when I was a child I would say, abracadabra, and expect the word to produce something magical. As you can guess, I pretended. Believe me, it is God who your faith should be in, not a word.
Quickly describe Biblical faith.
Faith in God described
God made faith inherent in us. Consider the numerous chairs we sit in every day. Most of the time we have so much faith in those chairs, we just sit down without thinking "can I trust this chair?". Yes, I know there are those chairs no one would trust. Faith in general drives our everyday lives, so when God asks us to have faith in Him, it's really inherent in us if we don't let sin stop it.
The righteous should live by faith. The righteous are those who have put their faith in Jesus, so of course we should be living out our faith in Him. As a Christian if you aren't living by faith you are not pleasing God. (Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 ESV®
Faith in God is not a feeling. Faith is a knowing and conviction that God is real, which leads you to trust in Him. Faith is also based on the fact that we take God at His Word and believe what He said. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 43:10-11; Ephesians 1:13). Here is an example from my life of feelings vs faith: When the doctor said I had cancer, my feeling was fear, until my belief in God calmed that fear. We could say faith in God should override our feelings. Besides just because you are feeling good doesn't mean you are living by faith in God. The opposite can also be true. Just because you are feeling out of sorts doesn't mean you aren't living by faith in God. Remember, our health and hormones can take us on a roller coaster ride with feelings. Did you know faith isn't a feeling?
Do you remember, the first time you had faith in God? This was when you believed what God's Word said about you being a sinner, and that Jesus is your Savior from those sins. Just like having faith in God for the first time, you need to continue trusting in Him and His Word as you live the Christian life. Are you living by faith in God?
Life Application
A walk of faith in God
First step in faith is, to truly know God (Philippians 3:8-9; Colossians 2:2-10). If you think about it, how can you have faith in someone if you don't really know the person. You might believe that a Christian band is godly until you get to know them and realize your belief was false. I did church ministry with a friend who sounded like a Christian. Yet she ended up not really knowing our God and His Word, because after she moved away she put her faith in a god from another religion. I asked her why? She honestly said to me, "I don’t believe Jesus is God, but just a good teacher, so why bother to have faith in Him." I believe if she would have rightly known the Christian God she would have put her faith in Him. Read Jeremiah 9:23-24; John 6:67-69, 17:3; 2 Timothy 3:14-17. If you don't particularly know God, can you really have faith in Him? How can you get to know God?
Step two, our faith in God grows through God's Word and prayer (Isaiah 55:6,10-11). I have found the more I experience God through prayer and His Word, the more my faith in Him grows, because God is faithful (Psalm 33:4). Here's an illustration of how God uses prayer and His Word to build our faith: You have learned from God's Word that He loves you, so you have faith in that fact and rely on it. So when you get depressed because you didn't get that job, your mind says, "Hey remember, 'Romans chapter eight tells me that God loves me and is working all things for my good.' So it is for my best I didn't get the job. Please God let me believe your words and trust You." Read John 15:7-11; Romans 10:8, 17. Have you seen your faith in God grow through prayer and His Word?
Step three, the trials of life show and strengthen our faith in God. I can tell how my trust in God has grown by how I respond to His Word and the everyday ups and downs of life. Here's a trial that hit me and how I responded: I have always felt if I was told I had cancer, I would be angry at God but instead I found myself trusting in His path for my life and being drawn closer to Him as I shared my fears with Him and read His promises to me. God has been teaching me to be thankful for hard times — because my trials drive me to want to trust Him for answers and hope (Psalm 33:21-22; Jeremiah 29:11-14a; 2 Thessalonians 1:2-4). How we react to life will show us how strong our faith in God is. Do you have faith in God when the going gets rough?
In Jesus you live and move and have your being. The more faith you have in Jesus, the more fruitful and mature you will be in Him. Read Hebrews 10:38-11:1-40; Galatians 2:20 and you will see how others have walked in faith with God. Share how you can live out your faith in God.
Reflect on Hebrews 11:6.