Faith
Faith is essential to having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but many people misunderstand faith. When the shepherds came to see Jesus in the manger, they believed He was the Savior. However, it was not their faith that made it true. They trusted what the angel told them. That is faith. It is believing what God has told us in His Word or directly.
Faith has no power in and of itself. The power of faith is the object of the faith. We can believe that the sun will not come up tomorrow, and that will not make it happen. However, When God says that He will remove a mountain and cast it into the sea, we must decide to trust His word to us, and then, He will do it. He waits for our faith before He acts in many cases.
As you can see, this makes the Bible very important, too. It is God's Word to us, and we have to decide to depend on it and live by it. When we do, we are exercising faith. If we know it, but we don't do it, we do not have faith, and He can't bless us. When we pray, we pray according to His Word to show our faith. If we pray according to our own will, that is the opposite to faith.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Ephesians 2:8-9 confirms that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. God has revealed Himself to us completely through sending Jesus. He recorded the life and works of Jesus in the Bible and preserved it for us. Now, it is up to us to trust His revelation of Himself to us. It is up to us to put our faith in the One who died and rose again for us. That is powerful faith, because it is faith in the Lord of Lords. You see, it all comes back to faith. That is what God is looking for in us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jude and Revelation 1-2.
Faith has no power in and of itself. The power of faith is the object of the faith. We can believe that the sun will not come up tomorrow, and that will not make it happen. However, When God says that He will remove a mountain and cast it into the sea, we must decide to trust His word to us, and then, He will do it. He waits for our faith before He acts in many cases.
As you can see, this makes the Bible very important, too. It is God's Word to us, and we have to decide to depend on it and live by it. When we do, we are exercising faith. If we know it, but we don't do it, we do not have faith, and He can't bless us. When we pray, we pray according to His Word to show our faith. If we pray according to our own will, that is the opposite to faith.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Ephesians 2:8-9 confirms that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. God has revealed Himself to us completely through sending Jesus. He recorded the life and works of Jesus in the Bible and preserved it for us. Now, it is up to us to trust His revelation of Himself to us. It is up to us to put our faith in the One who died and rose again for us. That is powerful faith, because it is faith in the Lord of Lords. You see, it all comes back to faith. That is what God is looking for in us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jude and Revelation 1-2.