“…But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Hebrews 11:6
Dear Ones:
Why is faith so important, so prominent and fundamental in our relationship with God? First, and foremost, it is because it is HIS way, by His design, that man can seek and find Him with assurance. Secondly, it is that principle and practice by which sinful man can receive and live by that which is unseen to the naked eye, and yet KNOW the reality of the presence of God, and as Paul wrote, “…the power of His resurrection.”
When Jesus addressed Nicodemus concerning being born again of the Spirit, he brought Nicodemus face to face with the invisible, and yet, called him to believe. He used the illustration of the wind which blows. “You hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell from where it came from, nor where it is going.” He then adds: “So is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:8) How then can one believe in God, who is like the wind, invisible, and yet possessing life-changing power?
The call of God for man to believe in Him does not begin with the “possibility” that He exists. It begins with the words, “In the beginning, GOD…” (Gen. 1:1) Throughout Scripture, the Lord Jesus reveals Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. Why? Because, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” (1 Cor.3:11) Christ alone is the foundation upon which the world exists, but also, upon which the individual life can be built. Faith begins with the immutable, holy character and nature of God. Scripture describes Him as “faithful.” The word means that there is no discord, dissonance, or discrepancy between what God declares Himself to be, what He truly is, and what He declares. That which gives credence to the necessity and provision of true and living faith, is that the believer is called upon to rest the whole of his being, his very life, upon the Rock that we call Christ. He is the only One who is worthy of our trust, and the only One able to meet every need of the heart and soul, for time and eternity. The question is, “How do I trust Him?” “How am I to go out into the day “in faith,” believing Him specifically, with clarity of direction, and certainty of finding the rock beneath my feet?
In Isaiah’s great book, he writes by the Spirit, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (55:7) In this passage, the Lord deals with the “way” that is not of Him, the way of faithlessness. God’s way is the way of faith, faith in the faithfulness of God. Where does this faith come from, today? It is a gift and capacity provided by God to those who seek Him in His word. It is as one daily seeks God in His word, with an open, receptive heart and mind, that God convicts, and convinces the individual of the reality and presence of God.
We do not know or understand all of the circumstances in which God revealed Himself to Abram, when he lived in Mesopotamia. What we do know is that the revelation of God came by God speaking to him. “Now the Lord had said unto Abram…” (Gen. 12:1) In the book of 1st Samuel, we find the very young boy, Samuel, “…ministering unto the Lord before Eli,” the priest. We learn that “…Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.” (3:7) It will be when the Lord comes, calls his name, then speaks to him, that Samuel’s faith begins to grow exponentially. As the word of God is revealed to him, the reality of the presence and power of God are revealed. Samuel goes forth with faith firmly fixed in God.
Dear Father, Teach us go forth every day, committed to believing Thee according to Your word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad