''Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him." Hebrews 11:6 (ERV)
It vital to discuss the basics of faith because it is one of the foundations of life.
You have faith in something; we all do!
That is how the human is built.
For example, except in extraordinary circumstances, we never ask to see our doctor's qualification before receiving his medical services, neither do we research the pilot's qualifications before we fly with an airline. We just subconsciously exercise trust - that is faith.
For the Christian, the fact that he has accepted Jesus as saviour is definite prove that he has exercised his measure (seed) of faith towards the originator of faith - God.
God is a Spirit.
He operates from a spiritual realm beyond this physical world - a realm beyond human logic.
He is a faith God.
The Key Basics are:
🕇 Faith is TRUST:
It is a spiritual decision to believe and trust.
It is a trust that rides above what we see, feel or touch - beyond the physical.
This trust propels one in line with his belief despite opposing circumstances.
🕇Faith GROWS:
Faith in God grows by your knowledge of him through the bible - hearing what he has said about himself, you, others, life and the world.
By the process of feeding on the word of God and basking in the 'sun' through the intimacy and fellowship of prayer,
faith (trust) grows from seed - sapling - young plant - a full grown tree
"As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby," 1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV)
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." Romans 10:17 (NIV)
"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Jude 20-21 (NIV)
🕇Faith ACTS:
It is an inner propelling force. It makes you act according to your belief and trust.
The more experiences you have fighting and standing for that acquired trust in God and his words, the stronger it becomes.
The testing of this faith, is the spiritual workout that strengthens the muscles built by knowledge.
"A person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead. It is the same with faith—faith that does nothing is dead!" James 2:26 (ERV)
"Fight the good fight of the faith..." 1Timothy 6:12
🕇Faith PLEASES GOD
Because Faith IS the victory!
It means you have transcended the physical world and are ruling from the spiritual world - the realm from which your father (God) rules.
You are becoming a child that sees like God sees, acts like he acts, and understands like he understands - a fully grown spiritually mature son of God- like Jesus Christ.
This is God's dream.
" This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." Ephesians 4:13 NLT
" For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4 (AMPC)