What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The context of this verse is a continuation of the closing verses of the previous chapter. (See Hebrews 10:35-39.) The things that are “hoped for,” the things “not seen,” have been promised by God!!! Faith begins with a promise of God. Do you know God’s word? Have you heard God speaking to you? This is not blind faith. It is faith in God. God said it. We are to believe it and act in faith. This has been man’s challenge since the very beginning. Did God say it? Do you know what God said? Once you are certain of the answer to these two questions, the critical decision for every person is then — Do you believe it? If you do, then faith will be seen in your actions.
There are two major sources to obtaining spiritual knowledge and understanding God’s promise.
- The Bible
- The holy spirit
Hebrews 11:2-3 By faith we understand that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah was warned of “things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed, and he went out, “not knowing where he was going.”
Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had encircled them for seven days.
- Joshua 6:1-5 This was the promise of God. It is not something Joshua dreamed up. God made a promise. Faith was in the doing.
- Joshua 6:12-17, 20 The people did exactly what God commanded. That was their decision point — their crisis of faith. They did what God said, and His promise came to pass as they acted in faith.
How about you? Do you have faith in what God has promised? What if we walked by faith?
- Prayer is an act of faith (1 Th 5:17; 1 Tim 2:1-2; Jam 5:16)
- Studying the Scriptures is an act of faith (2 Tim 2:15)
- Seeking knowledge and wisdom is an act of faith (Eph 1:15-18; Jam 1:5; Prov 2:1-5)
- Speaking in tongues is an act of faith (Acts 10:44-46; 19:6; 1 Cor 14:5, 15, 39)
- Tithing/giving is an act of faith (Prov 3:9-10; Malachi 3:10; 2 Cor 9:6-8)
- Speaking truth is an act of faith (2 Cor 4:13; Acts 28:31; 2 Tim 4:1-2)
- Forgiving others is an act of faith (Mt 6:12; Eph 4:32)
- Doing what God has revealed to you to do is an act of faith (John 5:19; 12:49; 14:10-12; 15:5, 7)
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