Do You Believe?

The word faith in my New International Version occurs 16 times in the Old Testament and 254 times in the New Testament. What is faith? My dictionary defines it as complete trust or confidence in someone or something; strong belief in God. Faith is evidence of things not seen. It is trust, hope, and belief in the goodness, trustworthiness and reliability. Faith is confidence in God and He bestows it as a free gift to those who ask for it. He is generous with this gift and no one lacks it.

God has made many promises in the Bible. For a few examples:

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

“but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” (Proverbs 1:33)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4)

We must believe the promises above and all other promises in the Bible to be God’s promises. We can adhere to them with assurance. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24) “That you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13) “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) When God makes a promise to believers, claim it. God has never been proven untrustworthy.

We must first believe that He is the creator and that he has created the heavens and the earth and spoken into existence everything and that He created you and me. It is awareness of God in creation. Things on this earth can not exist or continue to exist without Someone who is making it possible.

The Bible is full of examples of those who had strong faith in God: Abel; Enoch; Noah; Abraham; Isaac; Caleb; Jacob; Moses; Rahab; Gideon; Barak; Samson; Jephthah; David; David; Samuel; apostle Paul; even Jesus Christ to name just a tiny fraction. They were rewarded with material gifts as well as success, friends, peace, love, joy, and protection.

We must do what God expects us to do. Obey the commandments. Pray daily from your heart. Praise God. Be remorseful and seek God’s forgiveness. Ask God for the things you need. Thank God.

We must continue to have faith in God despite trials and tribulations. No matter how good or faithful we are bad things will pop up. After all God did give dominion over the earth to Satan (see my blog “Why Does God Cause Bad Things To Happen”). But we must stand fast and have strong faith that God has a plan for you and me. God has something better in store for you. The apostle Paul prayed that his thorn in the flesh (problem) “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) and the thorn (problem) remained. Even Christ prayed to His heavenly Father that the agony waiting Him might be taken from Him but He added, “Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Upset moments should cause you to turn to God. He can help restore our balance.

A person may have doubts about God also. This does not necessarily indicate a lack of faith. Faith is always growing. It seeks, through grace, to penetrate into the mystery of God. When in doubt, seek answers in the Bible, take time to meditate and think, talk with other Christians, and even praying to God for insight. In revealing, God has not only communicated information; He has communicated Himself to you.

Faith is very personal, delicate, and ultimately mysterious. It is not born in a day. It is grown over time; years of seeing God’s faithfulness to His promises. It grows as each day we choose to believe what God says.

Parents always want is best for their children and God our Father has always wanted what is best for His children. In order to receive from God we have to receive by faith. All faith is is that you believe what God has said and has done. It is simply confidence in what God said He will do He will do.

Read also: Numbers 14:24; Numbers 32:12; Deuteronomy 1:36; Joshua 14:6-15; 2 Kings 21:19 to 22:2; Matthew 8:5-13; Mark 11:22-24; John 1:1-18; Hebrews 11; 1 Peter 1:7-9

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