Growing in Faith
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1
I have faith in God. I have faith in the belief that Jesus was sent by God to pay the price for sin. I believe in Heaven and Hell and that a spiritual battle is being waged right now here on Earth. I believe that Jesus will come again - and that when He does He will judge the living and the dead.
And although I try to live my faith boldly and with confidence, there are people in my life who do not yet believe in God. (I say that because I continue to hope and pray that one day they might).
However, when I was talking about God the other day, one of "my people" recently said, I'd like to believe, but you cannot even begin to conceive (let alone believe) in God without a little bit of faith.
So where does FAITH come from?
Ephesians 2:8 says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
Grace is a gift.
It is God's gift offered freely to any who have heard the gospel. But like most gifts - in order to access the blessing - we need to unwrap it.
One of my favorite lines in the Bible comes early. In Genesis 15:6 we are told that Abraham (father of 3 religions) "believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness."
The apostle James cites this verse and claims that because of his faith Abraham became the "friend of God" (James 2:23)
If we want to grow in faith and become a "friend of God" it starts with unwrapping the gift.
It begins with our willingness to set aside what "makes sense" and what we know based on our very limited worldly view - and to TRUST. And if that trust does not come naturally we must INVESTIGATE. Because when we DO we will find God.
- "I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me." Proverbs 8:17
- "But from there, you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul." - Deuteronomy 4:29
- "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

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