The Necessity of Faith

Faith is not a mere belief. It is acting upon the truth that God is alive and that he calls the world to know him. Faith is not faith until it gets out of your head and into your hands and feet. Faith must be active. It is obedient action based on the certainty that God is alive. This is what pleases the heart of God. 

Pray
Dear Holy Spirit, speak your words into my life. I will receive what you say and act on it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Read
Hebrews 11:6

Ask
What pleases God?
If we come to God, what are the two things we must believe?

Reflect
You can actually please God. All it takes is faith. This is something you can do. For some, faith seems like a mystical, spiritual experience that a favored few find. But actually, faith is something you can do. And the result means that you please God.

What is faith then?  According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." And then for the rest of the chapter in Hebrews 11 we read story after story of what people did with their faith.

The men and women listed in Hebrews 11 were those who were certain about the spiritual reality around them. They were so certain that God existed and wanted to be known, that they DID something about it.

Faith is not a mere belief. It is acting upon the truth that God is alive and that he calls the world to know him. Faith is not faith until it gets out of your head and into your hands and feet. Faith must be active. It is obedient action based on the certainty that God is alive. This is what pleases the heart of God.

Go on - move the heart of God with your faith. Hear him and obey him, just like the saints of old.

Meditate
Hebrews 11:13-16 - All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Apply
Ask God to reveal any area in your life that you live as if God is not alive. For example, are there any fears or worries that loom larger than God himself? If so, take time to repent of unbelief. Now, declare your faith that God is alive in your life. Thank him for his promise of reward as you seek him. Keep pursuing him. Intimacy with the Father will be your reward. For this is faith that pleases him.