How is your level of faith?

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."    

                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:6    NKJV

The writer of Hebrews didn't say that without faith it is difficult to please God, he said that it is impossible. There is a major difference here. Think about it, if it is impossible to please God without faith then, it is impossible to walk with Him. Walking with Him means that we are in a relationship with Him. How can we be in a relationship with Him if it is impossible to please Him and walk with Him? Therefore, we need to trust Him; trust Him with what He says, where He leads and what he asks us to do. If there is no trust, nothing will really happen.

The writer again refers to 'coming' to God. It refers to the privilege of drawing near to God - approaching Him. Faith is a mandatory requirement for those who approach Him, without it, we just cannot please God. I didn't say this, God did and it's written above. However, when we do begin to trust Him with all we have, then he begins to reward us. Let us remember that God is our Father and fathers love to bless their children. He longs to reward us.

If you read the beginning of chapter 11, you will notice a list of saints who pleased God with their faithfulness. God wants us to do the same, to mirror their actions, showing the same type of diligence that they carried out. As we imitate their type of faithfulness through faith and patience, we will begin to inherit the promise of God too.

To fulfil our calling in this manner, it helps to set realistic goals and be patient and willing to take risks when we have to. This type of risk taking is rather like, coming out of your shell. You need to stick your head out so that you can see what is happening and the road ahead. Of course you can remain in your shell and, many do, but God will honour the risk-taker. We also need to be persistent. If you truly believe that God has given you a clearly defined task, don't doubt or you will become discouraged and this will defeat you. Keep believing, keep trusting and refuse to give up. If you want God to honour you, then honour Him by acting on your faith.

Tony Evans writes:

'You must operate by faith even if you must do so alone and go against the accepted norms of the day. You must believe with expectation that God responds - regarding His will for your life - when you seek to please Him'.                            Tony Evans Bible Commentary

So, there we have it, God responds to our faith; He expects it from us. To do anymore than this, shows that we do not fully trust Him; and this leaves me with the question, how is your level of faith?

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