Faith

What is faith? In Hebrews 1:1 the Bible describes faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".  I approach faith as a two part process. the first is the substance of things hoped for and the second is the evidence of things not seen.

 "the substance of things hoped for" means we need to tell God what we want not just what we need. He knows the answer, but He desires open communication with us and that comes from praying, studying, and talking to Him about our wants, needs, and goals. The first part of faith is hope. This is the easy part, we are always happy to talk about what we want and present it to God. The second is where most people fail out of this process.


1 Peter 1:7
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

"the evidence of things" means we need to accept that God will grant our prayers in His time and according to His plans. Our society has made us think that we should have everything we want ten minutes ago and so the concept of being on a timeline besides our own is very frustrating to most. God does not work on our timeline. He knows everything that we are have and will encounter in life and will give His gifts at the time He chooses. We need to accept that and once we present our list to God we MUST stand on it as coming to pass. If we begin to doubt God we will delay or cause us to miss a blessing.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Matthew 17:20

 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Another to remember is that when we are waiting we cannot just set by the side, wait and say "OK God where's my stuff?" without doing anything. We should always be looking for a way to help others or spread the word because we may be the blessing that someone else is waiting on. Whether it be simply a kind word or a shoulder to cry on.

James 2:17
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.


Faith is necessary on the path to an eternity with God in Heaven. When we accept Jesus as our savior we are going completely on faith that He is the way to Heaven and that He will present us to the Father when the time comes.

Galations 2:20
²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Jesus is, in fact, the only way to get to Heaven. Living a good life and being a good person is wonderful but no one will get to Heaven without putting our faith in Christ and accepting Him as our Lord.

John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Galatians 2:16
 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Jeremiah 29:11
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.