Biblical faith is so important for our eternal destiny and for our daily Christian life!

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In the New Testament, the Greek word for "faith" is "πίστις" (pistis) which means assurance, confidence, trust, conviction, faith, belief, fidelity, and reliance. In the first verse above, faith, "πίστις" is the assurance of things we hope for, but have not yet received. Faith is not feeling, it is believing. Faith is not doing, it is resting. Faith is more than mere belief. Faith is deep confidence in the One you trust. This confidence is demonstrated by your actions.

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The second verse above tells us how important the Christian faith is. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." It does not say "Without faith, it is difficult to please God" or "Without faith, you will not be able to completely please God," but it makes it crystal clear that "Without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." When I read this text many years ago, I came to understand that faith is really important to my eternal condition and for my daily Christian life.

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Many Christians have a hard time practicing faith in their daily lives, but without it, God cannot bless them. The Word of God states that "the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4) and we must "walk by faith" and "not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). As Christians, we have to realize that without having faith in God, we cannot receive His blessings. Like anything else in our spiritual life, it is important to grow in faith. If we do not have money, we cannot buy material things. If we also do not have faith, we cannot please God and receive more blessings.

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In our spiritual life, faith is the currency of exchange. People are missing blessings because of common misconceptions about faith. One is that faith is blind, but blind faith is really foolishness or superstition. Biblical faith is taking God 100% at His word and acting on it. Faith in action is the highest compliment that we can pay to God. If we do not exercise faith and believe what God says, we make Him a liar. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar..." (1 John 5:10). When we do not exercise faith, we sin and miss God's blessings. We must ask ourselves, "Is there an area of my life that I am sinning against Christ by simply failing to trust Him?" If it is YES, we have to correct it.

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I will mention an example from my own experience for you to see what happened when I had trusted the Lord. Several years ago, we gave our piano to my daughter so that she could teach her children to play. This way, her children could use their talents to serve the Lord as they grew. Because my wife played the organ in the church where we attended at that time, she needed an organ at home to practice. By faith, I told her that the Lord would give us a free organ for a Christmas present. I believed this because, first, we tried to help my daughter; second, we did not have thousands of dollars to buy an organ; and third, because my wife was going to use it to glorify the Lord. When some other people heard about this, they were skeptical and told me, "You are asking too much. Maybe the Lord will give you one for a good price, but not free."

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Without giving those people any attention, I checked on the Internet and found a church in our area that wanted to give their organ away for free. They wanted to give it away because somebody had donated a brand new organ to them. I was the first to respond to their ad. Possibly others thought a free organ would not be worth anything. The organ was beautiful and in excellent condition, but it was too big for our living room. We talked to our pastor about the organ after we saw it. He told us that our church would take it and would give us the church's current smaller organ for free. Our church's smaller organ was like brand new. The church received the big organ; and the pastors, with a few other men from our church, delivered the smaller organ to our home without us having to pay a penny. The Lord not only blessed us—He blessed our church, too. PRAISE THE LORD!

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We need to be encouraged that when we act in faith, God will bless us. Faith honors God, and God honors our faith when it is according to His will, and not according to our fleshly desires. "He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is so important; still, it is so misunderstood. Stop playing it safe and begin to live a little.

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Life's greatest adventure comes when you follow Jesus in faith. More is unseen than is seen, and we should live our lives in light of the unseen reality instead of the visible reality. Faith is needed to see Christ and have a victorious Christian life. Jesus is everywhere if you only look through spiritual eyes. With just your natural eyes, "you get what you see!" Unfortunately, the more comfortable you are in this life with material things, the harder it is to live by faith.

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The question to you is: "Are you living by faith or by sight?" Faith is not believing something hard enough to make it happen—that is positive thinking. Faith is not trying; it is depending on Christ alone if you are a child of God. Nothing is achieved without faith, and nothing is impossible with God. The Bible very clearly says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please him [God]" (Hebrews. 11:6) and "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

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Depend on God's promises. By faith, leave everything in God's hands and wait to see the surprises he has for you. Maybe the Lord will not do a miracle by opening the heavens to send you "manna" or to give you a free organ, but for sure He will find a way to "supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). I recommend that you walk by faith and step out of the boat, and you will discover the thrill of walking on the waves as Peter did (Matthew 14:29). Remember, faith makes a Christian, life proves a Christian, and death crowns a Christian.

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by Ted Matamis, copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.