God Wants Faith
And 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 seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6
A question that many
people ask at one time or another is “What does God
want?” God wants faith. He wants us to believe in
Him, to seek Him, to trust Him, to call upon His name and be
saved. Gaining faith in God is the single most life
changing thing that can happen to a person. It
transforms us completely. Our entire person is
positively affected by faith in God. Faith in God
touches every aspect of our life. Faith enables us
to have a relationship with God. Faith is the
evidence of things hoped for and gives us the
ability to live out God’s plan for our lives
(Hebrews 11). Faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ
is key to living the Christian life and is the
pathway into His grace.
Real faith is
characterized by trusting God. It is believing Him,
believing what He says (His word). Proverbs 3:5-6
tells us to "trust in the Lord with all of our
heart" and to not "lean on our own understanding".
We are to "acknowledge Him in all of our ways" and
He will "make our paths straight". This verse speaks
to faith in God, trusting Him even above our own
understanding of things. Whether we are talking
about God's word, things that happen in our life,
knowledge, eternity, heaven and hell, judgment, the
creation, whatever - we are to trust God above our
own understanding. Faith is trusting that God exists
and has our best interest at heart, that God's word
is true, that God has good judgment, that He knows
what He is doing, that He means what He says, etc.
It is like the trust a child has in a parent. That
level of trust should characterize our faith in God.
We are finite and are limited in our ability to
understand things. We simply don't know and
understand everything. He does. Trust Him.
Faith is believing God. By faith we enter into the atoning
work that Christ accomplished on the cross and
Christ’s righteousness is made ours. By faith we
enter into God's grace and are born again. True
faith results in action. Faith is dead if it does
not affect the way we live our lives (James
2:14-26). Real faith results in good works. Faith
can move mountains. We walk by faith, not by sight
(2 Cor 5:7). Crossing the threshold of faith in God
and His Son Jesus Christ marks the beginning of our
journey, our walk with God. Maintaining our faith
and keeping it fresh and strong ensures a strong
finish. He perfects our faith as we journey through
life with Him. And He will finish the work that He
has started in us (Philippians 1:6). One of
the most amazing things about faith, is that we
didn’t choose Him, but He chose us (John 15:16). In other words,
Jesus believes in us, in our ability to live a life
of faith in Him. He has faith in us, that we can do
it, that we can follow Him and do what He did, that
we can live this life of faith and finish strong. He
chose us. (Rom 8:29-30) He called us and has faith
that we can successfully follow Him. Not only do we
have our faith in Him, but the faith of the Son of
God is also at work in us. Be a man of faith.
Next
"Choose you this day whom you will
serve.....but as for me and my house, we will serve
the LORD."
Joshua 24:15